eclectus wont stop screaming!!!!

Hey guys I feel silly asking all this but im still trying to work out how to be an ekkie owner! My partner and I have had him for about 3 and a half months and he would be about 6 months old.. he is a Solomon Island and his name is Chester.

He is so beautiful and I love him very much but lately we've been struggling to listen to his constant squawking. My partner is his favourite person to be with and he loves being on his head (his favourite spot to be) but even when when he is getting attention or on the head the squawking doesn't stop.
He squawks in his cage so we let him out and he continues to squawk.. we are confused!
He has a variety of toys in his cage including a mirror with a bell on it which is his favourite, he rings the bell and looks at himself. He gets fed fresh fruit every morning such as: passionfruit, apple, pear, pomegranate, strawberry, blueberry and he used to have kiwi fruit but he didn't seem to like it ...
He gets fed fresh veggies for dinner such as: cauliflower stem (a favourite), carrot, sweet potato, snow pea sprouts, cucumber, red chilli, zucchini, broccoli and corn. He does pick at his veggies but a lot of the time wont really touch his carrot or sweet potato, I have tried steaming them for him to soften them down but he still wasn't interested. I hear people say that their ekkie has destroyed everything in its bowl but that's not what Chester does..
He was getting a feed of formula morning & night but we've recently taken the morning feed away from him as he wasn't wanting it he would only just attack the syringe.. but still loves his night feed. We still get him out of a morning to hang out on his play-pen in our bedroom which he sits on, but constantly still squawks. And he gets let out through the day for a play if we are home and out again at night time for his night feed. I always speak softly to him when I'm passing by his cage, I constantly am telling him I love him and that he is beautiful..

What I don't understand is that my partner is his favourite person to be with and he will play with Chester and give him attention and scratch him which he enjoys and goes onto his head but still continues to squawk.. he is getting what he wants to still does it, does somebody know why this is happening??

He has his wings clipped and gets sprayed with a water bottle every few days, at one stage the backs of his legs were peeling and we got told that was from lack of moisture and it has improved since we've been spraying him more..

So overall we want to play with him and have him out with us but not when his squawking blows our eardrums out! He is a beautiful baby but we are just still trying to figure it all out.

*ANY FEEDBACK IS WELCOME*
thanks guys

My ekkie Peeko is going to be 5 months next week and I have experienced similar behavior. I brought him home when he was around 4 months. He only squawks with me and when I'm not home I'm told that he doesn't squawk at all, he even sings! He loves to sit in the window and often yells at me to take him (because as soon as he is there he gets quiet). But I've learned that when he is acting up I won't take him to the window. His squawking has improved since he's starting to understand that he can't always get what he wants. What's also important is that Peeko associates me with food since I am the one that feeds him. He squawks at me even when his crop is full. I think it's like what others have said, there is just a certain bond there and I think he is expecting more food. Lastly, when I brought Peeko home he was barely weaned, and I decided to go from giving him breakfast and dinner to giving him breakfast lunch and dinner. One of the meals is a mash to simulate the baby formula. For me this has helped greatly with the squawking! He gobbles up the mash as if it were the formula. I think that may help because Chester will learn to start eating more on his own so that he doesn't have to feel dependent on your partner for food.

And Peeko also doesn't like sweet potatoes!

Also, I'm learning too! theses are just a few things I have done recently.

You may be inadvertently encouraging his squawking by giving him attention or food when he is noisy. The use of a clicker will help him to associate good/wanted behaviour (being quiet) with the reward. A few things to try are the following suggestions:
1. When he makes unwanted noise place him on a T stand for a few seconds and then when he is quiet IMMEDIATELY reward him with food, a scratch (whatever he likes).
2. Be observant and reward him those times when he is quiet like when he is in his cage playing with a toy and ignore the loud times. This is hard when they are screaming, been there done that!
3. Buy or make him foraging type toys. He will enjoy watching you prepare them and enjoy foraging even more. Guaranteed that he will be quiet whilst foraging.

Your problem is that he's not weaned yet. His cries is for food reason, he's most likely begging and is very hungry. Thus you should always get a properly weaned baby as it's not a easy task to wean a baby bird. Nor can most people tolerate the cries they give.

MikeyTN said:

Your problem is that he's not weaned yet. His cries is for food reason, he's most likely begging and is very hungry. Thus you should always get a properly weaned baby as it's not a easy task to wean a baby bird. Nor can most people tolerate the cries they give.

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Mikey is dead on right! This bird is screaming because he still needs to be hand fed...

What is his food intake, is he eating the majority of the food put in front of him, and is his weight going down? If so, this bird may be starving... or on the verge of starving!

