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Ellie777Australia · Apr 13, 2019

Hi Everyone,

Just joined your forum...our Eclectus female Ellie laid her first egg two days ago...she's why I'm here. She calls me 'Mommy' and is a chatterbox.

Our beautiful girl 'adopted' us January 2018 (a great story for later) and we are unsure of her age. Read she may have one or two more eggs??? And since this is her first egg she is maybe 3-4 years old?

Since Ellie's life with us she has never been caged and has created a nesting box with our assistance. Her first egg was laid in Daddy's arms as I was preparing dinner when she starting making unusual noises in her nesting box. When he brought her over to me I started stroking her and doing the usual cooing and she slipped out a very healthy egg. I discretely removed the egg and set it aside. She has been in her nesting frequently during the past two days but comes out to go to bed with us as usual.

Should I put the first egg back in the nesting box? It is in the refrigerator at the moment. Found it hard to get helpful information on the internet so I decided to join your forum. I am not connected on facebook or any other social media so this is a big step for a 'retired mommy' with a baby growing up and laying eggs ha ha...Never had any pets but dogs all of my life, same with my husband...but...Ellie chose us and now we are doing our best to be the BEST PARRONTS (saw this on one of your postings and loved it) EVER.

Kindest Regards,
Debbie :red1:

ChocolateChipCookiez · Apr 13, 2019

Welcome to the forum!

Seeing this thread kinda made me freak out! Firstly, get rid of her nest-box and never touch her anywhere but the head or above her neck!! Dark places and being touched anywhere but the head can make them hormonal and unless you wanna breed her, that's the last thing you want.

About the egg, I don't see any use in keeping it, so you can do what ever you want to it.

Ellie777Australia · Apr 13, 2019

Ok, I'm now freaked out...will toss the egg...they will lay infertile eggs in season so what do I do about it?

ChocolateChipCookiez · Apr 13, 2019

Ellie777Australia said:
Ok, I'm now freaked out...will toss the egg...they will lay infertile eggs in season so what do I do about it?

Well, If she does continue laying eggs, make sure she is getting proper nutrients. Specifically calcium as it's needed for the eggs. I don't know much about an Ekkie's diet but other members will be able to help you more when they wake up or get online.

Wish you luck with your Ekkie!

Edit:

Oh and you'll also want to be very careful of egg binding. Many female birds have died to egg binding but making sure she gets enough calcium and having a CAV nearby can reduce the risk of Ellie dying to egg binding.

Ellie777Australia · Apr 13, 2019

We have added the extra calcium...had to treat a couple of chooks (Isa Browns) early on for being egg bound so watching her closely, thank you Naz

Flboy · Apr 13, 2019

If you haven’t tossed the egg yet, wait a bit for this side of the world to wake up! I believe wisdom dictates putting the egg back till she looses interest! Otherwise she may continue to lay!

Jen5200 · Apr 13, 2019

Welcome to you and Ellie! I’m looking forward to hearing her story

.

noodles123 · Apr 13, 2019

Female birds don't have to lay eggs...They do so when the conditions are right (e.g., sexually stimulated by petting places other than the head or having access to dark/shadowy places like tents, under furniture, nest boxes etc).

There shouldn't be any dark/shadowy places or nesting type materials in or near her cage (this includes bedding, piles of crumbled paper, blankets, pillows, low ledges, boxes, hollow spaces etc ---even a small hollow coconut is enough to trigger a large bird because all it takes is being able to fit their head inside). Remove the nest box and don't allow her to put her head under your shirt or hang out under furniture.

If she lays an egg, in the future, you should leave it alone until she loses interest or it can stimulate further egg production.

Avoid feeding warm/mushy food, only pet on the head, removed access to dark areas, and make sure she is getting plenty of sleep each night (10-14 hours of dark, quiet sleep). Too much sunshine can also produce hormonal behaviors, but too little is harmful as well. Try to get her on a light/dark schedule.

In the meantime, make sure she has cuttle-bone access etc, due to the nutrient drain of egg laying.

Be on the lookout for egg binding as well...It can be deadly and it is another reason why you don't want you bird laying eggs (along with cloacal prolapse etc).

