Toe-Tapping and Molting?

charmedbyekkie

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Cairo the Ekkie!
Hi guys! Ekkie-problem again :/

Cairo's diet hasn't changed one bit, except for eating more likely due to molting. He's 17 months, so it's likely his first big molt, not the baby molt when they're a few months old.

The only thing new that I can think of is, for Christmas, he did get some new wooden toys, but he doesn't ingest the wood - just bites it apart.

Just wondering if it's a diet thing, since he is molting, does he need more of a specific vitamin/mineral? I know ekkies aren't supposed to have cuttlefish bones or mineral blocks, but am I not giving him enough of something in his diet (which seems to be getting more and more specific as I test new and old foods)?

He's currently eating a chop of
Mains (these veggies have a higher ratio):
- bell pepper (red, yellow, green - capsicum)
- boy choy (xiao bai cai / Shanghai green)
- broccoli
- butternut squash
- carrot
Extras (these veggies have a lower representation):
- green beans
- snow peas
Sprinkle (these fruits/oats are minimally added):
- apple (Fuji) - tiny amount just to make splashes of sweetness
- pomegranate - also just a few to whet his appetite when he first sees it
- oats - sprinkled lightly on top

For some reason, he's been having a mild reaction to brown/red rice recently (it's the same brand we always get), so I've cut it out of his diet. I'm starting to adjust his diet based on not just toe-tapping but also how his droppings look like since our vet has been keeping an eye on them with faecalysis, so things like watermelon are quite literally a forbidden fruit.

Right now, his training treats are a mix of almonds slivers for low value, dehydrated apples for medium value, and dehydrated bananas for high value. All of these have never caused Cairo any issues before. And the dehydrated fruits we keep in the freeze to help preserve them in this tropical climate.



That being said, his toe-tapping isn't excessive like I've seen in others on here. It does bother him a little (he'll beak his foot a little when it happens), but it's not constant - just a couple of times a night, and even then, I've only noticed it once tonight and once a couple of nights ago, so it's not even a daily thing. As I write, it looks like it stopped for the night.

Since it's not daily and not excessive/aggressive, should I just accept as an ekkie-fate and ignore? He'd been good for the past few months; it's just recently it popped up again. Alternatively, since he is molting, should I be adding more of something or cutting something out? (And please don't say egg because his droppings go really, really off with egg - I was ready to bring him to the vet.)

...

As a P.S./side note, he's been preening in his new pin feathers - there's a lot of 'dandruff' as a result. We shower him every day now (it really does seem to help him, especially since he's much happier during and afterwards), but would it be alright to shower him twice a day to help? Or would that be a bit much for his skin and oil gland?
 

Laurasea

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I'm not an ekkies owners or expert, but I read about them a lot as you guys have posted about them. Misting better than showers I read as shower can be drying to skin, ( what I read) and that they are prone to low vit D, nothing in his diet gives him vit D , so you have to relay on sun exposure. ... You can look up your food, but I'm pretty sure no vit D, I don't know if you could give yogurt that has vit D in it??? No idea on that just read Ekkies need Sunshine.
 

Anansi

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A shower everyday sounds fine to me, but I do think twice a day would be a bit much.

Laura's point about Vitamin D is something that has always bothered me as well. It's really hard to find birdsafe foods that are high in Vitamin D, so as she said sunlight is very important. Weather permitting, getting your ekkie outside in a travel cage (or harness) is invaluable for the sun exposure. The sunlight allows for the production of Vitamin D.

It's winter hereabouts now, so they only get their sunlight through the windows at present. I used to be one of those people who pointed out that tests show birds don't get the necessary elements of said sunshine through the window glass, but Steven (Sailboat) wisely pointed out to me that many of those tests are performed by full spectrum light companies and, as such, are less likely to be neutral and unbiased. So I really don't know if the sun coming in through the windows helps or not, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

As for the toe-tapping itself, remember that a combination of fruits or veggies can just as easily be the culprit as a single fruit or veggie that may be causing a bad reaction. What I have taken to doing of late is limiting the fruit types to one per serving. So while there may be between 5 and 7 types of veggies, there will only be one fruit to serve as an accent. I do this because it seems to me that, historically speaking, sugary foods have more of a chance of building up to a point of overload and causing TT. Same for proteins. A high enough protein value also has a chance of sparking TT.

