4 month old Eckie

Hi all,

I seem to be having an issue with my male Eckie and i don't know what went wrong. So i recently bought Kiwi at 3 months and when we first got him he loved eating veggies (especially corn!).

Now my dad would try to feed him seeds everyday while i was at work even though i hold told him not to as i've done my research on Eckies before i bought him and knew it was a no no for daily diet. So when i came back from work i would replace his bowl with veggies instead. However, its been two days since he wont eat anything besides seeds and i don't know what to do.

I feed him every morning before i leave for work and afternoon once i'm back from work. (now i see that when i'm back from work he hasnt even touched his bowl). He also is bonded more to my dad rather than me so he tends to bite when i try to pick him up and change the environment for him.

I've tried chopping fruits and veggies, i've tried blending them in the blender, i've tried feeding it to him by hand and he bites 2 or 3 pieces before he refuses to eat anymore. Does anyone know what i can do?

Amandaaaaa said:

Hi all,

I seem to be having an issue with my male Eckie and i don't know what went wrong. So i recently bought Kiwi at 3 months and when we first got him he loved eating veggies (especially corn!).

Now my dad would try to feed him seeds everyday while i was at work even though i hold told him not to as i've done my research on Eckies before i bought him and knew it was a no no for daily diet. So when i came back from work i would replace his bowl with veggies instead. However, its been two days since he wont eat anything besides seeds and i don't know what to do.

I feed him every morning before i leave for work and afternoon once i'm back from work. (now i see that when i'm back from work he hasnt even touched his bowl). He also is bonded more to my dad rather than me so he tends to bite when i try to pick him up and change the environment for him.

I've tried chopping fruits and veggies, i've tried blending them in the blender, i've tried feeding it to him by hand and he bites 2 or 3 pieces before he refuses to eat anymore. Does anyone know what i can do?

Click to expand...

Eckies are TOTALLY unique..but your baby is also very young. I will post a link but it was written for general parrots (eckies are often the exception) so read it but don't act until you hear from other eckie owners pleassssse.....because it may not apply...http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/74363-so-you-bought-unweaned-baby.html

Parrots pick who they pick-- they don't always like you (that's parrot 101)...sorry....That isn't to say you can't be tolerated, but it is how they are (you can still build trust by associating yourself w/ low-stress, positive experiences--and that takes many months if you aren't "the one"). If it's any solace, puberty will change the whole personality over again so you may be the chosen one then, but if not, just know that you didn't sign up to be liked, you signed up for better or for worse.

Hello and welcome!

You can breath. It’s been such a short time that absolutely no damage has been done. You’ll encounter far more frustrating developmental behaviors in the future (buy earplugs come the 8-12 month time frame! And then there’s puberty, hormones...)


youve got this! So let’s start with this: seeds aren’t the root of all evil. They get that reputation because for many birds, it’s the ONLY thing they are fed, which is awful. They have some great nutritional value. They’re just high in fat, so should be limited, as excessive fat in diet can not only give fatty liver, but can once the bird is mature be a trigger for hormones - I assume you are well read up on eclectus and hormone control? . They have their (small) place in the Ekkie diet (did I mention small?)

Mix some of the seeds in with the veggies, with the aim to get the beak back down into the veggies. You can slowly taper off the amount of seeds you provide.


Alternatively, it’s been such a short time, you can cut the seeds cold turkey. He’s partly learned to hold out and that doing so will make seeds appear. He hasn’t forgotten veggies are food, he’s just stubborn and learned to wait. He won’t starve himself if you withhold seeds and keep offering the good stuff. He’ll eat eventually.

Pick your tact: taper or cold turkey. Either way is ok here.

Good luck!

Hi!

In regards to mixing the seeds in with the veggies - i've already tried this and still trying this currently however he tends to pick out the seeds and scoop out the veggies to throw them out of the bowl.

I don't have eyes on him as i work everyday but mum says he doesn't eat anything at all when i have fruits or veggies out for him so i am starting the get concerned as i don't want him to get sick or worse.

We have 2 parrots and they eat seed \ pelot and fruits and vegetables . We give them fruit and vegetables in the morning. And we make it easy for them to get in a food bowl and a puzzle box respectively. The rest of the day they have to forage for seeds. They have no bowl delivering seeds and pelots at all. We have bought them the clear plastic fraging toys you see on amazon if you search parrot foraging toy. They are expensive about 20-30$ each. So far they have been worth it , they don't get very much seed and pellets its hard to get them out. They have to find the ones they want and work for them. Our African grey has 6 of them in his cage. Our red belly has 3. When we introduced them our red belly gave up on his food bowl for seeds he used to have. Our grey is new to us and 18 years old with a barbing/plucking problem. His plucking has reduced 90% and he's much happier and way less nervous. Good luck hope that helps.

