My Second Parrot ! Male Red Sided Eclectus :-)

[RavensGryf]

Congratulations . He's a real cutie.

 

[chris-md]

I think it sounds like you have fallen in love. Surely if he is coming out with his full vocab then he is happy and settled? Well done you!

Unfortunately not necessarily. Ekkies are notorious attention/closet talkers. They will do it if they are separated from their flock. So day one display of full vocabulary is likely them calling for their flock, uncomfortable in a new home.

It's remarkable to hear and does make you feel good. But it's not likely a happy and comfortable thing.

 

[Violet_Diva]

I think it sounds like you have fallen in love. Surely if he is coming out with his full vocab then he is happy and settled? Well done you!

I hope he is happy. He seems excited about coming out of his cage each day! I'm thinking that if I continue to make the recall session fun for him that he'll enjoy flying and associate it with good things.

He could be a little rusty flying and when his fitness and confidence returns, try stopping him?

He's lost a little weight but I expected that from reducing the amount of fatty seeds he was eating and increasing the fresh fruit and veg. He looked like a fat little duck when I got him home, so I'm hoping he's going to build some muscles from flying around and not loose any more weight.

 

[Violet_Diva]

Not at all jealous. Maybe a little. Ok, a lot.

Thanks Kentuckienne! That coming from a Blue and Gold parront? Now that is a compliment!

 

[Violet_Diva]

He's absolutely beautiful! Congratulations on your new talented speaker, I'm sure he'll be a hoot! As for the minimizing flight distance, I think it's pretty natural for birds who don't have 100% confidence in flying. The "natural" flyers, if you will, generally just launch themselves because they know they can make it. Birds who may be apprehensive tend to lessen the distance. Shiko is my talented flyer, and he can even fly through small gaps in my tree stand. He'll launch himself from anywhere and fly confidently. Avery never properly fledged before I got her, so whenever I call her to me she tries to get as close as possible to reduce the amount of flying she has to do.

That being said, bigger birds may find where they're flying too small and feel better just hopping or walking. There's every possibility he's just lazy and realizes he can minimize his work, but from what I've experienced birds who are confident launch from where they are because flying is just so natural to them.

Thanks Dinosrawr, some great points there! I hope he's going to warm up to flying a bit more confidently in time.

 

[Violet_Diva]

He is beautiful! And quite the talented speaker! Congratulations on such a wonderful new addition to your family!

Violet_Diva, I'd told you in your introductory thread that I thought you have a natural affinity for working with birds. And you have proven me right twice over, now. Your handling of both ekkies' introductions to your household has been extremely well handled.

I look forward to seeing more pics of this little charmer and Bella both... and videos as well!

Thanks Anansi (Stephen!) - I must naturally be a 'bird brain' in the most complimentary way haha
There's been a few times when the squawking of one of them has resulted in the squawking of the other, so hopefully by Christmas they will be already partially accustomed to eachother before actually seeing eachother. If they get along, there's going to be some great festive photos of the pair! If not I might just need to photoshop!

 

[Violet_Diva]

Such a cutie - so glad he's with you now!

Thanks PetoftheDay! His previous human was very caring. It's a shame she no longer could give him the time he needs. Hopefully he's pleased to be here and (fingers crossed) will be pleased to have a feathered friend here.

 

[Violet_Diva]

Congratulations . He's a real cutie.

Thanks RavensGryf! I really enjoyed seeing your gorgeous fids in your birdroom!
http://www.parrotforums.com/do-yourself/65539-newly-remodeled-bird-room-lots-pics.html

 

[Violet_Diva]

I think it sounds like you have fallen in love. Surely if he is coming out with his full vocab then he is happy and settled? Well done you!

Unfortunately not necessarily. Ekkies are notorious attention/closet talkers. They will do it if they are separated from their flock. So day one display of full vocabulary is likely them calling for their flock, uncomfortable in a new home.

It's remarkable to hear and does make you feel good. But it's not likely a happy and comfortable thing.

