Insider tips on bringing home a male baby eclectus?

[132431scoobi]

Hi everyone, I'm new here, about to be a first time bird owner. I have had all sorts of pets in my lifetime including dogs, cats, a horse, fish, frogs and a hamster. I never felt I had the time needed to dedicate to having a parrot in my life but it was always a dream of mine. I am housewife with twin boys about to go to full-day kindergarten and it now feels like I finally have the time to dedicate to a parrot friend. I had been researching for over a year to figure out which species of parrot would be the best fit for me and my family and we decided on a male baby eclectus. I have met my new friend, he is about 2 months old and will be finished hand feeding and coming home to us in about month or so. I know a lot about their special dietary needs and the basics that you can read in book. I was hoping for some advise or tips from experienced eclectus/parrot people on how to make my new friend feel as comfortable as possible when he comes home? Thanks for any input! My husband and I are very quiet people but our household also includes two 4 year old boys(who are very gentle and respectful of animals), a 15 year old cat and a 13 year old dalmation.

 

[Anansi]

So sorry I didn't see this before, as the post seems to have slipped through the cracks, but a big belated welcome to our Parrot Forums family! Hopefully, your soon to be new family member is still weaning, as by my reckoning he should still be under 3 months. (Just so you know, while some eclectus can fully wean in 3 months, some need significantly more time. My SI ekkie, Jolly, for instance, took just about 7 months before he was ready. Yeah, waiting that long can be difficult, but abundance weaning - or allowing them to wean on their schedule - is very much worth it. Jolly is the sweetest, most well-adjusted bird on the planet.)

Sooooooo.... tips. Let's see. For starters, here are a few links you might want to check out:

The best site out there for the ekkie diet. Every single section is pure gold and it's worth going through top to bottom... multiple times! fruitandveg
Great beginner's thread: http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/52737-so-you-think-you-want-eclectus.html
Great video for target training: [ame="https://youtu.be/HaOicTtwIZo"]https://youtu.be/HaOicTtwIZo[/ame]
Another great video if you are looking to keep him flighted: [ame="https://youtu.be/NzyZGdMp9kM"]https://youtu.be/NzyZGdMp9kM[/ame]

Another tip. And this one is HUGE. Never trust either your cat or dog with your bird. Ever. No matter how wonderful or well-trained they may be. End of the day, they are predators. And your ekkie is a prey animal. Any training a dog or a cat may receive serves to sublimate their natural instincts... but nothing can entirely erase those instincts. All it would take is one slip. Just one. So be very careful to avoid any situation where either of your predators would have access to him.

Okay, what else... baths are VERY important. Every other day would be ideal, if possible. A good soaking.

You say you're straight on diet, so I'll spare you my long list of foods that I feed to my ekkies. If you have any other questions, though, please don't hesitate to ask.

And if ever you have a thread that falls through the cracks again, please just give it a little bump to get it back to the top of the active list and therefore more visible to other members. Sometimes this site gets very busy and a thread can quickly wind up pretty far down on that active list.

Anyhow, hope this helps!