Also, try increasing the variety a bit. Not just in terms of the variety of foods offered at a single meal, but also have enough go to foods that you can cycle some out entirely between one week and the next. This is easy enough for me, as I only prep enough food at one time to feed them for 3-5 days at most. But for those who make uber batches that they freeze, just vary up what you have frozen and label the bags so that you can switch things up from day to day.
 
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charmedbyekkie

charmedbyekkie

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Cairo the Ekkie!
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Luckily we're right on the equator, so it's hot, humid, and sunny all year round. I've been trying to make sure he either gets some time outside on our window ledge while in his cage (it's slightly shaded by rattan blinds and he has a fan blowing at him) or he gets a walk just around sunset when I get back from work. I'd say he's gets about 1-5 hours of unfiltered sunlight every other day. The rest of the time, it's behind a window. After reading Laura's comment, I've done some reading about preening and vit D, so we've been trying to strategically time his outside sunlight.

Regarding the food variety, I think I'll have to create a separate thread with a list of local foods and see if anyone knows if they are safe.... I've been avoiding anything that isn't listed on the standard ekkie lists online, but I do worry about variety (not just health-wise, but also his boredom/interest).
 

HEEDLESS

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Eclectus: SI. Vosmaeri
"KISE" She was born in Jan, 2018.
"Akashi" He hatched 07/13/2021.


I realized Kise was tapping her toes/wings (not a lot) when she was home after three weeks. I thought she was a happy bird for tapping her toes on my head.


I looked things up and read.. Then I realized what are those meaning. I went to Whole Food Store and bought vitamins for her.


I poked one softgel with the syringe and have been feeding her every morning... She has stopped the tapping and doing fine..


Her Vet has approved it and told me to give only 10,000IU on the Vit A, and 500IU on the Vit D.


Labs tested three times and results are all good without toxic on her liver.


Talk to your Vet and see that he/she will say.



See pic!

DSC00413.JPG






 
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charmedbyekkie

charmedbyekkie

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Cairo the Ekkie!
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Argh, I think I just found the source - earlier this evening we gave him a holiday dessert of extra pomegranates (almost half a pomegranate - normally he doesn't get much in the way of fruits and other fatty/sweet stuff), and now his leg is causing him to lose his balance. Seems in small doses, it didn't do much for the past few weeks, except when we gave him extra servings, but the 'dessert' of a heap of pomegranate tonight really showed up with a flair.

Will be starting up our process of elimination again.... Here's hoping getting rid of pomegranates all together will solve the problem. (And shucks, here I was hoping to quickly test out persimmons with him!)
 

Anansi

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I realized Kise was tapping her toes/wings (not a lot) when she was home after three weeks. I thought she was a happy bird for tapping her toes on my head.


I looked things up and read.. Then I realized what are those meaning. I went to Whole Food Store and bought vitamins for her.


I poked one softgel with the syringe and have been feeding her every morning... She has stopped the tapping and doing fine..


Her Vet has approved it and told me to give only 10,000IU on the Vit A, and 500IU on the Vit D.


Labs tested three times and results are all good without toxic on her liver.


Talk to your Vet and see that he/she will say.



See pic!

DSC00413.JPG


Just be careful with added vitamins when it comes to ekkies. You have your vet's approval, so that makes me feel better, but as ekkies tend to be less well understood by vets in general I'd keep a close eye on her.

Argh, I think I just found the source - earlier this evening we gave him a holiday dessert of extra pomegranates (almost half a pomegranate - normally he doesn't get much in the way of fruits and other fatty/sweet stuff), and now his leg is causing him to lose his balance. Seems in small doses, it didn't do much for the past few weeks, except when we gave him extra servings, but the 'dessert' of a heap of pomegranate tonight really showed up with a flair.

Will be starting up our process of elimination again.... Here's hoping getting rid of pomegranates all together will solve the problem. (And shucks, here I was hoping to quickly test out persimmons with him!)

That heavy a dose of pomegranates sounds like a very likely cause. As I'd mentioned, overloading on the sweets can definitely initiate some toe-tapping. Pomegranates are among the more nutritious fruits that you can give them, but like anything else it should be done in moderation. Sprinkling some on as an accent should be enough.

As for persimmons, I didn't even know what they were until I got some for my Eclectic Duo earlier this year! Lol! If eaten when ripe, they're like a freaking honey-dipped ambrosia! Can't believe I've been missing out all these years! But I digress. The persimmons were great for the birds, too! (I forced myself to save most for them.) But again, it was around a 1:6 or 1:7 ratio as compared to the veggies.
 

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