Some more info from epople who know Eclectus

[NJAngel]

So I was doing some research on these little guys and all the information I am finding just doesn't match up.. Some say males are sweet and others say both male and females are just nasty and very nippy. Also some sites say their immune system is weak and some say other wise.

Right now I'm thinking of Eclectus or a cherry head conure ..It will be awhile before i choose anything as I just lost my sun conure do to fright from a ice storm and coldness as we where trapped in the house and our generator would not start for us it is a very sad time for us as he was my baby and I couldn't do anymore then what I was doing

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I'm sorry for your loss. Unfortunately I know little about ekkies, and the little I do know is similar to the contradictory information you have heard.

In a vast majority of cases when someone speaks of significant temperament differences between males and females of the same species they are usually mistaken. But most ekkie aficionados are quick to point out that ekkies are exceptions to many rules.

We do have a few ekkie owners on here, and hopefully they will be able to help out. Unfortunately it's been pretty quiet on this board recently.... I've been having a nice chat with the crickets.

 

[shadowme]

I am so sorry to hear that youlost your bird. Even sometimes when we try the hardest there is still nothing we are able to do. Good luck in finding the information that you need. I don't know much about eclectus. just what you have written above.

 

[kim]

So I was doing some research on these little guys and all the information I am finding just doesn't match up.. Some say males are sweet and others say both male and females are just nasty and very nippy. Also some sites say their immune system is weak and some say other wise.

Right now I'm thinking of Eclectus or a cherry head conure ..It will be awhile before i choose anything as I just lost my sun conure do to fright from a ice storm and coldness as we where trapped in the house and our generator would not start for us it is a very sad time for us as he was my baby and I couldn't do anymore then what I was doing

Hi, to answer a few things for you

Females have had a bad reputation that unfortunately has stuck with them over the years. Females have been known to be 'bossy' when maturing but with much knowledge it can actually be beatable these days. Basically just arm yourself with as much info as you can on females & how to handle them correctly to avoid such confrontations in the first place. 99% of the 'nasty' females come either from broken homes or the owners do not know how to properly deal with the situation. Of course there is the odd 1% that is just bossy no matter what you do. These girls aren't as common as people think they are & make awesome aviary birds. I don't own a female but I know quite a few that do & they all say their females are sweet as......

I do own a male & guess what? He's a little over 3 years old & a right #%*$& ATM with mood swings. So i can tell you for a fact that male ekkies can get these awful mood swings as well as females can when they come into maturity.

If it's hormones, all you can do is a lot of sucking up to them to keep the piece, avoid allowing them to favour a particular spot in the house or cage (this makes their attitudes worse as they pick this place as their 'nesting' spot), learn to read their body language. They're a VERY easy bird to read & you can often tell just by their eyes the kind of mood they're in. ALL of this goes for both males & females.

Immune systems in ekkies should NOT be weak. They're highly sensitive to the environment & the foods they eat but if they were to have weak immune systems they would not live beyond a couple of years....

Ekkies are highly sensitive to food & environment, as I just said. This means they require a 'special' diet. They are a great deal healthier on natural soft healthy human foods such as herbs, sprouts, cooked foods, fruit & veg. Many do poorly on pellet diets & many can become seed addicts. Any incorrect diet on an ekkie eventually impacts their health.
There's more on their diets here:
http://www.eclectusparrots.net/diets.html

Basically if your ekkie was reared, bought healthy & robust & you keep them on a healthy large variety of food diet they will remain very healthy birds for life. Offering a variety of fresh soft foods daily is actually not so hard to do either.

I hope this has cleared a few things up for you

 

[Auggie's Dad]

Females have had a bad reputation that unfortunately has stuck with them over the years. Females have been known to be 'bossy' when maturing but with much knowledge it can actually be beatable these days. Basically just arm yourself with as much info as you can on females & how to handle them correctly to avoid such confrontations in the first place. 99% of the 'nasty' females come either from broken homes or the owners do not know how to properly deal with the situation. Of course there is the odd 1% that is just bossy no matter what you do. These girls aren't as common as people think they are & make awesome aviary birds. I don't own a female but I know quite a few that do & they all say their females are sweet as......

I hope this has cleared a few things up for you

Is this still about parrots?

