Live food?

Often when I'm preparing live food for some of my other birds, Peaseley the eclectus will steal a wax worm or a mealworm and seems to really enjoy eating it. Anyone else have an eclectus that occasionally eats insects?

It is normal for some parrots to eat these, but they can harbor parasites/bacteria etc, so there are mixed opinions on the matter.

In the wild ekkies have been shown to exhibit some very minor insectivorous tendencies. But they need less protein than other parrots, very prone to atherosclerosis. So an occasional worm may be fine, but definitely keep it to a minimum.

chris-md said:

In the wild ekkies have been shown to exhibit some very minor insectivorous tendencies. But they need less protein than other parrots, very prone to atherosclerosis. So an occasional worm may be fine, but definitely keep it to a minimum.

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Exactly...When a species of parrot other than an Eclectus eats an insect, the only major concern is due to the possibility of parasites and harmful bacteria that they carry (and that absolutely includes the live insects you buy from a pet shop or an insect farm/breeder, they are not at all free of parasites or harmful bacteria)...But with an Eclectus you not only have to worry about them contracting parasites or ingesting harmful bacteria and developing an infection(s) or one of the diseases that insects can carry and spread, but you also have to worry about the extremely high amount of protein that most-all insects contain. And while all insects do have a high protein content, some insects have an extremely high protein content, much more than others...And this can cause your Eclectus the typical health/neurological issues that they commonly suffer from when eating a diet high in protein...

The other issue with some insects, specifically Wax Worms, Butterworms, Hornworms (any soft-bodied worms), as well as Mealworms is their fat-content. Wax Worms contain a ton of a fat...So you have to worry about Fatty-Liver Disease if you feed fatty insects/worms on a regular basis...And then with insects like Mealworms, which have a very hard, chitlin shell, you also have to worry about the bird being able to properly digest them and not suffer from any bowel-impactions or obstructions if they eat more than one or two of them at a time, as a Mealworm's shell is not able to be digested by some birds...

The best thing to do is research exactly what insects occur in the natural environment of the Eclectus, and only feed those specific insects to them, and only in very small amounts and only occasionally, as a very special treat if he actually likes them...

***Also, just as an FYI, never feed your bird any freeze-dried or already dead insects, such as the common freeze-dried Mealworms you see for sale in most pet shops. They contain absolutely no hydration/moisture, they lose any nutritional benefit, and you're basically feeding your bird nothing but hard, dried, chitlin shells that are nothing but protein...