Thanks everyone. He eats better when I feed him, but I noticed he munched down some banana in his bowl, and some seeds. And I fed him some apple later which he seemed to really like. For dinner, he was munching on my salad, so I gave him a little portion with the dressing washed off, and he liked eating the potatoes and lettuce, and then he also ate some TOPS pellets and mung sprouts. So he did pretty good! He is definitely showing signs of appetite, and eating, so that's a big relief.
I hope he recognizes some other fruits soon and starts to eat them. His previous owner told me he liked to eat bananas and papayas, but so far no luck on papaya. Hope he will get into passionfruit. But each bird seem to have its preference. He's been used to a mostly seed diet, so I hope it won't be too hard to get him off that. I haven't given him his old food again. With my female, since the day she came home, I started giving her all kinds of fruits, and she never looked back at her old diet again.
He is settling in well. He will step up on me when I reach for him in the cage. He is very receiving of touch, I pet his head for short periods, and he likes that. He has a playtop cage, and my female has been flying on top and playing all around his cage while he is inside. She will hang on the side, or perch on the top, or play around it. Everytime I have walked in, she has been on top of his cage, while he sits quietly inside. I took it as a good sign. I have handled them both together now as well, and they seem to like each other. They will respond to one another's vocalizations, and seem to enjoy the company. Absolutely no signs of aggression, or jealousy, or any weirdness.
If anything, I've noticed that my female has opened up a bit more, is vocalizing more, and seems more playful and perky since he's joined the flock. So I take these all as good signs.
One thing I've noticed is that his feet are funny. He seems pigeon-toed or something. He does not perch the way my female does. I can see her legs when she perches on me, and her stance is strong, and straight. His legs tend to curl to the side, he seems to walk with his feet slightly on the side when he is on the floor, and when he is perched on me, his feet are on me, but it feels like he rests a lot of his belly on me too, same story when he's perched in his cage. He's not as straight as my female. I wonder if all his time in the cage has made his feet funny, and if its possible to straighten them out. Or if just all birds perch a little different. I will post pics tomorrow to illustrate what I'm talking about.
But all in all, I would say its going really well, and I have no regrets in getting a second eclectus. He seems to be a really positive addition. Oh, I gave him a shower today too, and he was flapping his wings, and wagging his tail, going crazy! He loves the water.
. A lot of what we read about eclectus are very conflicting. In my experience dealing with these birds everyday & knowing their temprement so well a lot of what we read is myth.
:jumping40
. Maybe he just needs to adjust more.
