Violet_Diva
Member
GREETINGS
I am new to both forums AND parrots!
Here I am in the deep end, so please be forgiving of any unintentional ignorance...
I believe myself to be in a position where I am finally able to give my time to a parrot that will hopefully live a long and happy life with me. I have no children and am not a particularly social person, so spend all my free time pottering around at home or in the yard when I'm not a work or at the supermarket. My partner however is unable to work and so is at home all day everyday.
For the past few months I had been reading alot about eclectus'. I specifically fell in love with the vosmaeri eclectus, the plumage of the females had me entranced to the point that all I could do was look a pictures and videos each day in awe.
After much reading and consideration, I decided that I was confident in being able to provide a forever home. And so began my mission trying to find my new baby! I get quite travel sick and so any distance over 25 miles can make me ill. But to get my dream parrot - it was worth travelling that bit further. I managed to find a reputable breeder about 80 miles from me, and as I don't drive, I had to ask a friend if they would be willing to help, and thankfully they did (thanks Nadia!) After searching online daily for about 6 months I had finally found her! She was apparently hatched at the end of May this year and is closed rung, her parents are aviary birds. I collected her on the 18th of August. I have named her Bella. I found that many people had advertised as having vosmaeri eclectus', but upon viewing photos, they all lacked the yellow feather tips and yellow vent. ( I presume they were cross breeds from misidentified males).
PREPARATION
I firstly began work on making the house bird safe. No more tea tree products (replaced with aloe vera), no aerosols. We already had stainless steel pans, so Teflon wasn't an issue.
I obtained an open-top indoor powder coated cage that is over 3ft wide by just under 3ft deep and nearly 6ft tall with an additional drawbridge door (I have read these are quite popular.) The cage has bar spacing of 1 inch. I wasn't sure if the bar spacing would be too wide for an eclectus under 2 years old (I have read that they can keep growing until the age of 2 and wasn't sure if the larger bar spacing was potentially dangerous for a youngster). So I also obtained a smaller cage with 1/4 inch bar s (either as a nursery or sleeping cage - just incase!) I also obtained a large java tree stand, which I am in the process of wrapping untreated sisal rope around in order to create a better surface for her feet to grip (as I have read that their feet don't grip as well as some other types of parrot).
I had been buying various enrichment, foraging and foot toys and a mixture of pine, manzanita, java, cholla, liana and calcium perches (all various shapes sizes and widths), I have also bought sisal ropes, a 'boing' and swings and seagrass mats. I've been getting a bit each month when I get paid in order to build up enough to change them over often enough to keep things interesting. I've bought a water spray bottle for little showers. I even bought her - her own small fridge to keep her fruit and veg in. I wanted to make sure I had all the provisions required BEFORE bringing a bird home!
Though saying this, I am yet to obtain suitable full spectrum UVA/UVB lighting. I have read that the bulb will be effective for about 1 year with about 8-10 hours use a day (with a break of 2 hours in the afternoon.) So I am aware that I will need to replace the bulb annually. If anyone has any recommendations for available lighting products, I would appreciate it! I am also working on an outdoor flight cage as my aviary is currently home to 3 young pigeons (but that's another story!)
MY PET HISTORY
Over the years, I have had experience of caring for all kinds of animals as my house used to be the equivalent of a dumping ground for people who could no longer provide care for their pets. I've previously taken on many pets with special dietary requirements and medical conditions. This includes fish with damaged fins and swimbladder problems (we had to find specific toys to put in the tank that the fish could safely get inside to stop him floating to the top and being carried around by the water pump), rabbit with lopsided jaw (needed teeth clipping every 3-4 weeks as she was unable to grind her own teeth down), elderly rabbits with rear leg paralysis (had to be bathed and dried daily in order to avoid flystrike), rats with bald heads (had to provide lots of fresh fruit and veg to regrow the lost fur), unwanted gerbils kept in a tiny fish tank (I got them a nice big cage), stray cats with FIV (they have poor immune systems and have specific dietary needs and medication), a stray cat with sinusitis and rhinitis (various medication), cat with renal failure (again special dietary needs and medication), stray cat with malnutrition & eye problems & and degloving of front legs (frequent bandage changes and different types of eye drops every 2 hours for days and other medication and special diet), as well as many healthy unwanted pets such as guinea-pigs, more rabbits, more fish, stick insects, more cats, more rats and more gerbils. I was a dog walker for neighbours when I was younger and have previously cared for an aviary whilest a neighbour was on holiday (they left me strict instructions and provisions). The only trouble with helping all the needy and sick animals meant that heartache was frequent (and expensive!)
