Eclectus Diet - confused

Chikoo

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Rumi (male Eclectus, 12yrs)
Fruits should not be underestimated. I would say ekkies need more fruits than veggies. They are able to extract nutrients from fruit and it gives them the energy they need. Not to mention, there is a lot of water in fruit, which they also need. It is also a good source of fiber. All I know is that I see my birds light up when I give them fruit, and they just sort of eat the other things as well, but FRUIT is what they seem to be after, and most naturally adapted to be eating. In my experience at least.
 

ortootto

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Hi All,

We may have a problem with our birds (male and female ekkies, 7-8 months old).
Insofar both birds were crazy about food. Their bodyweight went up by 15-20%.
Recently their appetite decreased and their taste changed. Nowadays, sprouted seeds and pellets (roudybush) are the big hit, and they refuse to eat even sugary fruits (former favourites), not to mention veggies that they do not give a damn about at all.

So they eat pellets and sprouted seeds only. Weight decreased by 15%. I dont like this diet of theirs and I do not like their bodyweight loss.

The vet says both birds are in great condition, they even have a little bodyfat which is fine, their bloodtest is also okay (had a little calcium deficiency earlier), they behave as they should and they are in a very good mood (male is goofball, female is moody).

What am I doing wrong? Both birds were feeding machines. Is it possible that ekkies do get picky? How come they just refuse to eat their former favourites?
 

Violet_Diva

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Bella (Vosmaeri Eclectus Female) + Dexter (Red Sided Eclectus Male) + Gerry (Vosmaeri Eclectus Male)
I have read about picky eclectus. Mine has displayed some changes to her preferences. For example she initially loved bell peppers, then she tried bok choy and then she started ignoring the peppers. The other day she had sprouted seed overload. Normally she will eat as many as I give her, but she stopped taking them from my hand.

If she hates a meal I've given her she screams the house down! Sometimes she pretends she doesn't want the food I've given her, in hope that I bring her something tastier. She ignores the food, then I leave her for a couple of hours and when I sneak back in its all over her face and she's trying to pretend she was just walking past the food bowl!

I try to make sure that all her meals are visually different and varied enough that she doesn't come to expect anything (besides carrot and sweet potato which is mixed into every meal.)

Sometimes if you eat something infront of them and make a big fuss about how yummy it is, they will get curious (and possibly jealous) and then once they are interested, offer them a little bit of what you're eating, tear a bit off (obviously not a part that could have your saliva on it) and see if that helps encourage them.

For a while I did mix seeds and chop together. I figured some goodness from the chop would soak into the seed, and inevitably through the rummaging process, some chop will get eaten.

Also, I do continue to offer foods even if they are being ignored or rejected. After scott told me about some of his birds ignoring particular foods for years and years and then suddenly one day deciding to try them and like them, I figured it's best to keep offering as wide a variety as possible.

Hopefully someone else may have some suggestions too, as I'm still learning myself. Good luck :)
 
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Anansi

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Great post by Violet_Diva. Yes, ekkies definitely can get tired of certain foods. This is why I try to mix things up. You want to keep a large variety of foods in your arsenal and change things up regularly. The way that I approach it, there are certain fruits and sprouts that drive them nuts. So I use one, or at most two, of these most beloved ingredients in their chop each time. And the rest is composed of different varieties of their staple foods. In so doing, those one or two favored ingredients serve as delicious accents to their meals.

The trick, however, is to keep all of the foods in rotation. Like Violet_Diva, I do have staple foods found in every meal. In my case, carrots and dandelion. But the other 6-8 ingredients rotate out every 3 days. This helps keep them from tiring from any one particular food type.

Also, experimenting with different food approaches might help as well. Serving the food warm definitely stokes my ekkies' appetites, for instance. Or chopping the food into finer bits. Some foods that they would never touch chopped, they might relish when grated. One of the things to remember is that a parrot's sense of taste is far less sensitive, and less capable of discerning a variety of different flavors, than that of the human palate. So because of this, textures and temperatures become nearly as important to them as taste is. Some may prefer crunchy sensations. Others soft. Others yet something in between. Some may enjoy the feel of steamed foods, others that of drier fare. The point is, many parronts don't really consider the texture component of the foods that they offer. Enter this aspect into your approach and you may find your birds a lot more receptive to your offered meals.
 

