Re Home Electus Parrot (s)

Hi I am new. I am also a 70 year old male and retired. There isn't enough money in my finances to buy an Eclectus BUT, I could furnish a male (or Pair) a decent home and companionship. I would prefer an older bird and would travel partway to accept it and its cage. My wife has a problem with the dander of other birds and her dietary requirements would easily accommodate the birds. We have different pastimes and rooms to pursue them in, as this is a 3bdrm. I would share my room and enjoy the training, toy making and foraging toys of a bird; not to mention its company.
I live in America near the South/West corner of West Virginia. It is in the country and fields surround our home, so noise and neighbors are not a problem. In the event of my demise my wife is 10 years younger and we know several people that would rescue the bird if needed. I am 1oldparroter on FaceBook and will accept friends there and furnish my phone number. Hoping someone knows someone that needs the option.
By the way will be posting comments along the way and would be amendable to cutting branches to replace dowels as perches of even free standing perches if someones interested and not so costly either. TNX jh

Hi and welcome to the community. This is a world-wide forum with people from all walks of life! I am what we call an "Amazon Snob" lol being owned by a Blue Fronted Amazon for thirty years. There are ALOT of Ekkie owners here who I am sure will chime in soon. I don't know much about Ekkie's except from what I have learned here. I do know their dietary requirements are specialized...more than a "typical" parrot. A bad diet can and will cause problems such as "toe tapping"and "wing flipping" plucking and other behavioral issues. BUT they have the sweetest faces! And we have members with unbelievably awesome birds.
Have you considered looking into a rescue? I know there are tons of neglected,forgotten,abused parrots in these places. i'm not sure if Ekkies have ever shown up.

Again...welcome to the forum!!


Jim

Welcome! Ekkie’s can easily break the bank in vet costs!

Did you look into rescue programs in need of foster parents? That might be your best bet if you aren't looking to buy but would be willing to provide temporary care to a parrot.

According to petmd.com, the birds that are considered to be hypoallergenic are:
Eclectus Parrots, Pionus, Parrots, Macaws, Parakeets and Toucans. My wife may have a dander / dust sort of issue, so I am after the Eclectus, one of the Pionus breeds or just a Parakeet. Preferably a male as they are assumed to be more trainable. I don't care about it's coloring or issue's. I will research it's dietary needs and other breed specific preference's. Wood for toys and foraging tools for instance; the Eclectus prefers softer pines and balsa for instance. It's the re - homing part that gets most people. They want to get some money back and I can't say as I blame them, just can't afford that too. email me if you here of one or friend me on facebook or just 1oldparroter onfb. jh

I think where people diverge is often that the adoption fee is seen as a token of ability to afford the care of a bird. In a single vet bill, I paid more than what our ekkie boy cost us to adopt. We're lucky to be in a place to have savings for his vet bills, even if that goes up to 1k (and it has). And that illness, vet care, and payment happened within 24 hours (if we're counting from the start time of his initial symptoms), or else he would have died to be quite frank. And unfortunately, the size of the parrot does not affect the vet bill.

That being said, it sounds like fostering might be perfect for your situation. The rescue organisation would assist in the vet bills. You don't have to sign up for the several decades of an ekkie or pionus lifespan. You can be assured that they will have a home should anything happen.

As for the dander issue, yes, ekkies aren't powder-based like cockatoos are. That being said, they do molt and have some dander when taking care of their pin feathers. You should get a bird-safe air purifier to make sure everything goes smoothly.

On top of that, your house should be bird-proof as much as possible. No PTFE, PFOA, etc (toss out those non-stick crockery, reevaluate your iron and hairdryer and heater). No smoking, diffusers, scents in the house, which also means to be careful what cleaning products you use. There are several threads that explain all that needs to be done to safely bird-proof a house. If you do not have the money to invest in that, hold off before adopting a bird. Too often, people buy birds, then show up here asking why they died because they didn't know how to make their house safe for a bird companion.

Heads up - parrots are different species, not different breeds (as you can breed between different breeds, but between species is rare if not impossible in most cases).

Sounds like you've the eagerness to DIY your own toys and branches. Just be sure to be safe about it. If you take branches from outside, disinfect them safely. Check to make sure they weren't sprayed with any chemicals, bake them in the oven, clean them with F10 or stronger, etc.

Hope to hear how it goes for you.

Pionus are extremely dusty like African Greys and Cockatoos so I’m not sure how they got on that list, yikes!


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