Now there is only one elderly indoor cat and two strays with access to a two storey luxury outdoor kennel, I felt that I am now able to give my time to a parrot.
FINALLY - FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I'm not a very social person so I don't get the opportunity to waffle on that often!
I'm keen to learn about others, and how they care for their feathered friends and am hoping to seek advice from the more experienced owners. Im working on refining her diet at the moment. I don't have a food processor and so all the chop WAS being made daily by hand (by hand - I mean knife!) Just yesterday I started a larger batch of veg to freeze. Im keeping it all raw and separate to give me the option to modify the mix before serving by changing combinations or cooking it. I didn't want to put all the effort into the preparation and cook it all only to have the whole lot wasted! Her favourite foods so far are; sweetcorn, blueberries, pomegranate and raspberries. She's not so keen on the veg, so I 'll keep mixing them together.
I have been soaking all fruit and veg in 1 part apple cider vinegar to 3 parts water, and then rinsing thoroughly. All water used is bottled.
SO FAR...
So far she is generally quite quiet. She sometimes has small squawking conversations. And has a tendency to do this between mouthfuls of food at times. She's been loud briefly a couple of times but I've found that she typically mimics volume level - so I will try to lead by example there!
Now that I've had her a couple of weeks and she's settling in, I would like to start some training. She is a bit bitey still, so I might revert to using a perch for her stepping up as my hand is already quite battered and bruised with a few chew holes in it! Her biting also makes delivering treats difficult. Im thinking of trying a long spoon. If anyone has any other tips or recommendations for training I will glady implement them!
Answers to my future questions will be greatly appreciated. I shall look forward to reading your thoughts and opinions and hope that you can offer the knowledge I am seeking to enable me to become the best eclectus friend I can be!
Thank-you for your time
I am new to both forums AND parrots!
Here I am in the deep end, so please be forgiving of any unintentional ignorance...
I believe myself to be in a position where I am finally able to give my time to a parrot that will hopefully live a long and happy life with me. I have no children and am not a particularly social person, so spend all my free time pottering around at home or in the yard when I'm not a work or at the supermarket. My partner however is unable to work and so is at home all day everyday.
For the past few months I had been reading alot about eclectus'. I specifically fell in love with the vosmaeri eclectus, the plumage of the females had me entranced to the point that all I could do was look a pictures and videos each day in awe.
After much reading and consideration, I decided that I was confident in being able to provide a forever home. And so began my mission trying to find my new baby! I get quite travel sick and so any distance over 25 miles can make me ill. But to get my dream parrot - it was worth travelling that bit further. I managed to find a reputable breeder about 80 miles from me, and as I don't drive, I had to ask a friend if they would be willing to help, and thankfully they did (thanks Nadia!) After searching online daily for about 6 months I had finally found her! She was apparently hatched at the end of May this year and is closed rung, her parents are aviary birds. I collected her on the 18th of August. I have named her Bella. I found that many people had advertised as having vosmaeri eclectus', but upon viewing photos, they all lacked the yellow feather tips and yellow vent. ( I presume they were cross breeds from misidentified males).
PREPARATION
I firstly began work on making the house bird safe. No more tea tree products (replaced with aloe vera), no aerosols. We already had stainless steel pans, so Teflon wasn't an issue.
I obtained an open-top indoor powder coated cage that is over 3ft wide by just under 3ft deep and nearly 6ft tall with an additional drawbridge door (I have read these are quite popular.) The cage has bar spacing of 1 inch. I wasn't sure if the bar spacing would be too wide for an eclectus under 2 years old (I have read that they can keep growing until the age of 2 and wasn't sure if the larger bar spacing was potentially dangerous for a youngster). So I also obtained a smaller cage with 1/4 inch bar s (either as a nursery or sleeping cage - just incase!) I also obtained a large java tree stand, which I am in the process of wrapping untreated sisal rope around in order to create a better surface for her feet to grip (as I have read that their feet don't grip as well as some other types of parrot).
