Advice Needed Female Ekkie Regurgitating

ReReEclectus

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Hi, our female ekkie Re-Re (short for Reba) is "feeding herself" constantly. She regurgitates into her foot & then eats the regurg. We are her second home & she came to us plucked & eating harrisons. She's always been very hormonal, in her old home she spent a lot of her time in the happy hut she had in her cage. We changed her diet and she now eats (short list) sprouts, herbs, seasonal local organic produce veggies & fruits (when available, we have a local farmer who saves us the not so pretty produce) or produce we've frozen during the winter. We also removed the hut. Also we have adjusted lighting, but she has yet to stop the behavior. Please help! I'm getting worried about her! All suggestions welcome! Thanks!
 

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noblemacaw

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Valentino - Red Fronted Macaw - Hatched August 12, 2012
I had a very hormonal male Eclectus. When he was ill and I had to hand feed him it totally stimulated him to regurgitate all over me and everything. His doctor recommended hormone management to help regulate them Joaquin was given nupron shots every three months. The shots brought down his hormones to a lower level and helped us manage the high levels much easier.
 

labell

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As gross as it may seem to us humans there is not really any cause for alarm this is just her having strong urges to feed babies. As long as her and her surroundings are kept clean she should have no ill effects from it. Changing her diet, lighting and removing the hut all might help in the long run but I am also of the thought that you can't fight normal hormonal behavior completely and sometimes the best course of action is to divert rather than try to stop it altogether. Take a nest-box size card board box and fill it jammed packed with shred-able safe items, start a little hole in the side so she has a place to start working it, fold over the sides nice and tight so she doesn't just open it from the top and let her go to town. Once it's destroyed make a new one this should keep her happy and busy.:D
 

noblemacaw

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I really like your suggestion better than the nupron shots. If all it takes is to let nature take the course I am all for that. Eclectus are so hormonal more so than any other parrot I have had and maybe the secret to hormone management is to handle it as naturally as you can.

I had trouble with a mini macaw hormone levels causing heart disease. I am not sure if the same can happen to Eclectus parrots. I would love to know if consent high level of hormones are more natural for Eclectus parrots therefore hormone management is better handled with letting them run the course rather than chemically lowering them.

You are very knowledgeable with Eclectus care and breeding. I would love to learn more about what you know about high levels of hormones in Eclectus parrots.
 
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ReReEclectus

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Thanks! We'll give her a box and see if it works... If she were exhibiting nesting behavior I would have already tried it (our cockatoos are all nesty right now and all have boxes & shreddables in their cages)... We took her happy hut out because she abandoned it when she came to live with us. The reason I worry is because it's been going on way longer than feeding babies would. She's so hormonal we had to move her cage to another room as all the birds around her started going crazy too!
 

Delfin

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The causes for unwanted hormonal behaviour can be foods high in carbohydrates and/or sugars, hidden dark corners or spots, being given boxes or happy huts to play or sleep in, being given newspaper to shred, being fed mushy and / or cooked foods, light for too long, not going to bed at appropriate times suitable to parrots, snuggling, patting the parrot below the neckline, rubbing the beak.

This can start to encourage your bird to become hormonal. There has been occasions when a juvenile parrots have been said to display hormonal behaviour. If this happens, you need to take a step back & figure out what is causing this. In most cases it's the owner over indulging in cuddles, patting below the neck & beak rubbing.

When your parrot is behaving Hormonal, avoid any petting or stroking below the neckline has that would stimulate it even more. Avoid making direct eye contact with it for more than a minute or so, as this may also contribute to its sexual arousal.

Eliminate or substitute all of these causes and it will make it a great deal easier to gain back some control over the hormones. It is also a lot easier for them. When you think about it, all of the above is not natural for the parrot to have unless they are in breeding mode as they would be in the wild.

I am not suggesting that you cut back on your interactions or the quality of the care you provide for your parrot, but you may need to make some changes at least until it settles down. If after making changes the behavior continues for more than a few weeks, I would certainly recommend that you consult with your avian veterinarian.

Sustained sexual behavior and its hormonal overload can create serious health problems. Your veterinarian might be able to help control this behavior with medication.
 

labell

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Eclectus unlike other parrots do not have a set mating/breeding season. Most breeders I know are forced to remove nest boxes to get the pairs to take a break or they would raise young year round. However each bird is an individual, some will have stronger urges to mate and raise babies than others. Unless I had a female who was constantly laying eggs and putting herself in danger of calcium deficiency I would attempt to divert her attention as in my earlier suggestion. Eliminating or thinking you can eliminate sexual stimulus just isn't going to happen, it is hardwired to pro-create, in some more than others.

Is your girl laying eggs or just regurgitating?

I must admit I always get a little nervous when I see advise to limit certain foods. Eclectus must have imo a wide variety of foods that change and rotate frequently, some of it is always going to be warm or mushy because of their requirements and the types of foods. I personally wouldn't eliminate foods trying to control hormones, one I think it's more important for them to have the right diet and two I have never heard of it actually changing an extremely hormonal eclectus.

Touching, petting down the back I agree with in that it can stimulate them more so I would refrain from that sort of touching. Eclectus aren't crazy about the touchy feely stuff anyway so why do it. I do not believe it causes it in the first place, being sexually mature, hormones, urges to pro-create those are the real triggers and nothing we humans do can control that, short of shots which frankly I would never do. If I had a bird that was that set to breed I would find her a mate, replace her eggs with duds if you don't want to actually have babies but let her go through the motions if the urges were that strong.