Solid advice from Chris above. Definitely follow that.


Just a small note on what you're dealing with - you've a very young ekkie if he is only 5 months old.

Ekkies are notoriously hard to wean, so it is very surprising to me to hear that you got him at 3 months (the earliest an ekkie has been properly weaned is normally 4 months and that's not common). More often, they're fully weaned (no formula feeding asked for) by 9 months or even older. They often eat adult food and seem somewhat weaned, then ask for formula. That's fine - you want an abundance-weaned bird, not a force-weaned bird. A force-weaned bird gets you into all sorts of trouble later on.

Ekkies are also notoriously hard to wean because they are incredibly picky when it comes to formula. If the consistency or temperature is just slightly off their preference, they will reject it and demand you make a fresh batch (and you must make another batch). And when they get older, they sometimes have less of a feeding response even though they're crying for formula. Inexperienced breeders (and owners of improperly weaned ekkie babies) often don't understand these traits and inadvertently force wean their ekkies.

I guarantee you he will probably be calling out for baby food at times. Do not let him starve and do not force wean him.

If possible, get in touch with someone local who can show you how to properly feed him formula. It has to be the right temperature and consistency or else you'll cause crop burn or crop stasis - both not good. Alternatively, if you cannot find someone to show you in person how to feed him, you can follow the link Noodles shared: http://www.parrotforums.com/breeding-raising-parrots/74363-so-you-bought-unweaned-baby.html

How about for starters telling your Dad to respect your directions and wishes for this parrot. My ex-wife used to do this kind of stuff behind my back when I was working - feeding my Amazon all sorts of junk foods and crap, to get him to stop calling and yelling. Trying to teach him to say "F... Y.., AL" . This poor Ekkie is in for a long ride.

And in the unlikely event that my Ex is reading this, F... Y.., Denise.

(edited to be less boorish, AL)

I’m interested to hear more about the birds current lifestyle. You’ve gotten a couple recommendations on weaning but what you have described in no way to me sounds like weaning challenges Iive ever come across. I’ll confess I’m not terribly convinced this is what you are confronting, if I’m drawing conclusions based solely on your description which sounds like more a seed addict.

However, as I read over everyone’s responses, I note we all - myself included - are actually making assumptions here on what is actually scant information. We definitely need to know more before we assume anything.

Is your bird on any hand feedings? Did you hand rear the bird yourself?

Please tell us more about WHERE YOU ARE LOCATED, and how the bird was reared.

I really don't believe it's that he isn't fully weaned. As i said before: when i first got him he was eating fruits & veggies all on his own (especially corn) he ate corn like there was no tomorrow! I'm clueless as to what made him turn his head away from them now since he loved eating them.

In regards to my birdie being on any hand feedings? Nope. I also didn't hand rear the bird myself. When i bought my bird from the person he had mentioned that he had got him from a pet store so i'm guessing that is where he was hand reared.

Location is Sydney, Australia

Thank you Amanda.

Understand they can be stubborn. Bird has trained you to feed seeds, you’ve got to break the habit. And you can! Key is persistence. Keep offering the good stuff, dont let him hold out for seeds. He won’t starve, promise.

Some options:

Take papaya, ripe and soft, (or any other soft fruit like a kiwi or mango) and let the bird see you stuff some nuts into the flesh. He will tear into the fruit to get to the nuts, ingesting the fruit as he goes.

Take some seed or nuts and put them inside bell peppers. Make him eat through the pepper to get to the treat.

You Run everything through a food processor so the food is too small to be able to pick through.

KEEP OFFERING. He will break. Different foods, different preparations. Turn larger foods into forging toys (papaya/pepper examples above).

Throwing an idea out there which worked for me. Luna was stuck on seeds from the diet she was on from the aviary. She would not eat fruits or vegetables. I got her to transition to sprouts from various seeds which are healthier. After she was on sprouts, it was easier to get her to try fruits and vegetables.

Who gives there birds sprouts and germinated seeds bonnie and clyde love them. My pair eat veggies , pellets and seeds . Feeding is no issue , they love to play with toys and make some of them. They just are not cuddly lol. I miss this. I would eat dinner with all of my other birds.