I have a couple ? about food

[Trina]

I rescued an Eclectus female 2 days ago..The poor darling has nutritional bands on her tail feathers..the person was just interested in selling her even saying she was healthy which of course i knew better..

She was housed in a 18x 30 cage..and was on a seed mixture..he gave me a tad enough for one night it looked like dried corn, sunflower seeds, peanuts, dried peas and triskets. it honestly looked like some sort of chicken feed..and i cant find anything that looks like it in pet food stores to even mix with her harrison to switch her gradually so the poor baby is just getting everything changed on her rapidly

She is very vitamin deficient..I have been feeding her tons of veggies which is is eating today well, yesterday not so well I dont think she got them

I am giving her jalapeno, sweet potatoe, red bell pepper, carrot, grape, sugar peas, I wanna say snap peas ..and 1 almond that i put her boost on.
(if anyone can advise me a good mixture) I do feed her some apple and a little orange I dont think she liked them to much as she tossed them to the bottom of her cage.

what other veggies can i give her I know she can eat alot but i wanna try and just offer the veggies and fruits that contain the most vitamin content for now..

Also I love figs and dates they are from whole foods can she eat them, (pit removed from date of course) as treats since i am trying to keep her as far away from any seed since she has so many issues.. I also have on hand mung beans I sprout..I find sites that say they eat sprouts but I have not found anything that specifically says mung beans..I also sprout wheat-berries for myself..

BTW she is not housed in that cage anymore she has a huge cage some nice woman I found on craiglist sold me at half price, at let me pick it up late so this beauty would have to be cramped another night in a tiny cage...

Also she has this tunnel I dont know what its called and cant find it in pet stores... it resembles a big PVC pipe tube and the inside has material to like help with their nails its worn and ugly. I washed it well ,but I would like to get her a new one since she likes it so well..

She was also an outside bird her had her cage covered 24/7 in the sun..I read she needs full spectrum lamps..Do they sell bulbs I can put in my light fixture?

And my last question how often should i bathe her..the vet told me a couple times a week and I can spritz her...she loves the shower though can i just put her on perch everyday in the shower...I read so much some sites say every day some say a couple times a day, I am a little confused on this..

I am a novice my fist eclectus so any pointers i would welcome... Thank you

 

[Oedipussrex]

lots and lootssss of leafy greens. also red things like carrot, capsicum and peppers (they like those, but not really hot ones) - for the vitamin A.

you can shower her as much as you want. especially if she likes it, it helps her skin not get dry, and it especially good while theyre moulting to get rid of the sheaths on feathers, and it encourages healthy preening.

how old is she and how long was she there..? because if she was on that diet too long, you may want to keep an eye out for liver issues. :/

 

[Trina]

I was told she was 4 and I dont know exactly how long he had her, he said a year and the reason he selling her was he had to many birds ( this is true I saw all those birds) I paid very close attention to her when I noticed a friendly cockatoo with over grown beak as well as an amazon he had plus he had a couple conures in his house and no telling else what he had I could only hear them. her the cockatoo and the amazon where housed outside 24 /7 on an uncovered porch area in smaller cages then they should have had...she had not one toy just her tunnel thing and i was so suprized when I picked her up that she hadn't plucked her feathers from boredom in that cage or from malnutrition.

I knew she had issues when i picked her up...I know she tail bobs, I had her vetted but we didnt clip nails wings and her beak looks awesome..but she has an infection she is on antibotics for..She goes to the vet again on friday so she can be checked for improvement..we didnt want to stress her much so blood sample wasnt taken yet..

She wasnt a bird i could walk away from I happily placed the darling in my car and vetted her the next day...she is such a sweet bird she was cuddling with me last night...I just pray I can get this bird to good health.

 

[caliopi]

We feed Puffin lots of silverbeet, spinach, mung beans, apple, the baby corn cobs, pomegranites,blueberries,blackberries ( his absolute favourite fruit!) He loves chilli, the hotter the better and he likes dried chilli too. He loves popcorn as the occasional treat and we give him a spoonful of seed a day that we get from the pet shop with the good sunflower seeds.

I read on a link on food for Eclectus that they should not eat much seed and pellets are not good for them either although there is a lot of conflicting opinions on this. The reason was because they have a longer than average intestinal tract and do not need vitamin supplements if they get enough fresh fruit and veg. It actually says they should not have vitamin supplements unless a blood test shows them deficient.

You have a wonderful journey ahead.