Ellie777Australia · Apr 13, 2019

Very helpful information Noodles123...kept the egg so will do as you say...have cuttlefish available...didn't know about the 'not laying egg' bit of info...thank you

chris-md · Apr 13, 2019

Hello Ellie and welcome tot he forum. We have a vibrant eclectus comminity.

I’m co-signing here to what noodles has told you. And I’ll go further as someone owned by a male Ekkie. Eclectus are very different from other parrots in that they are capable of breeding year round. What this implies is that hormones can be induced by environmental factors such as high sugar diet, too much sunlight, and availability of nesting locations, making your life a nightmare. And even then, ESPECIALLY with the females it’s not always that easy to control.

May I ask what diet you are providing your sweet girl?

I’d also caution the cagefree lifestyle. For inexperience owners (and even experienced owners) there can be such a thing as TOO much out of cage time, and it can lead to behavior issues such as excessive seeking of dark nesting holes. It’s certainly doesn’t happen to everyone, but can happen.

Seeing the vicious cycle? Best to teach your girl ASAP to accept even just a larger cage.

chris-md · Apr 13, 2019

Hello Ozz and welcome! You’ve posted on someone else’s topic specific thread. I strongly recommend starting a thread in the new members subforun where you’ll get more notice and responses.

Ellie777Australia · Apr 13, 2019

Thank you Chris-md...

Ellie's daily diet usually consists of 5-9 different fresh/steamed vegetables and the same amount of fresh fruit and berries; Harrisons adult lifetime maintenance formula; parrot seed mix not overly heavy on sunflower seeds; various nuts and seeds (almonds, pine nuts, pepitas, chia seeds etc.); occasionally portions of boiled egg, goat cheese, chicken bone and meat; cuttlefish at play and food stations (zones; set ups with different toys and foods); fresh filtered water at play and food stations (clean supply three times a day); sometimes a little dry gluten free cereal is offered at breakfast; and she will share a bit of our meal when we eat (gluten and dairy free, organic food, sauces/bases home made by myself, no additives).

In Australia we are into Fall so less daylight as we move into Winter. She usually gets 10 hours of sleep at night and still eagerly comes out to go to bed (another Ellie area with perch, snuggly, and water near our bed.

We have had Ellie for 15 months and she is 'cheeky', loves to imitate all the birds and animals around us, repeats what we say, chats heaps, except quiet this past week pre and post egg laid three days ago..

Regards to caging, she has a large stand-up cage (another zone with food, water and toy supplies) with the door opened. She was placed in the cage once this past 15 months for continued attempts to chew an electrical cord and it distressed her severely. She never went near an electrical cord again. Her past 3 owners kept her caged and she had been tormented by young boys. Prior owner to her 'adopting us' had severely clipped her wings whilst holding her pinned with a towel over her head. We keep our environment safe for Ellie and she is only alone for a few minutes at a time (a pleasure of retirement). She was easily trained to accept the aviator harness shortly after coming to us and loves to 'go for a drive' or outside for sunshine, flying lessons or rain baths. We give her regular aloe vera/water spray baths (daily or at least every other day).

Petting concerns, we generally pet her head, chin, kiss her beak. She allows her wings to be lifted and inspected for safe harness application and spray baths.

She has no bad behaviours (managed the occasional biting by listening to what she was telling us basically). She clearly expresses herself and frequently does the cute tail wiggling to show she is happy. She has bonded with myself as primary but also loves my husbands time with her. She is also very cheeky with our female chocolate Lab who moves out of her way as she waddles from station to station (wings unclipped so sometimes she will fly to stations).

Current Question/Situation:

1) Some suggest letting them sit on the egg for 28 day cycle - we can do that as the nesting box is mobile and we can move her to our bedroom at night (safety of supervision) as per normal. Do I put the egg back in so hopefully she doesn't continue to lay? Will she continue the cycle and lay 2-3 more eggs despite the one egg in or out of the nest anyway?

2) OR do I toss the egg, immediately dismantle nesting zone and see what happens next following all 'discouraging nesting behaviour' guidelines?

Thank you and Noodles123 for your very helpful responses,
Sincerly,
Debbie:red:

noodles123 · Apr 13, 2019

Ellie777Australia said:
Thank you Chris-md...

