Eclectus help

Nim

New member
May 19, 2021
5
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Hi guys- our eckkie Ruby has been with us for 3 months now. We bought her from the shop and she was very fixated on an all seed diet. I just wanted to some opinions/advice on her diet. So we make chop with lots of veges every couple of weeks and freeze it. Each night we used to take out 2 cubes and mix in a spoonful of her seeds and put that on top of her cage every morning. She mainly just picks out all the seeds she likes and flicks the rest away mainly eating say two teaspoons of chop. In addition to this we have some eucalyptus trees that are flowering at the moment so she gets maybe two branches a day to forage from. We have guava trees in the backyard as well so she has two -three guavas at her disposal during the days. She mainly eats the seeds and spits out what she doesn?t want. We also bring in a slice of pomegranates and half a passion fruit every other day. Around midday she gets a mash of either pumpkin and peas or cauliflower or brocolli and carrot or corn. We mix it up and make it fresh for her. We usually put a spoonful of seeds here too. Again she eats the seeds only and maybe two spoonfuls of mash since it sticks to the seeds. At dinner we give her three tablespoons of seeds with pellets. This stays in her cage overnight and we throw out anything she hasn?t eaten in the morning and start afresh. Again she gorges on the seeds at night. Are we doing okay? We throw out a lot of food since Ruby likes to flick it everywhere and eat only what she wants. She is also going through a big molt at the moment. I?m wondering if she doesn?t get enough to eat? We?ve actually switched to making her chop fresh daily as well but she doesn?t eat it as much. We were hoping to ween her off the seeds but several times during the day she ends up going over to her seed cabinet and sitting on top of it giving us a hint so I?m worried that she?s hungry but ways only seeds. Any advice is appreciated.
 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,646
10,008
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
Eclectus as a species have /need a very specific diet. Sadly, far to often they are introduced to a seed diet only. Depending of the amount of quality seeds that exit in that diet the discussion goes very different directions.

Sadly, when someone states a 'seed diet' it is commonly near 90% Sunflower seed and corn. That die is deadly for a fairly wide cross-section of Parrots including Eclectus.

Rehoming a Parrot that was introduced to a poor quality diet is difficult as they are very slow to changing to a healthier diet. The combination of a poor diet and a Parrot that enjoys sharing their food with everyone else is that it takes a very long time to convert them to a healthy diet.

Life reality: Most Parrots share their food, which means you will to dumping large volumes of food!! If you have a feeder outside, keep it filled with rejected food helps, as at least not everything is trashed.

Ecectus diet is Heavy on Veggies and to a lighter degree 'very high quality, very wide spectrum of seeds, grain, nuts, etc. Zero Sunflower and peanuts!!

Reality Check (second time) Parrots commonly waste tons of food! Get use to it, look at ways to share the wealth with the wide life.
 

Scott

Supporting Member
Aug 21, 2010
32,673
9,789
San Diego, California USA, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Parrots
Goffins: Gabby, Abby, Squeaky, Peanut, Popcorn / Citron: Alice / Eclectus: Angel /Timneh Grey: ET / Blue Fronted Amazon: Gonzo /

RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
As Sailboat eloquently stated above, baseline seed diet harmful to most parrots and particularly hazardous for Ekkies. I'd recommend aggressive effort to curtail Ruby's seed consumption, emphasizing key point: Never starve a parrot into submission!"

If you have a small postage or cooking scale measuring grams, capture Ruby's weight and continue logging every day or so to detect trend. Recommend allowing her a decreasing amount of seeds for limited periods morning and night. Begin serving fresh veggies/fruits aka "chop" as stand-alone diet during most of the day. In other words, don't give Ruby the choice seeds and fresh foods simultaneously, you know what she will choose! Might also try the "chop challenge: Prepare two identical bowls of chop, offer one to Ruby, begin eating yours. Make "mmmm" sounds, bob your head in delight. Parrots are flock eaters and you are part of the flock!
 

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