Hand Feeding Update

[cneuhauser]

Firstly, thanks to Dr Chris, for his insight and experience.

I previously wrote about some behavioral issues that started creeping up with my baby Ekkie. So, I'd gone back to hand feeding mashed sweet potato in order to curb some of the baby feeding desires, and hopefully get Comet back on track.

The hand feeding seems to be working. I'm sensing that he's calming down quite a bit more, and I'm getting back the more "soft spoken" Ekkie that originally came home with me; more content.

One of the more funny/laughable behavioral traits that have come to the forefront is Comet's communication with me on being "FULL". As I'm feeding him his mashed and water saturated sweet potato I can usually tell he's almost finished when he quickly bobs his head up and down; not sure if this is a physical necessity to move the food from the crop into his belly (making more room) or if this is truly a behavior but it's interesting.

The really funny part is that when he's really done eating, he stares at me for a couple seconds then darts back into his cage. Kind of like a little kid at the dinner table, who finishes then says "Ok I'm done with this, it's boring..."

The only concern I currently have is getting him to play with toys, he hasn't touched anything in his cage and even when I'm reading in my chair at night I'll grab one of his toys and start fumbling with it... but nope, can't get him interested. I'm hoping that eventually I'll be able to get him playing with the almost $1k I've spent on hanging gyms, free standing play gyms etc. I mean the bird is absolutely spoiled rotten. I see videos of Ekkies being little monkeys and climbing all over everything... Comet just doesn't seem interested in such things...

Any advice?

 

[Alembic772]

My 23 year old male has never been one to play with toys. Just Chinese finger traps. I think some do and others don’t.


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[Iyanden]

When my eclectus is full, she'll do an "attack" dance and start growling to let us know she's done. Think I prefer your version...

She also goes through phases lasting from days to weeks where she destroy her toys, just wants to fly, wants to hang upside down, etc.

 

[cneuhauser]

When my eclectus is full, she'll do an "attack" dance and start growling to let us know she's done. Think I prefer your version...

She also goes through phases lasting from days to weeks where she destroy her toys, just wants to fly, wants to hang upside down, etc.

Very interesting, he did a little of this today as I was walking out the door. An aggressive up and down then back and forth, then acted like he was going to bite my finger. I wonder if this means he's done with hand feeding...

 

[chris-md]

With regards to toys, I'll put it this way: male ekkies are dumb dunderheads who can't do anything for themselve

They often get portrayed as not liking their toys, just sitting around like lumps on a log. Many times, when birds don't play with toys, it's because they don't KNOW its a toy, or know HOW to play it with. And need coaxing.

Parker had no clue about shredding toys, a pineapple toy went untouched for months until. Once i started putting pieces of chopped walnuts on it he learned that these paper things can be torn apart, and its actually kinda fun to do!

I wish I could get him to destroy some wood toys. Though admittedly I'm jealously guarding that from him (I have an idea of how to teach that) because hes generally great about not chewing assorted surfaces around the house. The more he learns to chew toys, I'm sure the more likely he is to chew OTHER things around the house that hes not supposed to chew, like door frames and couches.

 

[saxguy64]

I'm really fortunate with Tucker. Definitely not a classic perch potato. He's always busy, and pretty good with toys. Soft wood is great, and anything with wooden beads on it, he goes crazy for. Won't leave it alone until all beads have been removed, then he heads to the bottom of the cage and destroys what's left of the pieces. Not much interest in foraging toys that I've tried with him so far, but I keep looking for something that he'll try.

Hormone season is making him kinda "nesty" and he's been taking large pieces of newspaper from the cage floor, and trying to weave them through his big plastic climbing chain. Otherwise, he's been shredding it all over the place. It's going on for about week now. So funny to watch!

Luckily, he's not aggressive at all, so the worst part is just being a little extra grabby of my hands and face, trying to get beaky kisses. He's really sweet about it, just more demanding while the chemical flow rages on.

 

[chris-md]

Hormone season is making him kinda "nesty" and he's been taking large pieces of newspaper from the cage floor, and trying to weave them through his big plastic climbing chain..

I really kind of need video or photos of this in my life.

 

[Ekkietiel]

For all the money and time spent constructing toys for Charlie, he only really every “plays” with bells. He’ll go nuts ringing them if the mood strikes him. The rest of the time he’s a bump on a log [emoji2371]


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[saxguy64]

Hormone season is making him kinda "nesty" and he's been taking large pieces of newspaper from the cage floor, and trying to weave them through his big plastic climbing chain..

I really kind of need video or photos of this in my life.

Here you go! As much as I could catch on video. And yeah, he was dragging around a whole sheet of newspaper. Foolish boy! Lol.
[ame="https://youtu.be/jJsW4Nkmung"]Tucker "nesting" - YouTube[/ame]

 

[cneuhauser]

Hormone season is making him kinda "nesty" and he's been taking large pieces of newspaper from the cage floor, and trying to weave them through his big plastic climbing chain..

I really kind of need video or photos of this in my life.

Here you go! As much as I could catch on video. And yeah, he was dragging around a whole sheet of newspaper. Foolish boy! Lol.
[ame="https://youtu.be/jJsW4Nkmung"]Tucker "nesting" - YouTube[/ame]

Saxguy... is that 1" bar spacing? Curious, as my Ekkie struggles with it.

 

[saxguy64]

I think it's actually something like 1 3/8 inch. It's a 36x46 preview cage that he came with. I think it's called the Silverado if I remember right. Not super heavy duty, but he's not a bar chewer so it seems fine for him. Quite cheap for the size. He loves his big space! Downside is it doesn't fit through a 36 inch door, so the carriers are always close by in case of emergencies. I'd love to get him something a bit more solid, but it would mean a huge downsize, or a small fortune for similar "elbow room."

Are you feeling he needs smaller or larger than 1"?