Ellie's daily diet usually consists of 5-9 different fresh/steamed vegetables and the same amount of fresh fruit and berries; Harrisons adult lifetime maintenance formula; parrot seed mix not overly heavy on sunflower seeds; various nuts and seeds (almonds, pine nuts, pepitas, chia seeds etc.); occasionally portions of boiled egg, goat cheese, chicken bone and meat; cuttlefish at play and food stations (zones; set ups with different toys and foods); fresh filtered water at play and food stations (clean supply three times a day); sometimes a little dry gluten free cereal is offered at breakfast; and she will share a bit of our meal when we eat (gluten and dairy free, organic food, sauces/bases home made by myself, no additives).

In Australia we are into Fall so less daylight as we move into Winter. She usually gets 10 hours of sleep at night and still eagerly comes out to go to bed (another Ellie area with perch, snuggly, and water near our bed.

We have had Ellie for 15 months and she is 'cheeky', loves to imitate all the birds and animals around us, repeats what we say, chats heaps, except quiet this past week pre and post egg laid three days ago..

Regards to caging, she has a large stand-up cage (another zone with food, water and toy supplies) with the door opened. She was placed in the cage once this past 15 months for continued attempts to chew an electrical cord and it distressed her severely. She never went near an electrical cord again. Her past 3 owners kept her caged and she had been tormented by young boys. Prior owner to her 'adopting us' had severely clipped her wings whilst holding her pinned with a towel over her head. We keep our environment safe for Ellie and she is only alone for a few minutes at a time (a pleasure of retirement). She was easily trained to accept the aviator harness shortly after coming to us and loves to 'go for a drive' or outside for sunshine, flying lessons or rain baths. We give her regular aloe vera/water spray baths (daily or at least every other day).

Petting concerns, we generally pet her head, chin, kiss her beak. She allows her wings to be lifted and inspected for safe harness application and spray baths.

She has no bad behaviours (managed the occasional biting by listening to what she was telling us basically). She clearly expresses herself and frequently does the cute tail wiggling to show she is happy. She has bonded with myself as primary but also loves my husbands time with her. She is also very cheeky with our female chocolate Lab who moves out of her way as she waddles from station to station (wings unclipped so sometimes she will fly to stations).

Current Question/Situation:

1) Some suggest letting them sit on the egg for 28 day cycle - we can do that as the nesting box is mobile and we can move her to our bedroom at night (safety of supervision) as per normal. Do I put the egg back in so hopefully she doesn't continue to lay? Will she continue the cycle and lay 2-3 more eggs despite the one egg in or out of the nest anyway?

2) OR do I toss the egg, immediately dismantle nesting zone and see what happens next following all 'discouraging nesting behaviour' guidelines?

Thank you and Noodles123 for your very helpful responses,
Sincerly,
Debbie:red:

Thanks for posting, again, and welcome (again).

There should be no nesting zone. PERIOD. She has no need for a nest box and as long as one is there, she will lay. If she still has eggs in her, removing the nest will not stop them from passing unless there was already a problem. You shouldn't provide a nest zone if you don't want a nest. A bird will lay an egg if they must on a wire grate (not ideal, but if they feel the need due to other factors, it will happen). The egg doesn't need to be with the nest (in my opinion)--aka--remove the nest and replace the egg...or just remove both..But, in the future, DO NOT remove eggs until the bird loses interest, and do not provide a suitable nesting site....The nest box should go--now and forever.

Ellie777Australia · Apr 13, 2019

Thank you for clarifying Noodles...will remove nesting box immediately and toss the old egg:red:

noodles123 · Apr 13, 2019

Thanks, the alternative is to remove the nest and put the egg back in the cage....if no interest is given, then remove the egg (again). At this point, I am not sure how long it has been gone, but do keep an eye out for any issues with egg-binding---straining to poop, decreased consumption of food, etc etc.

Ellie777Australia · Apr 13, 2019

Keeping my eyes on her, thank you so very much...so far poop and appetite ok..and she had a really good munch on her cuttlefish this morning...drinking lots of water etc...

Scott · Apr 13, 2019

A warm welcome to the forums, Debbie! Wonderful advice thus far and you'll find much goodness in the Eclectus forum.

Vegetables and some fruits are critical to eclectus, many diets offer excessive protein and fat. Foods rich in vitamin A and D are crucial, and pellets are traditionally not recommended. Harrison's produce a terrific product, but are not optimal even though they advertise* such.