Kaitlynandjason

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how much food should an Eckie eat in a day????... ive always thought mine was eating pretty well but im just questioning myself... I usually feed mine fresh fruit or veg every morning... and a good portion that he picks on for a while... and I usually have pellets available for him... he also mooches food from me when I eat.
 

Anansi

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how much food should an Eckie eat in a day????... ive always thought mine was eating pretty well but im just questioning myself... I usually feed mine fresh fruit or veg every morning... and a good portion that he picks on for a while... and I usually have pellets available for him... he also mooches food from me when I eat.

The amount varies from one ekkie to the next. For my two piglets, each takes a serving of around two and a half heaping spoons (whatever you call that spoon that is significantly bigger than a tablespoon, but a bit smaller than a ladle. I'll just call it an uber spoon) of fresh chop at each meal. (Probably adds up to around 4+ tablespoons per meal) But I've periodically had to adjust this amount as they've gone through growth spurts and such. When they were younger, the individual servings were closer to one and a half of those uber spoons per meal.

The size, sub-species, and activity level of your eclectus factors in to how much they eat as well. Jolly and Maya are both Solomon Island ekkies. Currently, Jolly tends to weigh in at an around 358-365g or so in the mornings. And Maya at around 388-395g. They eat around the same amount, however, despite Maya being the heavier of the two. This is because Jolly is an active flier and Maya absolutely refuses to fly unless she must. (Unfortunately she was clipped as a baby and never had the opportunity to fully fledge. As such, she never got comfortable with the idea of flight.) So Jolly burns more energy and requires more food.

My Bixby, on the other hand, was a red-sided and tended to weigh in at a more robust 425-440g (when he was healthy). He flew, but not nearly so much as Jolly does. His servings, however, were closer to 3 of those uber spoons per meal. For a Vosmaeri, it might be even more than that.

Another thing that affects how much they should be given is the type of food provided. When I'm feeding them an oatmeal/chop mix, for instance, the servings are significantly smaller than 2.5 uber spoons. Oatmeal is waaaaaaay more filling than regular chop, and packs on the grams like you wouldn't believe.

So it really comes down to observing your bird and seeing how much they eat in a given hour or so. I always base my observations on ekkies on a 1-2 hour timetable, as they are such slow eaters. You know that way they have of grabbing some food and running off with it to their favorite spot where they can chew on it at leisure, savoring the flavor and texture while contemplating the mysteries of life? Or how they LOVE that nasty habit of making soup by dropping some of their chop into their water? Lol! Yeah, 1-2 hours usually works.

One last thing. Most pellets are not formulated with the unique dietary sensitivities of ekkies in mind. As such, there have been many reported cases of toe-tap and wing-flip among eclectus parrots who are given pellets as the main staple of their diet. Some say they have found pellet brands that have worked for their ekkies, but given the track record of pellets with ekkies in general I've decided to take the safe road and feed my Eclectic Duo all fresh.
 

StChelle

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Male Galah named Valentine; male red-sided Eclectus named Harlequin "Harley"; female red-sided Eclectus named Petra
My avian vet said the most common deficiency she sees with Ekies is vitamin A. If you feed pellets (which I do but not exclusively) roudy bush and Harrison's is fine. I'm sure other high quality too but I only asked her about the two I use for my galah. I also feed Harrison's birdie bread, kale, carrots and a variety of peppers. I also give a small amount of seed that has fruit and cuttlefish with dried peppers and no sunflower seed on occasion. After a month no problems at all and I am keeping an eye on him as I've read all the usual stuff about pellets. He also gets plenty of sun. Vet says he's perfectly healthy.

I use pine nuts and almond slices mostly for training.

I think giving a variety that includes healthy doses of veggies is a good general practice. From what I understand pellet related issues aren't a guarantee but are possible. If he develops any issues I'll take them out of the diet
 

Anansi

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Actually, while Harrison's is an excellent pellet for most parrots, it is definitely one of the offenders when it comes to the infamous ekkie toe-tap and wing-flip. And the unscrupulous way they went about defending the obvious effect their product often has on ekkies really made me lose some respect for them. Check out this thread to see what I mean: http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/53854-disgusted.html
 

Parkiboy

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On the pellets note.. I boycotted pellets for months when i got my eclectus due to what i was reading on-line when i did my research prior to getting him. He started toe tapping/wing flipping from a very early age (around 4 months) despite me giving him what i consider to be an excellent diet.

