Wanting an Eclectus..

[Mango121913]

Well said^^.

 

[KyleJames]

Thank you, Anansi. Really appreciate the response.

I bird-sat a Congo Grey for about a month once and that's what got me hooked when I was 12 so I still have a rough memory of the responsibilities and what it was like.

Like you said, it comes down to making a decision but like you said it helps to be confident in the decision. I lack confidence in many decisions I make in my life because I fear failure more than anything. Most things I do, I do not fail at though and it turns out my fears were simply from overthinking.. So for all I know this is just another case of me overthinking a decision/path and stressing myself out and it ending up being just fine..

I own my own business so that's a big benefit.. so If and when I get the bird I can spend a whole WEEK with it if I need to. and if I needed to leave early, take a day off I can, etc.. plus I can bring him to my warehouse with me and he can be with me all day.. But I want to simulate a scenario WITHOUT him coming to work with me first..

Let me run you guys through a typical day..

Get up at 7am, get ready, eat, etc. out the door around 8am usually go to the gym around 3pm, home between 5-6pm.. This is the most important for me to know if this is acceptable as far as being away this much of the day.

How many hours of interaction are a MINIMUM for an eclectus per day? Is it OK if I feed him breakfast and then just dinner when I get home? or does he need something in the middle of the day?

I also have a second side business making metal balancing sculptures in the garage and due to the nature of working with metal, it is a loud and hostile environment. But I SUPPOSE if I made an acrylic box cage for him, He could be out there with me so he can see me at least while I work. Im sure I could make something that will make it so the noise does not hurt him.. Weekends I have off but sometimes I am busy with various things as anyone would be..

I promise this is the last few things I will ask you guys and then I will just need to make a decision.

 

[Mango121913]

These parrots are very self entertaining, as long as they have toys and things to keep them busy. They still need socialized. I work 8, 10 hr days, but most days I can come home at lunch and spend an hr with him, and feed him. I feed 3x generally. I keep a small amount of pellets in his cage at all times. He eats them only as a last resort, he would rather have my fresh bean and veggie mix. So if I cannot make it home at lunch, he will be fine. One thing he does, which I can't figure out, is waits till I let him out of his cage to potty! And when he goes, it's ALOT. I have never tried to potty train him, he basically started this on his own. I am going to post a question about this. Kind of concerns me, don't want him to hold all that bacteria in his body for so long.

 

[MrsKay]

KyleJames, what if your bird begins sounding like the machinery in your garage? I think that would bother me. If it were me, I would keep the bird safe and away in the house (just a thought)
I am beginning to believe that you want to be talked into getting a parrot.
You KNOW YOU WANT ONE (that's my wish for you)
You appear to be so very concerned about the 'friend you don' have yet'
I still say you will make a great parent.

btw... nobody here minds answering your questions or giving advice and opinions, so keep asking away until your questions run dry. Remember, most people here (nearly all) have birds so we are biased in your favor, especially when someone is as concerned for their pets as you seem to be

 

[KyleJames]

This community really is great thank you all for being so patient and willing to answer all my questions! I am just used to people saying "MAKE A DECISION AND STOP BUGGING US!" lol

Glad to know you do not need to be a stay at home parent to have one of these birds If you subtract my gym time, I'm really not even away from home 8 hours a day. sometimes I do work a lot in a single irregular day (~10 hrs or so) but I am really happy to hear that you work 8-10 hours and that they are more self-entertaining than a Congo Grey probably is... and definitely more independent than a cockatoo!

So you think he would be ok if I gave him a good breakfast, left some nice, organic, healthy, pellets in another dish for him and then didn't get his big dinner until 6pm-maybe even 7pm at night? (just stretching the time out so I know my boundaries) It would probably be more like 5pm

I know for a FACT I would give him PLENTY of toys (probably new ones monthly) and put TV shows/movies/music on for him all day in my quiet room.

KyleJames, what if your bird begins sounding like the machinery in your garage? I think that would bother me. If it were me, I would keep the bird safe and away in the house (just a thought)
I am beginning to believe that you want to be talked into getting a parrot.
You KNOW YOU WANT ONE (that's my wish for you)
You appear to be so very concerned about the 'friend you don' have yet'
I still say you will make a great parent.

Good point. I think I will just keep him out of the garage. I Just thought I would mention it as an added bit of time he can see/be with me.

And yes, that's probably what I am looking for - someone to either talk me INTO or OUT of this decision.. I want someone to make the decision for me so that if I make the wrong one I can't blame myself again, it all stems from my fear of failure and when I deal with something like a BIRD I do not want my failure to effect an innocent animal that does not deserve it. Anything else I would have decided on already but a PET.. to me.. is so important to never let down or have improper living conditions.. animals are always 100% innocent to me and I hate bringing any distress to them. Hence why I want to make sure I would give a bird enough attention and dedicate enough time to its overall care.