 

[kim]

What do you mean is this still about parrots? That's about female Eclectus parrots....what else am I talking about?

 

[Auggie's Dad]

"Females have had a bad reputation"

You didn't specify that you meant female PARROTS. It sounded like it all applied pretty well to all females p

 

[kim]

LMAO well I didn't know I needed to specify since it was in a parrot forum & I wouldn't say something like that about myself anyway

 

[Oedipussrex]

I agree with Kim, I own a 2yo male eclectus and he is the sweetest thing with so much patience (we have 8 people in our house). he has actually become quite sexist, especially where beards are involved. always favouring girls.

I think the thing is with eclectus that they are usually quite passive animals so some can remain quite calm past the point you would expect from many other types of parrots, and others allow themselves to quietly stress themselves out to a point and then just burst and attack all out without you even knowing there was a warning signal that they had almost had enough.

I have also heard bad things about female ekkies on heat, but cant really speak from experience.

 

[Spiritbird]

This thread is a few years old. Please check dates before responding.

 

[Nativecolors]

Here is a few photos of my BFFF (best feathered friend forever) Murphy.

You have to scroll right to see his before and after photos. The story is in the caption. Basically, he came to me after an abusive and neglectful situation where he was mistreated and not taken care of. He was on an all seed diet. As one of the posters mentioned, Ekkies need a special diet. Look at the difference on the link posted from the before pictures (the second photo is the week came home to me and the rest are nine months later). It is simply amazing the progress this magnificent creature has made, both physically and emotionally. The physical part is evident and as for the emotional aspect- this too, is evident in his eyes and stature in the photos if you ask me. He went from a fearful, quivering boy who felt the need to always be in fight or flight mode- to a confident, VERY loving little feather person! Murphy is one of the great loves of my life. I’ll admit, it took an astounding amount of dedication, patience, time, love and money to get there. But I’d do it all again 100x over. So to answer your question- I HIGHLY recommend ekkies. I’ve had parrots all my life from the smaller ones to amazons and beyond. I am currently a breeder (mostly smaller hookbills and poultry. I don’t breed ekkies because quite honestly they require a huge amount of time and attention to be happy and after what my Murphy has gone through with his previous bad human- I don’t want to make him “share me”). Murphy has gotten to the point where if he knows I’m home and he’s not with me (normally he is with me if I am home) he seeks me out chattering all the while , as if you say I have a lot of nerve for not getting him first. He has full flight and is never ever locked up. I have the good fortune of a bird proofed home where he can enjoy his freedom. Although the only time he roams around is to seek me out. My home is almost 3000 square feet and three stories- important because for the once terrified boy- it takes a lot of love and determination to brave the home to seek me out. In fact, his cage with an open door and largest perch is in the living room and I can’t sit on the couch for two min before he flies to me. He’s the best. Everyone should have a Murphy. And although he wasn’t always this sweet, due to his previous situation, today, he is by and far the parrot with the most gentle disposition of all the parrots I’ve ever known. He gets his moods but that’s usually just a growl. I respect the demand for privacy when I hear the notorious ekkie growl. Someone also mentioned that they are easy to read- I second that a 100x over. The ekkie is like an open book in a room full of scholars. Get to know your individual bird. Earn and keep their respect and trust. You’ll have one hell of an ekkie human bond! I cannot speak for a female because I’ve never had the good fortune of calling one part of my family but I wouldn’t be afraid to welcome a girl. Not for a second. If you have the time to spend, the love to give and the knowledge and money it takes to keep them fed properly for good health and longevity- I say ekkie is the only choice. But that’s me. Maybe I have an exceptional example of one. Actually- I know I do. But from what I gather- most of them are. You rarely hear of a mean ekkie, like you do amazons. Font get me wrong, that’s been my breed of choice until I had an ekkie. But the later is certainly much less temperamental imo. I know that the Amazon was not part of the question but it’s my reference point as far as comparison with my personal experience.

