New Eclectus owner with some questions

SamBurton

New member
Feb 24, 2023
1
4
Parrots
6yo Solomon Island Eclectus
Hello! This is definitely not my first time having a bird in my home but it is my first time with an Eclectus, and I would love to bend the ear of those who are happily owned by one.

Last week, I adopted a 6y/o Ekkie who has so far acclimated very well to his new home and gotten very comfortable with me in no time at all. I have some questions about getting his diet on the right track, as I know they have very specialized needs- needs that at this time I am still working to meet for him because his previous owner wasn't quite there yet.

Regretfully he is on Roudybush pellets but I have made him a very filling chop recipe that is making up a good 90% of his diet until the TOPS pellets come in the mail.

He has a sweet tooth (beak?). Loves his fruits, sweet potatoes and sweet peppers. He wouldn't touch any other vitamin a-rich orange foods like pumpkin, carrots and butternut squash until I made them taste like something else in his chop (tossing with a dash of fresh cinnamon and some fresh ginger juice, it smells like pumpkin pie and now he can't get enough of it).

Still, I'm having trouble getting him to try anything green. If he sees anything leafy, it goes straight to the floor. If he sees the color green in his chop, he deliberately and carefully avoids it, no matter how small I shred it. I'm worried he will not take well to the TOPS pellets now, knowing they are mostly made up of greens.

Have you found any tricks to introducing vegetables to an Ekkie with a sweeter palate?

He has an appointment next week for his first well bird check-up and beak trim (the latter of which I'm hoping isn't diet related!)
 

saxguy64

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Welcome to you and your ekkie! I definitely feel your pain. My guy is the same way about anything green with a few exceptions. Oddly, he doesn't care for most fruits, but he loves carrots, peppers, and butternut squash, as long as I cut them up the right way 🙄

Greens, he likes broccoli, but usually only the stem/stalk. I think it's the crunchy texture that's similar to raw carrots. He'll eat it little of the crowns if I cook them just enough to change color, but still be crisp. Green beans the same way. Sometimes...

He has finally decided that Top's aren't completely evil and might eat 8-10 pellets a day, but still tosses or ignores them on occasion. It took over a year of putting some in his dry food bowl every single day. I'm happy he's eating them at all, since it's at least a little source of greens.

Before that, the only way I got top's or anything green into him was to chop it up fine in a food processor, almost into powder or paste, and mix it into the birdie bread batter. I still do that, and he LOVES his birdie bread no matter what I throw in it. :)
 
May 28, 2022
21
50
Parrots
Blue Male Quaker
Female Eclectus
Hello! This is definitely not my first time having a bird in my home but it is my first time with an Eclectus, and I would love to bend the ear of those who are happily owned by one.

Last week, I adopted a 6y/o Ekkie who has so far acclimated very well to his new home and gotten very comfortable with me in no time at all. I have some questions about getting his diet on the right track, as I know they have very specialized needs- needs that at this time I am still working to meet for him because his previous owner wasn't quite there yet.

Regretfully he is on Roudybush pellets but I have made him a very filling chop recipe that is making up a good 90% of his diet until the TOPS pellets come in the mail.

He has a sweet tooth (beak?). Loves his fruits, sweet potatoes and sweet peppers. He wouldn't touch any other vitamin a-rich orange foods like pumpkin, carrots and butternut squash until I made them taste like something else in his chop (tossing with a dash of fresh cinnamon and some fresh ginger juice, it smells like pumpkin pie and now he can't get enough of it).

Still, I'm having trouble getting him to try anything green. If he sees anything leafy, it goes straight to the floor. If he sees the color green in his chop, he deliberately and carefully avoids it, no matter how small I shred it. I'm worried he will not take well to the TOPS pellets now, knowing they are mostly made up of greens.

Have you found any tricks to introducing vegetables to an Ekkie with a sweeter palate?

He has an appointment next week for his first well bird check-up and beak trim (the latter of which I'm hoping isn't diet related!)
With our girl, she tolerates some greens and hates others. What we do is we blend the greens with some grapes, apples, or pomegranate (her favorite fruits) and mix that into the chop. The blended in fruit, we assume, helps mask the veggie flavors she might not like.

While doing it fresh every morning is a pain, we also make ourselves healthy shakes in the morning and just prepare her blend every few days before ours then use the container to make ours without washing it (as the greens are good for us too).

Even though she picks at her chop trying to find her favorite morsels she is still getting some of the greens with each bite.
 

DonnaBudgie

Supporting Member
Jan 24, 2023
3,213
3,961
Windham, Maine
Parrots
Budgies. Lotsa Budgies.
With our girl, she tolerates some greens and hates others. What we do is we blend the greens with some grapes, apples, or pomegranate (her favorite fruits) and mix that into the chop. The blended in fruit, we assume, helps mask the veggie flavors she might not like.

While doing it fresh every morning is a pain, we also make ourselves healthy shakes in the morning and just prepare her blend every few days before ours then use the container to make ours without washing it (as the greens are good for us too).

Even though she picks at her chop trying to find her favorite morsels she is still getting some of the greens with each bite.
Is birdie bread something that needs refrigeration/freezing to stay safe and fresh or can it be stored at room temp? If so, for how long? I'd like to try to make some for my budgies and don't really know where to start. They don't have any food intolerances or picky eating habits- at least Rocky doesn't- she will eat anything so I'd like to use readily available ingredients if possible. Any ideas appreciated.
 
May 28, 2022
21
50
Parrots
Blue Male Quaker
Female Eclectus
Is birdie bread something that needs refrigeration/freezing to stay safe and fresh or can it be stored at room temp? If so, for how long? I'd like to try to make some for my budgies and don't really know where to start. They don't have any food intolerances or picky eating habits- at least Rocky doesn't- she will eat anything so I'd like to use readily available ingredients if possible. Any ideas appreciated.
Not sure if you meant to post that here as this is an Ekkie food discussion, but here is the info:


Looks like 1 week in the fridge, 6 weeks in freezer.
 

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