Bringing home a new ekkie this weekend! Please advise

[nostromosigningoff]

After a great deal of deliberation and research, we've decided to add a male ekkie as our second family bird we already have a pionus who we love to pieces. I put some feelers out and was contacted by a woman who needs to rehome her 3 year old male eclectus. He is in good health and she describes him as a very gentle, friendly bird who is a bit hormonal (not surprising as I figure he's in puberty). My husband will be making an epic two day trek to retrieve him this friday.

I have been doing lots of research on ekkie dietary needs. My plan this week is to make a few large batches of chop and freeze them. I currently have a chop stash that I feed to my pionus each morning, but she only eats an ice cube sized portion per day and the rest of her diet is Harrison's pellets. I'm guessing the ekkie will be eating quite a lot more. I'll also be needing to make a chop that includes more legumes and grains.

Some of my questions - given that ekkies need relatively low fat and protein, how much of the chop should be grains/legumes/sprouted seed vs veggie/fruit? And how do you serve your chop - one big serving each morning, or two servings in morning and evening? I will be offering a small amount of pellets, so for those who feed their ekkie supplemental pellets, how do you offer those?

I have ambitions to harness train this boy if he is willing to do so. Anybody out there who has harness trained an adult ekkie that can give me some pointers? Obviously that would be for once he's settled in and we've established a good relationship. Also, any pointers about acquainting the two parrots with each other, other than the standard advise of separate cages in the same room and lots of supervision when out together?

Thank you!! So excited to bring our ekkie boy home this weekend!

 

[theparrotcafe]

Congratulations on getting your new boy! Eclectus, have a tendency to be hormonal in general. If he starts to try to mate with your hand or your shoe etc. discourage it right away. Also, I would highly advise that you start your routine with him from day one…meaning if you usually can only let your birds out for four hours a day then that’s what you do with him from day one. Unfortunately, a lot of problems can happen when well-meaning owners, give their new parrot a ton of attention in the beginning and then change the routine into something else. The bird doesn’t understand that and gets upset and anxious and then starts screaming and other behaviors. There is a great YouTube video about male Eclectus hyper sexuality that I highly recommend .

As for toys Eclectus love love, love, foraging toys and toys that they have to work a little bit to get the treat out, and soft wood toys. Woods that they can shred pretty easily. Toys need to be regularly rotated so as not to cause boredom.

As far as chop goes, I feed my female Eclectus her chop twice a day once in the morning once in the late afternoon, I always make sure to include steamed carrot (she does not like raw carrot )in her chop as ekkies have a tendency to be low in vitamin a. In the evening I do give her a few pellets, the only pellets that I will feed her are the tops organic pellets, they do not contain any artificial vitamins or colors. Keep feeding him his regular diet of what he has been eating and then gradually make your switch to the new diet.

I use nuts for training and I’ll also stick a couple of nuts in some foraging toys. Our girl gets 14 hours of very quiet, very dark sleep at night. We actually have her in an extra bedroom with blackout curtains. I highly recommend showering your Ekkie every day, I actually just bring my girl into the shower with me every day, I have a portable perch that I carry into the shower.

Best of luck with your new boy. I’m sure you’re very excited and he is lucky to have such a concerned caretaker.

 

[nostromosigningoff]

Thank you! And what a gorgeous lady!

I ordered a few foraging toys so glad to know I’m on the right track I watched the video on male eclectus hyper sexuality! I saw them demonstrate an owner holding their hand out flat to push the male off and “rebuff” his advance. I’m wondering if that’s what I should do too if he masturbates on me. I figure I’ll try it and see how he responds. I don’t mind the behavior per se but want to help him be happy by not being in an agitated mating cycle constantly. I also messaged Pamela Clark and maybe I’ll pay to have her consult and advise how to best approach the hypersexual behaviors.

Mostly I’m just so excited ))

 

[kme3388]

I can tell how excited you are for your new Ekkie. It is so exciting. I can only comment on my Ekkie as personalities can vary. My Ekkie was easy to train. I can tickle his little feet and he laughs for an example. He will come like a dog. He knows a bunch of commands. He’s a hoot! However he can be a picky eater. I can’t get my Ekkie to eat chop for long periods of time. I cut up red peppers for him a lot as he does like that veggie. Carrots are another one he enjoys. They also have to be perfect. If they are old, or too ripe he will snob the fruit or veggie because it’s not good enough for him. He’s sensitive emotionally I’d say. I can’t take him on walks outside in the winter. He just knows when I’m going for a walk, and he can start screaming when I don’t bring him. He at times will bang his beak on our back patio door when he wants outside. Imagine how that goes when it’s winter with snow outside! On the other hand he seems to be sensitive to sound, and can easily get over stimulated. That’s what I mean by sensitive. I leave pellets in his cage all of the time. If he wants to eat them he can, if he doesn’t then they just sit there. I offer him other things throughout the day rather it’s fresh food, or a pine nut.

My Ekkie doesn’t do well with strangers. He was adopted out several times, and was returned for a variety of reasons biting being one of them. I have yet to be bit hard enough for my Ekkie to draw blood as he is bonded to me. The lady who ran the shelter who had Nico for a few years said the same thing. Nico is great if he’s bonded to you. However he does have a nasty scissor beak bite when he chooses to use it (my husband has had personal experience with this, and through a sweatshirt). Nico is easy for me because he is bonded to me. He choose me. I’m the lucky one. I can absolutely intervene if he is lunging at my husband, and have him step up. Then return him to his cage, and give him my back as I don’t want him doing that. Just be careful with a parrot that doesn’t have an established relationship with you. I hope everything turns out great

I adore Ekkie’s!! Please do share photos