I spent months eliminating certain foods to try and solve the issue to no avail, i then introduced tops pellets into his diet which are made of all natural ingredients. To my surprise his wing flipping/toe tapping almost stopped immediately and i have not seen him do it for a couple of weeks now (he's been on them 3 weeks)

He now gets a tablespoon with his dinner time fruit every day.
 

RisingSun

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cockatiel - Lucy; SI eclectus - Matisse
I eat a mostly whole foods diet, so I just chop up mini versions of what I am eating for Matisse. If I cook, I always set a portion aside to cook without certain seasoning/salt and fats. For example, this morning he and the tiel had egg white scramble with tiny pieces of broccoli floret, Brussel sprout, pea sprouts, habanero pepper, and I add back in some of the eggshell.

Matisse loves egg, fruit, cheese, meat....so I'm trying to get more veggies in him. I live with family that has spoiled him with pizza and birthday cake (!!!). I start chopping veggies really tiny and mixing them in with a little cooked egg to get him to eat it.

I used to make smoothies (before getting lazy), and every morning we would have green smoothies. After mixing mine, I'd leave a little in the mixer, and add a little more fruit to it to entice him. He loved it. I need to do that again.
 

ALRAINBOW

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Mar 27, 2020
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What do you mean by wing flapping ? I have an 8 month pair. They both take turns at times flapping but only 1 or twice a day for like 30 seconds. They are fed as solamen aviari said. Rice , carrots , broccoli, green apples , corn , peas , sweet potatoes. All chopped except corn , peas and rice. Sprinkle red peppers on top. I also give them all kinds of sprouts , beans soaked. Kewi corn on the cob raw and carrots as treats. Two fresh meals and at night supreme pellets over night and there early am until I do veggies.
 

ALRAINBOW

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Ps I have learned that chopped veggies is OK till 2 day but key is red crushed peppers only as I put in there dishes. I tried fresh red hot peppers in food not cool for now. They also love fresh sprouts too. I also give them lafibers seeds but I crush them not to waist so much. Varying there diet each couple of days his a hit as well. I only have them since Jan this year they were both born about first week of November.
 

Anansi

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What do you mean by wing flapping ? I have an 8 month pair. They both take turns at times flapping but only 1 or twice a day for like 30 seconds. They are fed as solamen aviari said. Rice , carrots , broccoli, green apples , corn , peas , sweet potatoes. All chopped except corn , peas and rice. Sprinkle red peppers on top. I also give them all kinds of sprouts , beans soaked. Kewi corn on the cob raw and carrots as treats. Two fresh meals and at night supreme pellets over night and there early am until I do veggies.

It's actually wing-flipping, not wing flapping. One letter makes a huge difference in this case. Lol! Flapping their wings is a fine and healthy practice. Wing-flipping, however, is a bit of a tic that can develop as a result of dietary issues. Much the same as toe-tapping.

As for the diet you're currently feeding them, it sounds pretty good. I don't know what kind of rice you're using, but brown is best. More healthy. Quinoa is also very good. I'd steer away from corn as a dietary staple, though it's fine as a treat. I say this because they don't get much nutritionally from corn, so it winds up being pretty much filler. Also, some eclectus have been known to have a toe-tapping reaction to an excess of corn. (Mine don't, but there have been quite a few recorded cases of those who do.)

I can't speak on the pellets. Since many brands of pellets cause health issues for ekkies, I avoid them in general. I just go with chop. But I know quite a few ekkie parronts use particular brands as part of their ekkie diets without issue. If you are going to use pellets, just make sure they don't have any dyes or vitamin supplements.