Inexperienced people hand feeding, if you make a mistake, you could accidentally kill your bird. Check the temperature in multiple places. Hot spots happen, and they cause burned crops... Too cold? The bird won't eat it. Don't over fill the crop, or he can asphyxiate. Feed to fast, aspiration pneumonia. Don't sterilize everything? Crop infections...

Baby birds are fragile things. There is A LOT to this!

Hi guys sorry I haven't gotten back to anyone, been working.

Thanks for your feedback - although I don't see how he is starving as we have had a vet take a look at him and they said he is a very healthy boy, he looks healthy and hasn't lost any weight.. he has actually been putting a bit on. He weighs a healthy 410 grams!
We only took his morning formula feed off him because he was no longer interested in it, he would barely have any and he would only attack the syringe, yet he will still eat his night formula feed.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this in my first comment but he gets his breakfast of fruits, lunch of veggies and dinner of veggies too.. I was thinking he might not be interested in his night veggies because he is full from breakfast, lunch and his night feed of formula. (We weigh him regularly to be sure he isn't losing any).

My partner and I have been doing a bit of research and we think this screaming is coming from boredom.. so we are going to make him heaps of foraging toys to keep him occupied throughout the day.

What are some other vegetables/fruits I can offer him?

Thanks everyone

And also when he is out with us and on his play-pen and he won't stop squawking, what do we do? My partner will be stroking his beak and petting his head and he loves it but continues to squawk? Why is this?
Because he always wants to be with my partner, don't know if he prefers males or what but even when he gets him, it doesn't stop..

I have just started playing music to him while he was on my hand and he seemed to really like it so I think I will buy a little CD player to put near his cage so when we aren't home he has something to listen to...

Last couple of times we have hung foraging toys in his cage he has attacked them and been unsure about it.. and my partner hung something off his play-pen today and he wouldn't sit on his play-pen, he seemed frightened so I took it away. We have just hung a skewer full of veggies in he's cage so we will see how that goes and keep you updated.

Thanks!!

?????anyone?

Hi sykoturkey,

I'm going through a similar thing with my 17wk old vos. She was weaned at 12wks and I got her at 13wks. She screeches so loud I can't stand it. I worked out that she screeches when she's hungry even if she has food in her cage, and she screeches when shes bored.
I started putting some branches in her cage like bottle brush and gumtree branches with plenty of gumnuts. I put them in first thing in the morning so she has plenty to chew on and is busy chewing for hours resulting in a much quieter bird!!
If your bird is scared of them, I would remove him from the cage while u place the branches in, then put him back in. He will get curious and investigate. Try not to take them away because he's scared.
Sometimes I have to remind her where her food is especially if she more worked up than normal and then she will continue to screech while eating but it will slowly stop and she will eat until shes full.
I also weave food through the bars of the cage like silverbeet so the leafy part is hanging down. I do this at the top so it encourages her to work for her food.

I hope this helps

Thank-you RubyRose for your reply.

I will take your ideas and see how he reacts to them.. and i will keep you updated I love him so much he is such a lovely bird but this screaming has got to improve!!!

Its making me go insane haha . Thanks again.

With any new thing and babies you want to take it slow and steady. Put the new item in the cage or on the play stand for longer and longer times. Make sure you expose him to each new room in the house this is vital for him to accept new things as he gets older but you don't want to do so much and so fast that he stays freaked out. Eclectus are one of the only parrots I know that when they are truly frightened rather than try to fly off they will become statue still. It is commonly called the "eclectus freeze" talk gently and reassuringly through new experiences so he knows he is safe.

The screaming is inherent in baby eclectus they make a screech as babies that other parrots just don't do and they can seem inconsolable, which is the worst part because most people don't understand that it is just something they do even when they are just fed and you are actually holding them. It's why I encourage people to let a responsible breeder hand feed and fully wean your baby! The good news is once they are completely and properly weaned and adults they do not repeat this noise.

RubyRose said:

Hi sykoturkey,

I'm going through a similar thing with my 17wk old vos. She was weaned at 12wks and I got her at 13wks. She screeches so loud I can't stand it. I worked out that she screeches when she's hungry even if she has food in her cage, and she screeches when shes bored.
I started putting some branches in her cage like bottle brush and gumtree branches with plenty of gumnuts. I put them in first thing in the morning so she has plenty to chew on and is busy chewing for hours resulting in a much quieter bird!!
If your bird is scared of them, I would remove him from the cage while u place the branches in, then put him back in. He will get curious and investigate. Try not to take them away because he's scared.
Sometimes I have to remind her where her food is especially if she more worked up than normal and then she will continue to screech while eating but it will slowly stop and she will eat until shes full.
I also weave food through the bars of the cage like silverbeet so the leafy part is hanging down. I do this at the top so it encourages her to work for her food.

I hope this helps

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I really hope the breeder didn't stop hand feeding a Vos at 12 weeks old and that was a typo, a Solomon doesn't even wean that fast and Vos being MUCH larger take much longer to fully wean. In fact at 17 weeks it is likely that she would just NOW being headed into healthy weaning age. Not kidding at 17 weeks a Vos would still be on probably at least one feeding and more than likely still 2. Any breeder that would force wean a 12 week old Vos is in my opinion an absolutely terrible breeder with no concern for the long term health and well being of the babies they are clearly just trying to make money on!!

labell...yes my girl was bought from a really bad breeder (was a trusted breeder til recent). She was fully weaned at 12wks but not forced, she refused the formula. Yesterday she was fully checked out by a avian vet and screened for psittacosis, beak and feather disease and polyoma (unsure of the spelling). Psittacosis was neg and the others take 2wks for results. She has some abnormal feather colouring so we are hoping that moults out.
Either way she gets a great diet, plenty if excercise and a lot of love and attention!!

RubyRose said:

labell...yes my girl was bought from a really bad breeder (was a trusted breeder til recent). She was fully weaned at 12wks but not forced, she refused the formula. Yesterday she was fully checked out by a avian vet and screened for psittacosis, beak and feather disease and polyoma (unsure of the spelling). Psittacosis was neg and the others take 2wks for results. She has some abnormal feather colouring so we are hoping that moults out.
Either way she gets a great diet, plenty if excercise and a lot of love and attention!!

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If she has some male green coloring that is completely normal and should molt out.

I know the breeder told you she was refusing food but I also believe 100% that there was some negative reason for it. Food too cold or too hot and sometimes a baby will refuse, which is better if you consider that the alternative is a burned crop or crop stasis but it is still not properly weaned. It is just a baby refusing to eat the way it is trying to be forced to feed. I have over 25 yrs feeding, weaning and loving the eclectus species and I can tell you I have never had one wean so young and certainly not a Vos. I do hope you don't have long term issues with anything that was done by the breeder.

labell...I say used to be trusted because I wasn't informed of an eye problem she had. I noticed it after I got her home. I was very disappointed in them for not telling me, then telling me they hadn't noticed, then saying its a lazy eye! I will not give our girl back to them, I've worked so hard to gain her trust and she is happy here.
The vet said she has yellow stripped feathers under her wings, not on her wings, against her body. I thought it was normal but the vet says no. Also a large yellow stripe on her tail where her wing feathers sit.
I paid for a pure vos and they told me she was. I trusted them.

Sorry sykoturky, this is your thread not mine!
How about a picture of your beautiful baby??

RubyRose said:

labell...I say used to be trusted because I wasn't informed of an eye problem she had. I noticed it after I got her home. I was very disappointed in them for not telling me, then telling me they hadn't noticed, then saying its a lazy eye! I will not give our girl back to them, I've worked so hard to gain her trust and she is happy here.
The vet said she has yellow stripped feathers under her wings, not on her wings, against her body. I thought it was normal but the vet says no. Also a large yellow stripe on her tail where her wing feathers sit.
I paid for a pure vos and they told me she was. I trusted them.

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Mis-colored feathers in yellow (unless on the tail of the Vos) are almost always diet related as in some deficiency, unfortunately there are plenty of breeders out there that think they are nutritional chemist and can make their own formula or add other ingredients to make it stretch not caring that they are wreaking havoc on the nutritional balance and only concerned with the bottom dollar.

Eye issues that I have seen from breeders like the sound of this one is them being in a rush to feed not watching what they are doing and getting hot formula in the eye of the baby. What does the eye look like? Cloudy? Unfocused? Runny at times?

RubyRose said:

Sorry sykoturky, this is your thread not mine!
How about a picture of your beautiful baby??

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Any information about eclectus is good for someone new to them to read and research so maybe the op will get something from info about your baby as well.
Like NOT to trust in breeders that hand out unweaned babies like it is no big deal!

labell...not sure what happened to my last reply?? Maybe forgot to submit haha. The eye itself looks fine. No discharge and isn't crusty looking. The eyelid takes longer to open when blinking and she blinks twice as much with that eye. She tends to close that eye alot and will often eat and play with it closed while the other is open.
The vet looked at it and said it looks fine and thought it was psittacosis as she sneezes alot at night.
She was raised on vetafarm formula then onto dry and soaked seed. They said she was eating fruit but the few times I went to visit her I never saw any in there.
She now gets a smorgasbord of fruit and veg, branches and blossoms and few pellets. We have planted veggies and fruit trees in our yard for her. My kids make her paper toys and she loves it!

Hi sorry I can't upload a photo at the moment I will have to make a photobucket account to be able to do that..

Excuse me Labell, I am having some serious problems with my boy and he is stressing the entire household out can I please have some serious advice? I don't know what else to do. Do you have an email I can reach you at?

Sorry about this !