 

[Nativecolors]

Here are the photos to go with my comment above.
The first one is Murphy the week I adopted him- neglected and on an all seed diet. The subsequent are photos on a recommendation of pelleted food and fresh food nine short months later.
As you can see when he came to me his beak was broken due to bad nutrition and neglect and the subsequent photos are now, where we are ready for and have a an avian vet all set to do a house visit to shape. We needed to let it completely grow out before attempting the trim per vets suggestion. (There’s a lot more to the medical history but thankfully, all is well)
[/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

 

[Nativecolors]

I do realize this is an old thread but figured an answer would help others considering adding an ekkie to the family!

 

[Laurasea]

Wow!!!! What a difference!!! Fantastic job!!

 

[Inger]

I do realize this is an old thread but figured an answer would help others considering adding an ekkie to the family!

Absolutely! Google finds old threads as often as new ones.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cneuhauser]

So I was doing some research on these little guys and all the information I am finding just doesn't match up.. Some say males are sweet and others say both male and females are just nasty and very nippy. Also some sites say their immune system is weak and some say other wise.

Right now I'm thinking of Eclectus or a cherry head conure ..It will be awhile before i choose anything as I just lost my sun conure do to fright from a ice storm and coldness as we where trapped in the house and our generator would not start for us it is a very sad time for us as he was my baby and I couldn't do anymore then what I was doing

ALL PARROTS ARE NIPPY...(lets start here)

I just brought home a baby boy Ekkie about a month ago and this is my first parrot in a few years. However, my parents Macaw, Sulfer Cockatoo, and especially my dusky conure... were/are nippy.

However I think it's important to define nippy. I can count on my hand (and I do still have all of my fingers) how many times each of these parrots has 'nailed' me good... maybe three or four a piece in the decades they were a part of my family.

My baby boy that I just brought home in the last 30 days uses his beak all the time to communicate his wants/needs, frustrations, etc but he's SOOOOOO incredibly gentle about it... to the point where I'm wondering if he's acting hormonal by being soft and gentle with his beak.

Nothing about him has me fearing his beak... there's one instance in the last 30 days where he nipped me good, and that's because I was chasing after him with a wet washcloth to wipe off his beak... and it was my fault because I didn't introduce the cloth properly. If some person I'd only know for 30 days started running after me with a dark damp tarp, I'd probably turn around and punch them in the face too lol... just sayin'

Maybe I'm another one of those lucky Ekkie owners, but "Comet" is incredibly gentle with both his beak and his feet... even when he steps up, he does it slowly, even his grip is slow and then gradually strengthens on my fingers/hand etc. He even rests his beak on my finger and just stares at me while he rests during feeding. Even play fighting, he's still gentle as can be...with varying degrees of grip.

My Ekkie is about as intimidating as the pic above.

 

[chris-md]

No, there are no hormonal behaviors for a 7 month old. Ekkies have a reputation (perhaps overblown in my opinion) of being polite: shoving fingers away instead of biting them. In your case, its not unusual for babies to be gentle - they don't know about biting. Biting is often a learned behavior.

 

[cytherian]

Wow, @Nativecolors -- Murphy looks stunning!

Just to add...

My roommate adopted two Eclectus parrots, one male and one female, who had come from a degenerating situation. The previous owners had a newborn (human) baby and they were fully consumed with the baby's care. It definitely took its toll on the birds. The male started plucking out his feathers. Eventually they decided rightfully that it was time to let them go. Timing is everything--my roommate got them both with their cages. They were parked in an upstairs room with little light... it was not good. Despite the stress, both ekkies were friendly to both me and my friend (who became my roommate years later). It wasn't long in the new home (much cleaner, nice lighting) before the birds began to settle-in. The male calmed down and grew back his feathers.

Between the two of them, the male ekkie has been FAR more approachable. The female rather aloof, difficult to trust. My roommate worked hard at the relationship and eventually won her over. I've had the female ekkie on my fingers with no problem. But her countenance is not one of joy. She always "looks moody" to me, except when coddled by my roommate. And now, more recently, she does a "happy dance" for me when she knows I'm about to bring a treat.

I have absolutely no fear whatsoever with putting my hand into the male's cage, as he'll eagerly hop aboard with the chance to come out of the cage. The female just looks down at my hand with skepticism. I have actually gotten her to hop on with a "step up" command when she's on a table or couch, however. I think a lot of it has to do with confidence and slow, steady hand movements. Just like with dogs (they know when you're skittish).