Here is the list I usually post listing the diet I provide my ekkies, in case you want to try any of the ingredients there:

In the interests of sharing information, here is what I currently feed Maya and Jolly: I tend to provide between 6 and 8 types of food per feeding (2 meals per day), weighted heavily toward the veggie side as only 1 of the food selections in a given meal is a fruit.
Various sprouts, carrots (very important due to the high content of beta carotene - precursor to Vitamin A), bell peppers (red, yellow, orange and green ā€“ also very high in Vitamin A), jalapeno peppers, Jamaican Scotch bonnet peppers, chili peppers, squash (butternut, green and yellow), pumpkin (again, high in Vitamin A), blueberries and pomegranates (both among the most nutritious of fruits), snap peas, broccoli (high in calcium), cactus pears, dragon fruit, persimmon, starfruit, bananas, grapes (only for flavor and hydration. Relatively low in nutrition), kale, turnips, radishes, brown rice, quinoa, cucumbers, endives, dandelion (nutritional powerhouse offered at every meal when seasonally available), sweet potato (cooked), red swiss chard, mustard greens, collard greens, kale, cilantro, parsley, watercress, arugula, granny smith apples, papaya (donā€™t go too heavy on this, as it is a diarrhetic), African horned melon, hominy, oatmeal (sans sugar or flavoring), kiwi, barley, calendula flowers, fennel, chocho beans and garbanzo beans, as well as Volkman's Fancy Soak and Simmer as a base for the majority of their legumes and grains.

For food accents I'll add one or two types of the following as well: star anise, milk thistle, elder berries, rose hips, hibiscus, bee pollen and chamomile flowers.

Twice a month, I'll give a little hard-boiled egg (with the crushed shell for calcium). Slightly more frequently during a molt.

For their training treats they get an assortment of unsalted nuts (one to three or so per bird in a given day, broken into small pieces and fed as rewards during the training sessions). And for their "goodnight treat", up to a teaspoon or two of seeds.

Here are typical examples of chop (before the Soak and Simmer legumes & grains are added) to show the variety from one bowl of chop to the next. I do chop every 3 or 4 days so that they always have different foods in rotation.
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Keatz

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Basil (Amazon)
I'd just like to add to the pellet discussion. My eclectus, Oscar, cannot handle them at all, not even sprinkled judiciously over his food. I used to write on here about how he suffered from a severe form of toe tapping, which caused him to have leg spasms. After I cut pellets, and other food containing added vitamins, out of his diet two years ago, he hasn't experienced it again. Not even a toe tap. Now I just feed him fresh food.
He is a fussy eater and it would be tempting to sprinkle a few pellets in his food to make up for what he's missing, but after the past experience, I would never offer them to him again.
 

Anansi

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Hey, Keatz! I remember when Oscar was having those issues! I'm so glad to hear he's toe-tap and spasm free two years running, now. If I recall correctly, those spasms were pretty severe. Beautiful update!
 

Keatz

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Thanks, Anansi. Great to hear from you. The spasms were very severe. Each episode would last about five days, during which he could not sleep. There was also wing flipping involved. I seem to recall that one of your eclectus experienced a similar thing. I trust that it was a one off thing and they haven't had any more problems.
 

Anansi

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Thanks, Anansi. Great to hear from you. The spasms were very severe. Each episode would last about five days, during which he could not sleep. There was also wing flipping involved. I seem to recall that one of your eclectus experienced a similar thing. I trust that it was a one off thing and they haven't had any more problems.

Great to hear from you, too! Yes, Jolly was going through it a bit. Turned out it was the combination of certain fruits with him. Blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are all good served singularly. But combining any of the two together? Toe-tapping, wing-flipping and even leg-spasming. But good came of it, as that's when I adopted the practice of only one fruit type per chop mix. More veggies, grains and legumes is better for them, anyway.

Regarding daylight. Are grow lamps good enough ?

There are no studies that definitively answer this question one way or the other. At least, not to my knowledge. Some swear by lights that mimic sunlight, others feel every bit as strongly that they don't serve as an adequate substitute.

But here are a few things I can say for sure:

1) If you are going to use lights, make sure to get the right kind. Lights that are safe for birds. Not to be confused with reptilian heating lamps.

2) If you use lights, make sure to set up your cage in such a way that there is shelter from said lights. You don't want your birds in a situation where they can't escape the light if it's making them uncomfortable.

3) Most people use the lights incorrectly. For the most part, they indicate that the light must be no more than around 8 or so inches away from the cage to have the intended effect. (It's possible there are lights out there without such a distancing limitation that I simply haven't heard of, but I know that many of them do have it. Make sure to read the fine print.)
 

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