Itchy Eclectus

I have a female eclectus who has dandruff. It is not pin feathers dust. When I part her feathers on her back, chest and legs her skin appears to have dry skin that flakes off. I believe she is overgrooming due to her skin being dry and itchy. It is to the point where she incessantly groom while on my hand. In the morning there is usually a small pile of dandruff and acouple downy feathers . She was recently at the vet and got a clean bill of health. She doesn't have parasites and her bloodwork is good. We mist her every day and she gets an aloe vera mist once a week. We recently started supplementing with red palm oil about a week ago to see if this would help any. She is on a Mazuri parrot chow diet with a mixture of fresh fruits, greens and veggies daily. I am at a loss of what else I can do. She is in a room with 50-60% humidity depending on the season. What am I missing?? Any ideas or pointers? I'm at a loss.

Zeldatheeclectus said:

I have a female eclectus who has dandruff. It is not pin feathers dust. When I part her feathers on her back, chest and legs her skin appears to have dry skin that flakes off. I believe she is overgrooming due to her skin being dry and itchy. It is to the point where she incessantly groom while on my hand. In the morning there is usually a small pile of dandruff and acouple downy feathers . She was recently at the vet and got a clean bill of health. She doesn't have parasites and her bloodwork is good. We mist her every day and she gets an aloe vera mist once a week. We recently started supplementing with red palm oil about a week ago to see if this would help any. She is on a Mazuri parrot chow diet with a mixture of fresh fruits, greens and veggies daily. I am at a loss of what else I can do. She is in a room with 50-60% humidity depending on the season. What am I missing?? Any ideas or pointers? I'm at a loss.

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Hi, this is cause for concern and enclose a link for you fruitandveg

Eclectus have very special dietary requirements so would recommend the change of diet strongly.

There are other extremely informative pages so please look at those also. It will give you the diet info you need.

Hoping Anansi will follow up on this as not sure re the Red Palm oil.

Does she ever get a soaking shower or a bath? If I don't put Matisse underneath the showerhead for a couple minutes, at least once a week, he starts to smell musty and gets dandruffy. I don't know if 50 to 60% humidity is high or not, but I would definitely make sure after you spritz or bathe her that she has access to a dry, sunny area where she can dry off quickly. Was the aloe something you always did? Or was it something you did in response to her dandruff?

I would definitely check the processed food you are feeding her. Certain vitamins and additives can cause an increase turnover of skin cells, which causes buildup and traps dead skin causing itchiness and allergies.

Upon reading your post, my first thought was that your humidity was too low. But reading further, 50-60% isn't exactly arid. Are you certain that this is indeed the humidity level in his living area? Or is it possible that it's lower?

Aside from the humidity, I share Plumsmum's concerns about the Mazuri Parrot Chow. Full disclosure, I don't have specific experience with that brand. But many of these processed pellet foods have cause health issues in eclectus parrots. Most pellets are far too rich in nutrients for an ekkie's sensitive digestive system. The resulting overdose is infamous for causing issues ranging from increased aggression to toe-tapping and wing-flipping. And most germane to your concerns, feather condition issues and skin irritation. Personally, I'd look to gradually switch to a mostly fresh diet.

I don't personally use red palm oil, but I have heard good things about it. I can tell you, however, that it is reportedly high in fat. So if you do use it, do so sparingly.

I agree. Please throw out that feed your giving him. I checked out the website, and they don't list a single ingredient. Where it comes to animals like ekkies who have special dietary needs, you REALLY need to know what's in the food.

The fact that they don't list what's in their pellets terrifies me.

If you need something dry I recommend goldnobles I mix, mostly dried fruits and veggies. If I'm not feeding my boy fresh fruit and veg, he's getting this or a dried fruit/veg mix.

Parrot Maintenance 25 lb | COLORFUL COMPANIONS

Here is the link to the parrot chow.

I am certain about the humidity. The gage is right next to her enclosure.

I will look into switching her diet around. She has been on this diet since 2007 without any problems...this is what makes me worried.

Anyone willing to share their diets and amounts of what is given?

I'd get rid of the "chow" Eclectuses just aren't suited to pellets and like foods and it does cause problems. First stop I'd say would be to email your vet a picture of the area with a quick description of it, then I'd try using a humidifier in the room his cage is in to moisten the area. The trick is to find the 'why' of it and nip that before he starts plucking himself

Why not just think of it as an experiment - no chow for a month. Feed only fresh mainly veggies as per the links you have seen and see how it goes? Prove it to yourself! Oh and your girl.

I have a list of what Anansi uses to feed Jolly and Maya (I use this list for inspiration with my 'too) So here is Stephen's list ....

"(6-8 types per feeding) various sprouts, carrots, bell peppers (red, yellow, orange and green), jalapeno peppers, Jamaican peppers, chili peppers, squash (butternut, green and yellow),pumpkin, blueberries, pomegranates, snap peas, broccoli, cactus pears, starfruit, bananas, grapes, kale, turnips, radishes, brown rice, quinoa, cucumbers, endive, dandelion, sweet potato (cooked), red swiss chard, granny smith apples, papaya, African horned melon, hominy, oatmeal (sans sugar or flavoring), kiwi, barley, calendula flowers, fennel, star anise, chamomile flowers, milk thistle, elder berries, rose hips, hibiscus, bee pollen, chocho beans and garbanzo beans, as well as Volkman's Fancy Soak and Simmer for the majority of his legumes and grains.

Twice a month, I'll give some hard-boiled egg (with the crushed shell for calcium). Slightly more frequently during a molt. And an assortment of unsalted nuts or even millet spray for their treats".

