Hi Everyone!

[Terry57]

Hi All,
I would like to introduce myself and let you know a little about me. My name is Terry & I currently have a yellow crowned & an orange winged amazon, a hawkhead, a blue headed pionus, finches, canaries, diamond doves, lovebirds, parrotlets, budgies, rosey bourkes and button quail. Most are rescues and they are all pets, we don't breed. I am getting a Soloman Island Eclectus next week.
I love to learn more about my feathered friends, especially from others who have more experience than I do.
I am excited to meet you all!

 

[jenphilly]

Terry -

Welcome!! You are getting my dream bird Please post pics, would love to see the new family member! Will you be adding a boy or girl to the family??

Jen

 

[Terry57]

Hi Jen! an Eclectus is my dream bird as well and I am so excited! He is a male who is 4 years old. The woman I am buying him from isn't sure of the sub species, but by her description I think he is a Soloman Island. I am in a dilemma though...I also spoke with a man who has a Vos eclectus who is 2, and I am having a hard time deciding which one would fit in best with our birdie family. I am leaning toward the SI because he definitely needs a new home, but the Vos is very well socialized. Does anyone have any advice?

 

[jenphilly]

I would visit the first choice and see how the two of you hit it off.... I am a big believer then when adopting any animal, they pick us, we don't pick them If you don't have that gut feeling that he should go home with you, take the time to meet the second bird and see if there is a connection with that guy.

Sounds like they both need a new home, maybe best to get an opinion from the birds too I joke I also thought I'd get an eclectus and when we happened across the bare eyed cockatoo that came home recently, she made the decision for us!

Good luck with your decision!!

Jen

 

[MikeyTN]

Welcome to the forum!!! I LOVE my ekkies!!!

I would say visit both of them and decide. But when I got my pair, Gracie was the friendlier one but she used to attack me if I mess with her food dish, she's protects her food...lol....she no longer does it though. JoJo who was shy and scared to death so I trained him on a daily basis 25min+ about 4+ times per day and he turned into one of my most sweetest babies. So the choice would be up to you on which one you decide to get. The only thing is learn about their diet requirement if you haven't already. They do not do well on pellets because of added vitamins and minerals.

 

[Terry57]

Thank you for the advice! my only problem is they are both 3 hours away from us, and the SI needs to be rehomed asap as her current owner is having health issues. I have been doing lots of research on their diets, and either one should fit in with the rest of our guys as they all get 2 servings of fresh fruit and veggies a day in addition to their pellets and seed. I know that from what I've read that eclectus require alot of veggies and fruits and should be able to do that. What do those of you that have eclectus feed in addition to the fresh things?

 

[MikeyTN]

They really need food with high beta carotene! That is something to remember to always have in their diet. Such as sweet potatoes, carrots, etc. I give a table spoon full of seeds during evening time. It's mainly consists of smaller seeds, so a cockatiel mix with less sunflower seeds. I basically mix cockatiel with parakeet seeds to reduce sunflower seeds. You can also cook for them as they're many recipes you can make for your birds.

 

[Terry57]

Thank you Mikey for your help. I already have cockateil seed as my parrotlets and lovebirds eat that. do you feed your eclectus any pellets as well?

 

[MikeyTN]

Not really but there's a few in the seed mix, very few. I don't add any to it. Their main diet is fruits and veggies.

 

[Terry57]

Thank you again, may I ask how many feedings you give a day of the fresh fruits/veggies?

 

[MikeyTN]

I give them their morning feeding. They won't eat more if we give them a second time, but you can if you want. Mine just won't touch it the second time until they get their dinner. Unless it's something that we cooked then they would touch it.