Excellent dietary thread: http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/52737-so-you-think-you-want-eclectus.html (third post has links of interest)
Guide to eclectus diet: fruitandveg

*Harrison's produces excellent pellets and recommends for eclectus. I've approached them with evidence to the contrary to no avail. But I do feed the products to my flock, mostly cockatoos with traditional needs.

Betrisher · Apr 13, 2019

Coming in late here, Debbie, but G'day and welcome from another Aussie. I'm Trish from Newcastle, NSW.

I thought I'd point out that the reason we don't want our female birds laying eggs is that it takes quite a bit of nourishment and energy for the bird to make and lay her eggs. If she gets into an overly hormonal cycle of incessant breeding (we see it all too often), she can seriously deplete her own reserves and eventually weaken and die as a result. Or, she can become so exhausted from egg-laying that she cannot pass the one in her cloaca. The effort of straining to pass it can kill her.

For many of us, when we acquire our gorgeous bird we forget that they are essentially the same as the ones out in the trees. They have all the same needs and urges, so they'll seek out food, nesting places and a partner wherever they can.

I've been the lucky recipient of my bird's 'crush' ever since she arrived. She LOVES me in every sense of the word! This means, she rubs herself up against me and virtually begs to be caressed and stroked. These, of course, are sexual signals and if I did what she wanted, I'd be arousing her massively. Of course, that's not fair to the bird, who gets left frustrated and without - um - 'satisfaction'. This can lead to incredible anger and acting-out behaviours like biting and aggression. It's a minefield!

I'd been aware of the hormonal component before Rosetta arrived, but I had no idea how overwhelming the hormonal response can be to a bird until I witnessed it first-hand. 'Setta was crazy! All she wanted to do was snuggle with me, even trying to get inside my clothing or even into my pocket. Having seen something similar in a peachfaced lovebird, I began changing 'Setta's environment and the way we play. Thankfully, her 'emotions' settled down and she's much, much happier without having to be a slave to her urges.

The onset of hormonal behaviour (puberty) is different for the different species, but when it comes, it's huge. Your bird can change overnight from a sweet, biddable little darling to a ferocious, biting, clawing scratching demon! This is why everyone's so anxious to explain what Ellie (great name, btw - I gave it to my daughter!) could be experiencing. If you're prepared for it and know what to do, your bird's puberty need not be a terrible mess.

In my own experience, it was target training that saved the relationship between 'Setta and me. She was crazy out of control, but when I gave her tasks to do and rewarded her, she had something else to think about besides sex. As soon as I pick up the target stick, she's alert, paying attention and ready for action. Targetting has enabled me to teach her to fly and to return willingly to her cage. With my other pair, The Beaks, I never needed to target because they've always been totally attuned to what I was trying to teach them. And, of course, they came as babies.

The road with 'Setta has been rocky, but she's an absolute darling now and brings so much laughter to our days. She and the Beaks send a cheery 'G'day' to their new friend, Ellie.

Ellie777Australia · Apr 14, 2019

G'day also Trish and thank you for the info and encouragement...Ellie is gorgeous and heaps of fun...I never knew that a bird could make us laugh out loud so often...Love her all to pieces

!

We are now being very careful with the new sexual Ellie and responding more appropriately to those behaviours. She is a social butterfly and loves males. I'm the first female to whom she has bonded as primary (history of 3 to 4 previous owners so not such a good start in life). We have been requesting that our male neighbours not touch her below the head and finally had to stop permitting physical contact when not regarding our request. We are still friends ha ha...

Praying that the advice from Noodles and Chris work and that our chatterbox is back to her beautiful self soon. What a great deal of support from this wonderful new parrot forum parront family and their fids!

Most Sincerely,
Debbie :red1:

Ellie777Australia · Apr 14, 2019

To Scott,

I'm not sure that I am making replies to specific persons properly...will search forum info on 'reply to threads'... I wanted to say thank you for the advice on Harrisons food products. Ellie doesn't like them very much so I won't fret that she sticks with fruit and veggies etc. I used to think that Harrisons were her key source of the 'extra vitamins/minerals' etc and became concerned if she didn't eat her pellets! Not any more :60:..

Debbie

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