Also... Let's say (and this is NOT a regular thing that I do) I give him breakfast, go to work in the morning, etc. but I stay with a friend or at my girlfriends for the night without being able to drive all the way home to get him (Someone else in my house can feed him his dinner) I wouldn't see him until the next day.. would he be OK? Let's assume the person that feeds him his dinner will NOT interact with him purely for the sake of the scenario.. basically.. would he be OK without having any interaction for over 24 hours? (but still be fed and again, this is not a regular thing)

 

[MrsKay]

AND.... what you just said is EXACTLY what would make you a great parrent!

Also.... (now this is controversial and I can almost guarantee will start entirely entirely different conversation) but...here we go....I sometimes (rarely) have to do this when my mother who lives a couple of hours from me needs assistance.
I have left my bird for a couple (2) days (one night). Set up with 3 water bowls, one attached on the bottom, middle, and top of the cage (attached), also another 'fountain' type waterer attached to the cage.
2 food bowls in the center of the cage, and another attached, covered feeder at the bottom of the cage, with enough food for at least a week (even though I knew it was one night and nearly 2 days). Millet spray, Toys. Radio on a nice classical music station, near a blinded window, partially cracked for light, fan in the room on low facing away behind the cage for circulation, cage covered on 2 sides with a light sheet.
The bird was just fine for one night without a babysitter (which I do not have access to, I live in the sticks) and there was clean water and plenty of food left (and tossed away) when I returned everything was fine. I worry the entire time I'm gone, but have never had a problem.
If I were gone any longer I would have to board my birds at the breeders, which they do, but they are more than an hour away from me in the opposite direction.
As I said, doing this is controversial. I am concerned about my birds. I really have no other options for care of my bird(s) I also have a canary which I set up nearly the same way.
If I had a zoo I could not do this

 

[Mango121913]

Oh, another thing my breeder does is teach the babies how to drink out of a lixit water bottle. Ekkies, and others, like to put their food in their water bowls. Creating a bowl of bacteria, this helps control the chances of that happening. I still offer Mango a big bowl to see if he'll ever bathe in it....nope....he still would rather shower!

 

[KyleJames]

Oh, another thing my breeder does is teach the babies how to drink out of a lixit water bottle. Ekkies, and others, like to put their food in their water bowls. Creating a bowl of bacteria, this helps control the chances of that happening. I still offer Mango a big bowl to see if he'll ever bathe in it....nope....he still would rather shower!

Interesting! I would really like to have a bird that is trained to drink from those lixit bottles.. is it possible to train them to do that on my own or is that something that has to be done at birth by the breeder?

And thank you for that scenario makes me feel better that if I ever needed to, I could do that. (In a tight/rare pinch)

 

[labell]

None of mine soak food in their water thank goodness because I myself don't care for water bottles. Years ago I knew a breeder that used them, they were VERY hard to really keep clean, if food gets up into the pipe or around the ball it's a breeding ground for bacteria. I change water twice a day and that seems to be fine. Remember when eclectus eat their fresh stuff there is always gobs on their beaks (that's how you know they are loving it). I would not want mine wiping their beak on the ball at the bottom of those bottles, but that's just my opinion.

As for fresh foods, I give a pretty good size bowl of fresh stuff in the am another bowl of fresh in the late afternoon then at supper (which is actually around 7pm-8pm) the Volkman's seed for eclectus goes in the bowl until the next morning at breakfast. I do not agree that fresh can only stay in the bowl for 4 hrs unless your house is super warm, I have never had issues with fresh food going bad or causing a problem. I used to feed a little Harrison's or TOPS pellets but don't anymore. Mine really didn't eat it and even with the organic there is some controversy of whether pellets are the right choice for ekkies over the long haul.

 

[Anansi]

Just to address the pellets issue, as you did mention leaving a bowl of pellets for your future ekky through the day, keep in mind the specialized dietary needs of the eclectus.
These birds have a longer digestive tract than other parrots, which gives them more time to extract the vitamins and nutrients that they need from their food. This means that they wind up absorbing significantly more of the "good stuff" from the food that they eat. Sounds good, right?

But there is a flip-side to this. Enriched foods, like pellets or fortified seeds, while great for other parrots, are simply too rich for an eclectus. They could lead to an overdose, effectively too much of a good thing. Such an overdose often causes wing flipping, toe tapping, irritability, and even plucking in eclectus parrots.

So you should either not give pellets at all, or in VERY limited quantities. I allow Bixby only 4 or 5 pellets in the morning and the same at night. (I use Harrison's organic, Adult Coarse). He would LOVE more, as Harrison's seems to rank in his top 5 foods, but I don't negotiate on that. Lol!

And remember, if you do decide to give any pellets, they must be organic and DEFINITELY uncolored. The colored foods can even start to affect the coloration of their plumage.

And as for overnighters, I find that to be a little more problematic with eclectus as well. (Same could be said for any of the subspecies of toucan, too. Actually, even more so.) When I had a cockatiel, I was able to, on the rare occasion, do like MrsKay said and leave him overnight without much worry. But an eclectus' need for fresh food complicates things somewhat. Now, that said, I reckon doing so once in a blue wouldn't exactly damage him or anything. Substituting dry for fresh for the rare meal or two (so long as he is willing to eat it) won't cause any problems. In my case, however, I use Bixby's night cage as a carrier so that I can simply bring him with, at need.