Thanks chris-md, that makes complete sense! I hope it helped him feel better that we were repeating things back at him. It did seem a bit unconventional at the time though - The parrot says something and then the human repeats it!

 

[chris-md]

You just described my entire relationship with Parker. He trains me to talk, not the other way around.

 

[Anansi]

He's lost a little weight but I expected that from reducing the amount of fatty seeds he was eating and increasing the fresh fruit and veg. He looked like a fat little duck when I got him home, so I'm hoping he's going to build some muscles from flying around and not loose any more weight.

How much weight has he lost, Violet_Diva? And over the course of how many days? And what was his original weight?

 

[chris-md]

He's lost a little weight but I expected that from reducing the amount of fatty seeds he was eating and increasing the fresh fruit and veg. He looked like a fat little duck when I got him home, so I'm hoping he's going to build some muscles from flying around and not loose any more weight.

How much weight has he lost, Violet_Diva? And over the course of how many days? And what was his original weight?

Parker experienced the same thing! He came to to me day 2 weighing in at 470 eating his fruit loops pellets. Got him on fresh food diet (thank you my friend!) and he's dropped down to 425g over 3 months. Pellet only really is junk for them

 

[Violet_Diva]

How much weight has he lost, Violet_Diva? And over the course of how many days? And what was his original weight?

Parker experienced the same thing! He came to to me day 2 weighing in at 470 eating his fruit loops pellets. Got him on fresh food diet (thank you my friend!) and he's dropped down to 425g over 3 months. Pellet only really is junk for them

I'm afraid I don't have an original weight to go by as I got paranoid about using Bellas scales and perch and wouldn't weigh him on them until I got a new customised perch to fit the scales (for his use only).
I'm only going by his appearance with regards to his weight loss. His chest looked a bit more pigeon-y when I first saw him, but I was so used to seeing baby Bella, so suddenly seeing this monster was a bit of a shock to my eyes and my 'arm-perch'!
He is around 400g or so at the mo. So I'm monitoring him to make sure he's staying at a steady weight. Also, because he previously ate more dry seeds he was drinking more water. It would seem that now he's on more fresh foods, he hasn't quite realised yet that he doesn't need to drink so much, so he has been passing more urine as a result of this increase in ingesting foods with a higher water content while continuing his existing habit of drinking. I will keep you posted on any further changes.

Lesson learned - Get a new perch for your bird scale before you get the new bird!

 

[Violet_Diva]

Tried giving him some different things today alongside his 'usuals' including Butternut Squash, Rambutan and Coriander. All went down well!
I've noticed he uses his foot like a hand when eating larger things.

A little unusual for an ekkie, very cute!

 

[coopedup]

very cute boy, enjoy your journey!

 

[Violet_Diva]

UPDATE
Dexter is finally trusting me and it feels great! I can now hold him and lay him on his back in my hand! Something I saw his previous human do with him, but he just wouldn't allow me to before. I just worked on building trust with him, not pushing boundaries too far and hey presto! He's turning into a little green softie! He taught Bella her first word "Hello". Although I'd talk to Bella every day, it was only after Dexters quarantine was over and he was moved into the same room, that she started to talk. Unfortunately he taught her to squawk too!

 

[Anansi]

Great update!!! Allowing you to lay him on his back in your hand is a major sign of trust in an ekkie! Most impressive! And now Bella's talking, too? Sweet!

Of course, we're going to need some updated pics of them both!

 

[Violet_Diva]

Ask and ye shall receive...
By the way, we got a second java tree stand for the living room...





He's been molting some big feathers, but also seems to be going a little thin on top...

 

[Anansi]

Beautiful!!! He's looking great! Still awaiting pics of Lady Bella, though...

 

[Violet_Diva]

Bella has something to say to Dexter...

[ame="https://youtu.be/n4D8yaBZd6k"]Female Vosmaeri Eclectus (Bella) says "Hello Dexter" - YouTube[/ame]