harleyquinn
New member
- Aug 4, 2021
- 1
- 0
Hi everyone!
So last week I brought home a baby Eclectus for hand raising. I'm not new at this, i've raised 5 so far and they've all been fairly textbook. I am not a breeder, but I am in close contact with a breeder who I have been helping for a few years now. If he has particularly large clutches of anything he gives some to me to raise. I don't charge him for it, and he pays for the formula. Due to his health he is raising his last couple of clutches before he calls it quits. As a thank you for helping him throughout the past few years he offered me one of his Eclectus babies, and I graciously accepted.
Anyway, my wee baby (who doesn't even have a name yet) was great for the first few days. Fed well, loves spending time with me and the family, curious, alert and vocal. He's a slow feeder but that's okay, comes with the territory. His hatch date is 13/6/21, making him 7 weeks 5 days today. He was 6 weeks 4 days the day I brought him home.
However the past few days he's been particularly difficult. Refusing formula, spitting out what I do get into him, obsessed with climbing and sitting on me. I tried having my husband feed him but he still wouldn't take it. Eventually I tried laying a towel over me and letting him sit on me while he ate, which worked for a day, then he started refusing again.
He's been more interested in foraging so I lined the tray of his bird stand with butchers paper, scattered some soft foods and let him have at it. He's become a pro and climbing from his perch down to the tray and back up again. He also effortlessly hops from the tray over to the back of the couch where I sit.
He didn't appear unwell, he was alert, curious and active, poops look great and no smelly breath (I know what a yeasty crop smells like, gross) but I was getting really worried about him refusing to eat so i've scheduled a vet appointment but due to covid i'm unable to get in until tomorrow afternoon.
But yesterday he surprised the crap out of me, and he flew. Not just falling and making the best of an unfortunate situation, he flew, on purpose, from the kitchen table to the counter, which is a considerable distance.
Today he is practicing a lot and has mastered flying from his bird stand over to me and sticking the landing pretty well. Within a couple of days he's gone from a clumsy baby to a confident flyer lol. I'm at the point where I cannot have the front or back doors open (no screens) for fear of watching him sail out of sight lol.
Now that he's flying and obviously happy with his progress, he is eating formula again. He's not really on a schedule anymore, he just lets me know when he's hungry and I whip some up and he usually takes 20-30cc before he starts refusing and spitting it out.
Anyway my question is, is it possible that he's fledging this early, or is he perhaps older than 8 weeks and the breeder maybe messed up? When he sent me the text offering me the bird he sent a picture as well and said he's just over 6 weeks old. He's usually very meticulous about identification and knowing who is who and their hatch dates, but this is very early for an Eckie to fledge. Every Eckie i've rasied has fledged around 10-11 weeks. One was starting to experiment at around 9 weeks but she didn't fly until several days later.
When I got him home he was mostly feathered but still had his baby fluff on his back. He's almost completely feathered now with just patches of baby fluff under his wings. I've included a couple of photos. The first is the one the breeder sent when he offered him to me, and the second is from a few days ago.
Also yes I know I could just ask the breeder but i'm trying not to bug him about anything unless there's something really wrong. I plan to send him a video of the bird flying in a few days so i'll double check the hatch date then, I just wanted some insight from you guys before then
So last week I brought home a baby Eclectus for hand raising. I'm not new at this, i've raised 5 so far and they've all been fairly textbook. I am not a breeder, but I am in close contact with a breeder who I have been helping for a few years now. If he has particularly large clutches of anything he gives some to me to raise. I don't charge him for it, and he pays for the formula. Due to his health he is raising his last couple of clutches before he calls it quits. As a thank you for helping him throughout the past few years he offered me one of his Eclectus babies, and I graciously accepted.
Anyway, my wee baby (who doesn't even have a name yet) was great for the first few days. Fed well, loves spending time with me and the family, curious, alert and vocal. He's a slow feeder but that's okay, comes with the territory. His hatch date is 13/6/21, making him 7 weeks 5 days today. He was 6 weeks 4 days the day I brought him home.
However the past few days he's been particularly difficult. Refusing formula, spitting out what I do get into him, obsessed with climbing and sitting on me. I tried having my husband feed him but he still wouldn't take it. Eventually I tried laying a towel over me and letting him sit on me while he ate, which worked for a day, then he started refusing again.
He's been more interested in foraging so I lined the tray of his bird stand with butchers paper, scattered some soft foods and let him have at it. He's become a pro and climbing from his perch down to the tray and back up again. He also effortlessly hops from the tray over to the back of the couch where I sit.
He didn't appear unwell, he was alert, curious and active, poops look great and no smelly breath (I know what a yeasty crop smells like, gross) but I was getting really worried about him refusing to eat so i've scheduled a vet appointment but due to covid i'm unable to get in until tomorrow afternoon.
But yesterday he surprised the crap out of me, and he flew. Not just falling and making the best of an unfortunate situation, he flew, on purpose, from the kitchen table to the counter, which is a considerable distance.
Today he is practicing a lot and has mastered flying from his bird stand over to me and sticking the landing pretty well. Within a couple of days he's gone from a clumsy baby to a confident flyer lol. I'm at the point where I cannot have the front or back doors open (no screens) for fear of watching him sail out of sight lol.
Now that he's flying and obviously happy with his progress, he is eating formula again. He's not really on a schedule anymore, he just lets me know when he's hungry and I whip some up and he usually takes 20-30cc before he starts refusing and spitting it out.
Anyway my question is, is it possible that he's fledging this early, or is he perhaps older than 8 weeks and the breeder maybe messed up? When he sent me the text offering me the bird he sent a picture as well and said he's just over 6 weeks old. He's usually very meticulous about identification and knowing who is who and their hatch dates, but this is very early for an Eckie to fledge. Every Eckie i've rasied has fledged around 10-11 weeks. One was starting to experiment at around 9 weeks but she didn't fly until several days later.
When I got him home he was mostly feathered but still had his baby fluff on his back. He's almost completely feathered now with just patches of baby fluff under his wings. I've included a couple of photos. The first is the one the breeder sent when he offered him to me, and the second is from a few days ago.
Also yes I know I could just ask the breeder but i'm trying not to bug him about anything unless there's something really wrong. I plan to send him a video of the bird flying in a few days so i'll double check the hatch date then, I just wanted some insight from you guys before then