They won't eat certain things, so sometimes you have to get creative in how you get them to eat it. It's almost like feeding a toddler. Matisse is so funny about bananas. He will not, absolutely will not eat bananas as part of his daily diet and his dish. He will only eat banana, from the whole banana. And he loves banana. If he sees me eating a banana he immediately crawls down his cage and runs over.

He will only eat apple and guava in a separate dish placed on his play stand. And only in the afternoon. And only if he sees me physically place it in the container, all the sudden it's something he wants to eat. It is the container that I used to place little treats, and people food once in a while. So I guess it kind of tricks him into thinking it's something different than what he gets in his normal food dishes.

I sometimes make him smoothies, because he does not like to eat many vegetables raw, so I can sneak in things like sprouts and bell pepper into a green/fruit smoothie. Sometimes I'll sprinkle some whole flax or Chia seeds over his food. He goes after anything that looks like a seed, and sometimes when he starts eating that he starts eating the other food as well.

He loves melon/melon seeds of any kind. I preferred to feed him winter melon slices, with the seed still attached. Which you can get from Asian grocery stores. They have very little sugar in them. In fact, I like trying lots of new produce from my local Asian grocery store. They have a lot of things there that it seems Eclectus' would have in their natural diet, being that they are from Asiatic Pacific Islands.

Sometimes, maybe every other week, I will make a veggie egg white omelette for them, with crushed eggshell mixed in. They also sometimes get boiled egg pieces with some yolk
Some spare treats I give him:

- nuts (almond and walnut pieces with little to no skin attached)
- low fat cottage cheese
- peanuts (no salt in-shell roasted and homemade boiled green peanuts, no salt)

Today he had:

Main dish (I chop up everything mostly, but will leave a few big chunks for a variable dining experience)
- 3 table spoons of cooked quinoa tossed with lightly cooked kale
- cooked sweet potato
- small piece of corn on cob
- 2 chili peppers
- shoestring carrot
- sugar snap peas

Fruit and nut dish (chopped with a chunk of each type of fruit....like the veggies)
- apple (even tho he won't eat it)
- cucumber
- tiny wedge of orange
- pomegranate (expensive out of season so it is a special treat)

For dinner he will get:
- winter melon
- apple
- teeny bit of pasta (from human dinner)
- cooked cauliflower
- cooked Lima bean
- guava
- more chili pepper
- maybe a teaspoon scattering of seed at the bottom of the cage, if I need to get him out of my hair for 20 minutes, and get him to use some energy foraging, before nite nite.

plumsmum2005 said:

I have a list of what Anansi uses to feed Jolly and Maya (I use this list for inspiration with my 'too) So here is Stephen's list ....

"(6-8 types per feeding) various sprouts, carrots, bell peppers (red, yellow, orange and green), jalapeno peppers, Jamaican peppers, chili peppers, squash (butternut, green and yellow),pumpkin, blueberries, pomegranates, snap peas, broccoli, cactus pears, starfruit, bananas, grapes, kale, turnips, radishes, brown rice, quinoa, cucumbers, endive, dandelion, sweet potato (cooked), red swiss chard, granny smith apples, papaya, African horned melon, hominy, oatmeal (sans sugar or flavoring), kiwi, barley, calendula flowers, fennel, star anise, chamomile flowers, milk thistle, elder berries, rose hips, hibiscus, bee pollen, chocho beans and garbanzo beans, as well as Volkman's Fancy Soak and Simmer for the majority of his legumes and grains.

Twice a month, I'll give some hard-boiled egg (with the crushed shell for calcium). Slightly more frequently during a molt. And an assortment of unsalted nuts or even millet spray for their treats".

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Awesome list! I need to try hibiscus. Sometimes I forget about herbs and flowers. My goal one days to get as close to their natural diet as possible. Within reason of course.

Thank you for your help everyone!!

Please update us with what you decide to do and the results? We would love to know how you get on.

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to give an update on Zelda. I did a full revamp of her diet. My vet said I shouldn't do more than 1 change at a time. I introduced red palm oil first so I had to wait 3 months before changing something else. That way we would know what caused a change. Zelda is now on and almost all fruit and veggie diet from the suggested lists. I was worried about eliminating the pellet all together so she is still getting 7 pellets a day. There has not been much of a change. Her skin is still flaky and appears itchy. She spends a lot of time grooming throughout the day. It seems like she is over grooming spots that are not visible when you look at her. (knee/hip area) We sedated her a couple weeks ago to do a full workup. Vet says she is in good health and doesn't have mites. Blood work showed signs she was going to lay an egg soon...which she did three days later. The vet wants to recheck her EPH in 6-8 weeks but otherwise there isn't anything glaringly obvious. Besides her skin she is a very happy/laid back bird. Loves human interaction, target training and boxes for toys. She doesn't wing flip or have sterotypic behaviors. She weighs 415 grams. I'm at a loss of what else to do.

Zeldatheeclectus said:

I have a female eclectus who has dandruff. It is not pin feathers dust. When I part her feathers on her back, chest and legs her skin appears to have dry skin that flakes off. I believe she is overgrooming due to her skin being dry and itchy. It is to the point where she incessantly groom while on my hand. In the morning there is usually a small pile of dandruff and acouple downy feathers . She was recently at the vet and got a clean bill of health. She doesn't have parasites and her bloodwork is good. We mist her every day and she gets an aloe vera mist once a week. We recently started supplementing with red palm oil about a week ago to see if this would help any. She is on a Mazuri parrot chow diet with a mixture of fresh fruits, greens and veggies daily. I am at a loss of what else I can do. She is in a room with 50-60% humidity depending on the season. What am I missing?? Any ideas or pointers? I'm at a loss.

Click to expand...

I read to put alo vera spray on them .. mine has a dry chest and plucks at times . I actually had a stupid avairy vet tell me they dont have oil glands of corse they do .. so stupid .