 

[MacawGuy]

Thank you for taken a bird that needed help we need more people n the world like this

 

[Oedipussrex]

I have also heard this opinion on the pellets. I think it is because many parrots can have a much larger percentage of pellets in their diet to be healthy. If you still give her plenty of fruit and veggies, which she will probably prefer to be more palateable, and still provide pellets she will only eat what she needs.

I sprout pickles seeds. i have stopped giving them to him dry except maybe once a fortnight, or whilst training. Sprouts are a good alternative if it takes you a while to get her used to not having actual seed so often. (because its still all the same seeds, just slightly more healthy)

Its pretty easy to google and learn how to do, but they dont last very long, and you have to check every time you use them, that they havent gone mouldy yet...

 

[DerSchniffles]

All the research ive done says the same lol. Ive only had my girl for a week now and she was already on a pellet diet when I got her but I can tell you she prefers her fruits and veggies WAY more than her pellets. I see her eating them every now and then. I just make sure she has an asortment of fruits/veggies 3 times a day so she can eat what she likes and I can see what she liked/didnt like.

If she is eating alot of fruits and veggies, she probably wont be eating much of her pellets anyways. Seems to be the goal haha.

Im glad you were able to save her and give her a good life. Its awesome when you see people who actually care.

 

[Rio Mom]

Is this the tube you're talking about? Betta Bed© Snuggly Hut Large - HUTS/TENTS by MY SAFE BIRD STORE

And yep, you can get full spectrum bulbs Full Spectrum Lighting for Birds. Provides Vitamin D3. DISCOUNTED

 

[Trina]

Yesterday she was in the house by herself all day, we went to six flags..I was worried about her but I think it did her good to be left alone in the house and get used to her new surroundings..I left a bird baby sitting dvd loop on for her... this morning when I uncovered her she said good morning and as soon as I opened her door she crawled out and went to the play stand on top of the cage..i fixed her a mix of fruits and veggies gave it to her she again tossed the apple and orange out..so I took the bowl up and added some peaches to her mixture..she likes peaches...she went right for them and didnt toss them out.

I know the boost i not supposed to give to long its something the vet have me just for using in the 7 days and a small amount..The vet gave me so much info my head literally spun, she was losing some feathers she has no blue feather around her eyes its bald and some missing on her neck that doesnt appear to be from plucking or scratching..I haven't caught her as of yet plucking or scratching..the vet said the appear to have fallen out from lack of nutrition...

The harrison i was told was a pellet to help switch over from seed cause we didnt know if she was a seed junkie and the first day she would not eat any fruit or veggie just an almond.. however she isnt eating much of this harrison she is tossing them in her water dish....

I did read to pellets where not really good and seed to, my only worry was switching her food so drastically, away from all all seed diet in that short of a time..I will watch those pellets I only put in about 3-4 of them and yesterday from the amount of goop in her dish at the bottom i would say she tossed them all in there...

The only thing worry me about food dunking is her antibiotic is in her water so it seems i gonna have to watch those pellets..and she is intentionally dunking them as they are in a very small bowl and she is caring them to the other side of the cage and dropping them in her water bowl..

This morning i found out she prolly does know some tricks.. when i took up her dish and gave it back as i approached the cage i said hello, pretty girl and she puffed up so I just slowly put her bowl but she raised her foot nice and tall and opened and closed her foot..when she put it down i thought omg was that unintentional so i said it again and she did it again...I said hello pretty girl about 4 times and on all of them she raised her foot and opened and closed her foot like waving it was cool..

I think i am going to name her gitana which is gypsy in english..

RIO MOM - thank you for that bulb link that is so helpful i have the darling in living room so I gonna change the over head ceiling fan lights in the room to those.. and that tunnel u found looks so comfy hers isnt like that but it worth a shot to replace it for a more comfy tube..hers is actually plastic with ( sand paper like material) affixed to the whole inside..she likes to sleep in it..which i not used to since my conure sleeps on a perch..i thought this weird but then these birds are not like normal birds parrots LOL

 

[Trina]

and she loves banana chips omg loves them, on my conure he loves sunflower i use those as reward for him doing a trick or something... I just found out this darling will wave , shake her head no for a piece of banana chip ...wow she is so smart...

at sometime she had a great owner I know it..someone spent a great deal of time with her

 

[Rio Mom]

For her to get the benefit of the light, it needs to be closer to her than the ceiling light. You can put a bulb in one of those clip on desk lamps and attach it to the top of the cage. I put a small hook in the wall behind the cage and have the cord pulled across, through the hook, and down the wall to keep it away from being chewed. My lights are on timers for 6 hours a day.