I had been buying various enrichment, foraging and foot toys and a mixture of pine, manzanita, java, cholla, liana and calcium perches (all various shapes sizes and widths), I have also bought sisal ropes, a 'boing' and swings and seagrass mats. I've been getting a bit each month when I get paid in order to build up enough to change them over often enough to keep things interesting. I've bought a water spray bottle for little showers. I even bought her - her own small fridge to keep her fruit and veg in. I wanted to make sure I had all the provisions required BEFORE bringing a bird home!
Though saying this, I am yet to obtain suitable full spectrum UVA/UVB lighting. I have read that the bulb will be effective for about 1 year with about 8-10 hours use a day (with a break of 2 hours in the afternoon.) So I am aware that I will need to replace the bulb annually. If anyone has any recommendations for available lighting products, I would appreciate it! I am also working on an outdoor flight cage as my aviary is currently home to 3 young pigeons (but that's another story!)
MY PET HISTORY
Over the years, I have had experience of caring for all kinds of animals as my house used to be the equivalent of a dumping ground for people who could no longer provide care for their pets. I've previously taken on many pets with special dietary requirements and medical conditions. This includes fish with damaged fins and swimbladder problems (we had to find specific toys to put in the tank that the fish could safely get inside to stop him floating to the top and being carried around by the water pump), rabbit with lopsided jaw (needed teeth clipping every 3-4 weeks as she was unable to grind her own teeth down), elderly rabbits with rear leg paralysis (had to be bathed and dried daily in order to avoid flystrike), rats with bald heads (had to provide lots of fresh fruit and veg to regrow the lost fur), unwanted gerbils kept in a tiny fish tank (I got them a nice big cage), stray cats with FIV (they have poor immune systems and have specific dietary needs and medication), a stray cat with sinusitis and rhinitis (various medication), cat with renal failure (again special dietary needs and medication), stray cat with malnutrition & eye problems & and degloving of front legs (frequent bandage changes and different types of eye drops every 2 hours for days and other medication and special diet), as well as many healthy unwanted pets such as guinea-pigs, more rabbits, more fish, stick insects, more cats, more rats and more gerbils. I was a dog walker for neighbours when I was younger and have previously cared for an aviary whilest a neighbour was on holiday (they left me strict instructions and provisions). The only trouble with helping all the needy and sick animals meant that heartache was frequent (and expensive!)
Now there is only one elderly indoor cat and two strays with access to a two storey luxury outdoor kennel, I felt that I am now able to give my time to a parrot.
FINALLY - FOOD FOR THOUGHT
I'm not a very social person so I don't get the opportunity to waffle on that often!
I'm keen to learn about others, and how they care for their feathered friends and am hoping to seek advice from the more experienced owners. Im working on refining her diet at the moment. I don't have a food processor and so all the chop WAS being made daily by hand (by hand - I mean knife!) Just yesterday I started a larger batch of veg to freeze. Im keeping it all raw and separate to give me the option to modify the mix before serving by changing combinations or cooking it. I didn't want to put all the effort into the preparation and cook it all only to have the whole lot wasted! Her favourite foods so far are; sweetcorn, blueberries, pomegranate and raspberries. She's not so keen on the veg, so I 'll keep mixing them together.I have been soaking all fruit and veg in 1 part apple cider vinegar to 3 parts water, and then rinsing thoroughly. All water used is bottled.
SO FAR...
So far she is generally quite quiet. She sometimes has small squawking conversations. And has a tendency to do this between mouthfuls of food at times. She's been loud briefly a couple of times but I've found that she typically mimics volume level - so I will try to lead by example there!
Now that I've had her a couple of weeks and she's settling in, I would like to start some training. She is a bit bitey still, so I might revert to using a perch for her stepping up as my hand is already quite battered and bruised with a few chew holes in it! Her biting also makes delivering treats difficult. Im thinking of trying a long spoon. If anyone has any other tips or recommendations for training I will glady implement them!
Answers to my future questions will be greatly appreciated. I shall look forward to reading your thoughts and opinions and hope that you can offer the knowledge I am seeking to enable me to become the best eclectus friend I can be!
Thank-you for your time
Last edited:
