Worried about regurgitating.

lydie

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Jan 4, 2017
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I have space in my life for a new bird and I'm very taken with ekkies right now in terms of appearance and personality. The one thing giving me pause is that I heard their mating season is virtually year round and that they instinctively regurgitate food for their loved ones. The problem is that I'm quite squeamish and I'm not sure how well I'd handle their displays of affection if it became a frequent thing.

All birds go through hormonal shifts and get a bit randy now and then, so is the behavior pretty much a guarantee? They sound perfect for me otherwise and I learned to deal with being pooped on before, so maybe I could learn to deal with this too... but yuck. :(
 

SailBoat

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Jul 10, 2015
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Western, Michigan
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I have space in my life for a new bird and I'm very taken with ekkies right now in terms of appearance and personality. The one thing giving me pause is that I heard their mating season is virtually year round and that they instinctively regurgitate food for their loved ones. The problem is that I'm quite squeamish and I'm not sure how well I'd handle their displays of affection if it became a frequent thing.

All birds go through hormonal shifts and get a bit randy now and then, so is the behavior pretty much a guarantee? They sound perfect for me otherwise and I learned to deal with being pooped on before, so maybe I could learn to deal with this too... but yuck. :(

Good grief, what do you do around babies?

Haven't a clue where in this huge World you are, so from a general recommendation; Visit others that you know have ekkies, also Pet Stores, Rehomers, etc.... and spend the sometime with both males and females.

The assumption is that you have other Parrots, but you do not define what species, how many, and for how long!

I have over many years come to believe that if you are bothered by something up front that you are better off to just avoiding putting yourself into that position. With that said, and what you provided as part of your Thread, why not just stay with in your comfort zone?

Over the years, I have had babies and Amazons provide upon me near everything people try to avoid. The reality is, it part of dealing with life.
 
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lydie

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I've never had anything to do with babies. :p

I don't have any birds at the moment but I had one in the past who passed away from natural causes. I've felt ready to add one to my life again for awhile, but it's only become feasible recently due to lifestyle changes.

I'm considering other species too, and I guess this is just part of my research. I've not had the privilege of spending time with an eclectus before and there aren't any parrot rescues near me, so I was hoping to hear about what it's like from people who live with them.
 

SailBoat

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I've never had anything to do with babies. :p

I don't have any birds at the moment but I had one in the past who passed away from natural causes. I've felt ready to add one to my life again for awhile, but it's only become feasible recently due to lifestyle changes.

I'm considering other species too, and I guess this is just part of my research. I've not had the privilege of spending time with an eclectus before and there aren't any parrot rescues near me, so I was hoping to hear about what it's like from people who live with them.

Well, you're in the middle of Ecleckus Central. Start by drilling down though the Forum and you should get picture fairly quickly! But do not be surprised if you do not find much. The reality is that its kind of like a bell shaped curve, the majority of owners have a bit of a problem, the center! Some have no problem, one outer end, And, some have a serious problem.

Now, I have seen that with near all of the mid to larger Parrots. So, how lucky are you?

FYI: When you're surround by Parrot Lovers' and state that your worried about being regurgitated on, alot! Well, that kind of like being on a Parenting Forum and state that your not that into changing diapers! It kind of part of that World! No one really likes its, but like I stated, its part of the World. Yes, there are ways of reducing it, but it will happen.

Would recommend that you consider an Adult Parrot with some age and therefore some history.

How do you avoid babies? Avoid being around people with babies or grand babies? I guess that's possible.
 

chibby

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Sep 14, 2016
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Maryland
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Alvin - RIP 12/15/14
I have space in my life for a new bird and I'm very taken with ekkies right now in terms of appearance and personality. The one thing giving me pause is that I heard their mating season is virtually year round and that they instinctively regurgitate food for their loved ones. The problem is that I'm quite squeamish and I'm not sure how well I'd handle their displays of affection if it became a frequent thing.

All birds go through hormonal shifts and get a bit randy now and then, so is the behavior pretty much a guarantee? They sound perfect for me otherwise and I learned to deal with being pooped on before, so maybe I could learn to deal with this too... but yuck. :(

I'm not really an expert and still learning about eclectus parrots myself, so take this with a grain of salt. From what I understand of parrots, most of them regurgitate food for their mates. There are ways to curb the behavior by setting strict boundaries so the bird understands you're not a potential mate (like not stroking erogenous zones on accident and not giving the bird attention when they start doing the behaviors) but it may not be possible to get rid of it completely. I would definitely suggestion doing more research though so you don't commit to something you can't handle due to being squeamish (which is understandable).
 

EllenD

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Aug 20, 2016
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State College, PA
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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Well, I can tell you that I just recently got a baby Senegal parrot, his name is Kane, he's just over 4 months old, and last week when I opened his sleepy cage up to let him downstairs for breakfast, for the first time he regurgitated all over my hand 😁

Usually I open all of my bird's sleepy cages in my bedroom and they all immediately haul butt downstairs for their big, morning poops on their T-stands and then start yelling for me to come get their breakfasts. But last week, for the first time, Kane didn't fly off downstairs with the green cheek, Quaker, and cockatiel (she walks right now, awful molting, another story), he jumped out onto my hand, made his little baby sounds, and then his head started bobbing, neck started heaving, and there it was, special food chunks just for me! I was actually flattered by it and very happy he did it! All my birds have done it from time to time, and any bird you get will do it. You need to think of it as a gift!!! They live you, trust you, and pick you!!!

I can tell you that when they truly "regurgitate" rather than "vomit" (like when they're sick), it's not what you think...Vomit to me is vomit, it's liquids and solids, and there's a lot of it generally...When they regurgitate out of "love" (lol) they generally heave up a chunk or two of solid food from their crop. Kane bobbed up a piece of corn and a chunk of something white, I never did figure out what that was. I will say that bigger bird=bigger chunks 😋

I'm assuming you don't have any pets, like a dog or cat? Dogs throw up buckets of liquid vomit when they are sick, no matter what their size, and cats are constantly heaving up hair balls coated in vomit, so there really isn't much avoiding it with any pet!

After writing this reply I am now absolutely sure that bird people are not normal, and I'm totally cool with that! 😎



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chris-md

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Feb 6, 2010
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Maryland - USA
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Parker - male Eclectus

Aphrodite - red throated conure (RIP)
Sailboat is right, your mileage may vary. My eclectus adores me but doesn't regurg.

Truthfully, regurgitation is somwthing that really shouldn't be on your radar as far as concerns. Bird regurgitate to friends and mates alike. It's a sign of "I like you". It's an ancillary behavior you just accept as part of the territory.

Essentially, find something else to be worried about :)
 

coopedup

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Apr 8, 2016
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CA
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7y/o eclectus Wrangler
mine apparently adores me---he tries to regurge on me every day. It's not a huge amount because I see it coming and redirect him to his cage or a toy. Not to say i never get "gifted" but it's a small amount and honestly no worse than a dog with dogfood caught in their whiskers (to me that's far more gross!) Regurge isnt vomit---as previously stated, it hasnt been fully digested. It will have the texture and odor of whatever they last ate. If you give them peanut butter--guess what the regurge will smell like. If he eats granola, it's chunky/oaty and not much of an odor at all. Pasta...same thing. Again, it's not copious amounts, and if you redirect when you see the head bobbing start, you wont have to deal with it.
 

Anansi

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Maya (Female Solomon Island eclectus parrot), Jolly (Male Solomon Island eclectus parrot), Bixby (Male, red-sided eclectus. RIP), Suzie (Male cockatiel. RIP)
As for the mating season being virtually year round, it's not really what you think. The intensity varies with individual birds, but for the most part it isn't as if you're dealing with a hormonal bird all year long. And not all will engage in frequent regurgitating.

And when they do, as EllenD pointed out, we're really just talking small, solid chunks. Not vomit.
 

lina

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Oct 19, 2016
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Portland, OR
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Male Eclectus
I have a four year old eclectus male and he regurgitates on everything shiny. is this common? what does it mean?!
 

happy410

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Jul 23, 2015
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Happy, DYH Amazon
Tesla, Blue & Gold Macaw
Tesla decided to give me some scrambled eggs over the weekend. Thanks but no thanks. ��
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
I have a four year old eclectus male and he regurgitates on everything shiny. is this common? what does it mean?!
It could be that he's seeing his reflection and regurgitating for it, much the same way some birds regurgitate on their toy mirrors.

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