Added...I do think it's best that she is away from the cockatoos anyway, one of the worst looking female babies I ever saw feather wise was kept in a room with all powder down birds, greys and cockatoos, it was landing on her and really ended up making her look scruffy. On my suggestion the owner moved her to another room, gave more baths and there was quite an improvement. There was so much dust on that girl that I think it was effecting her oil gland and not allowing her to preen very well.
 
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Delfin

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The wild Eclectus Parrots breeding cycles revolve around the wet season and food availability. although the Eclectus Parrots found closer to the equator seem to enjoy a longer breeding season.

If there is a periods of drought, then there is a limited food supply which will result in a diminish breeding season. Generally Australian Eclectus Parrots start breeding in March and may continue to September.

The wet season is generally from October to March and the tropical storms flood the nesting hollows so the Australian Eclectus parrot do not breed at this time. The wet season is seasonal occurrence.

There was a study conducted by Dr Rob Marshall BVSc MACVSc (Avian Health) He believes that breeding is a season activity amongst all Eclectus Parrot with season rainfall and food supply determining the length of the breeding season.

In fact the past observations falsely suggest that the Eclectus Parrots breed throughout the entire year. Many mistakenly believe this to be true due to the prolonged presence of the Eclectus hens guarding their nesting hollows.

The courting ritual of parrot involves the birds touching each other in fact you could call it parrot fore play which would definitely stimulate them to mate.


I think that there are a lot of breeders who artificially induce breeding conditions to make money and that makes me nervous.

ReReEclectus
I suggest that you look for and order the Book call "a Guide to the Eclectus Parrots as pet & aviary birds" written by Dr Rob Marshall BVSc MACVSc who also happens to be a Specialist in the Eclectus Parrots. In fact a world recognized Specialist of the Eclectus Parrot.
 

labell

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I guess I should have been clearer but it was late when I responded.:) I was speaking about captive eclectus though even wild pairs can have longer seasons due to the things you mentioned. Obviously in the wild rainfall, food abundance and appropriate non-flooding nest sites which are scarce play a major part in breeding pairs in the wild. I have read articles about females staying in the nest for prolonged periods due to stiff competition both with other female eclectus and cockatoos and the sheer lack of nest holes that don't flood when it rains.

Going back to captive eclectus there is less of a "breeding season" most breeders can predict within a few weeks when their macaws and amazons will begin breeding season that doesn't seem to be as predictable with eclectus in captivity. Unfortunatley there are breeders that take advantage of that but some even do it with other parrots (macaws, amazons) by removing the eggs for incubation so that pairs will double clutch. Thankfully the eclectus breeders I know do not condone such horrible breeding practice and one that I highly respect sometimes gets her pairs to take the whole year off to rest by utilizing fake eggs.
 

labell

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I spoke to a breeder friend and she has a single female that is not ready to be set up with a male yet but is close to breeding age that also regurgitates a lot she does exactly what I suggested which is giving her lots of shred-able stuff as well as foraging toys to keep her busy. She also agreed that if excessive egg laying ever comes into play with your girl then different measures must be taken but just regurgitating and re-eating her food is nothing to be alarmed about as long as you are sure you know the difference between regurgitating and vomiting.

Jillie Bean my Solomon female has never taken longer than 15 min to figure out how to get food out of a toy no matter how complicated it is. :D It does keep her mind occupied and well she is an eclectus anything food related is just FUN and game on!:p
 

Delfin

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I never implied that you could eliminate sexual behaviour. But you can put procedures in place, to control and minimize the sexual behaviour cause by hormones through the elimination and/or substitution of the causes to trigger these hormones.

I didn't realise that captive Eclectus Parrot have different breeding seasons from wild Eclectus Parrots :rolleyes:. My understanding is that all animals are hard-wired to pro-create regardless if they are in captivity or the wild. The breeding cycle is started by a number of triggers.

But just like way that some breeders can manipulate the birds environment to keep breeding. You can manipulate the birds environment to reduce the hormones caused by breeding triggers through elimination and/or substitution.

You control the amount of light given to your bird by putting the bird to bed at an appropriate time. This reduces the amount of light, Therefore eliminating the trigger caused by extended periods of light.

Then we have the diet. I didn't actually mean to reduce the food given but instead substitute foods that are high in carbohydrates and sugars with foods that are lower. This is because an abundance of food is a trigger, that tells birds " there is enough food available to support your offspring, so breed". These foods are usually high in carbohydrates and sugars. I understand that soy can also be contributing factor.

Warm and Mushy foods are normally fed to the females by the males during the breeding season. This trigger is hard to eliminate due to her self feeding. But if other triggers are Eliminated or substituted then this one could come under control itself.

I would eliminate any nesting boxes, happy huts and dark corners or spots for her to sleep or play in and any items that she can shred into nesting material has these are just more triggers for breeding. If a nesting box or happy hut is made available to her, she will "guard" her nest.

Increase the amount of foraging toys and also training and this should help distract her.

My father bred birds up till he was near seventy. He had to stop due to having cancer. within three years he lost the war, that was 14 years ago.
 
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ReReEclectus

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Well the quick update is... She's regurging less. We did give her a box & she's quite pleased with it and we altered her diet some (more sprouts & greens less warm or mushy foods).
To address a few points:

We don't pet her in a way that would stimulate her. Although her former owner did. I wonder if psychologically the lack of that interaction has contributed to her obsessive regurgitation.

She is not and has not laid eggs & l have checked her box.

As far as being with the 'toos, they all get misted or bathed every day and there are 4 air filters running in the room 24/7. Not to say there is no dust, but it's cut down significantly by that. She came to us plucked & with the feathers she does have in poor condition. Overall so far we've seen improvement.

Yes I think she'd like a mate, but I think she would like for it to be my husband LOL! She makes a squeeky-beep noise to him and its pretty apparent what it means.
 

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