Adopting soon, gathering resources.

[Monaco]

Hi forum folk. I'm very excited about adopting Monaco, a 23 year old female eclectus. I have about 5 weeks to get prepared. If anyone has specific tips about parrot proofing a home, I will be grateful. I've suddenly decided every inch of my house is lethal, or at least dangerous. She's also leaving the only home she's known, and I'm very worried about grief, stress, and illness. Deciphering body language can be hard enough without those thrown into the mix, so I expect to have a tough time for several months and will likely post panic stricken questions here while I try to hide the panic from Monaco.

I'm glad to have found a community, it's already reassuring.

Kelly on behalf of Monaco

 

[BeanieofJustice]

Welcome to the Avenue Kelly and Monaco!! Monaco is a very pretty name.

 

[Monaco]

Thank you. It's lucky, right?! I hope the rest of the adoption is too.

 

[Yoshi&Raphi]

Welcome to the forum Monaco! I hope you enjoy your time here .

 

[WallyLoopey]

Welcome! Is she a flyer? If so, anything and everything can become a landing spot!

One of the obvious safety rules we have here is no one’s allowed to turn on the ceiling fans..watch out for windows and of course electrical cords!

I know you must be nervous!

 

[Love My Zons]

You will do just fine! There's alot of Ekkie savvy People here to help you. I know that Eclectus have specific dietary foods that they need. @EkkieLu has a pair and she is a great Ekkie Mom.

Welcome and great name!

 

[Fuzzy]

to the Avenue, Kelly! Have you met Monarco already?

Windows and large mirrors are easy for a bird to fly into so you may want to cover them or stick decals on them when Monarco is out - at least until she gets used to the room(s). Keep toilet lids down at all times just in case! Cooking will be dangerous and of course you need to stop using any Teflon coated pans or baking trays (non-stick). When over heated Teflon gives off fumes that can kill a parrot. More on fumes - time to ditch perfume, scented candles, incense sticks, harsh cleaning products. Watch out for any toxic houseplants, and also hot lights/lamps that she could land on. Also be sure not to feed toxic foods like avocado, chocolate or alcohol. You may want to get flyscreens for any windows or doors that you like to have open in the summer.

 

[Hawk12237]

Hi forum folk. I'm very excited about adopting Monaco, a 23 year old female eclectus. I have about 5 weeks to get prepared. If anyone has specific tips about parrot proofing a home, I will be grateful. I've suddenly decided every inch of my house is lethal, or at least dangerous. She's also leaving the only home she's known, and I'm very worried about grief, stress, and illness. Deciphering body language can be hard enough without those thrown into the mix, so I expect to have a tough time for several months and will likely post panic stricken questions here while I try to hide the panic from Monaco.

I'm glad to have found a community, it's already reassuring.

Kelly on behalf of Monaco

Hi Kelly, welcome to the forum.
@EkkieLu has both a male and female eclectus.
She can help guide you on their diets, and behavior.

 

[Monaco]

Thanks for the welcome and information, guys.

I haven't met her yet. This week her owner and I will be using Voxer to exchange and store our voices so Monaco can get familiar with mine, and I can play her mom's when she's finally here.

Luckily I won't have to give up many products, I can't tolerate very many chemical compounds either. I think I just found a legitimate reason to stop cleaning the bathroom mirror, though!

Do you guys have tricks to deal with curtains and electrical cords? I have a pretty open floor plan, and I use curtains in two doorways. I don't know what to about cords at all. I swear I'm surprised my couch isn't plugged in... they're so many cords. Maybe a baby proofing site will help?

Thanks guys.

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome. Try to keep everything as close to being the same as his old home until he settles in. Same food, same bedtime, covered/not covered, etc. Keeping things familiar usually helps with the transition.

I'm not sure how big of chewers Ekkies are. He may or may not go after the electrical cords. They do sell I believe a type of tubing you can put over the cords. Or when I had my cockatiel, I just blocked his access. My cockatoo has never showed any interest in them but he needs constant supervision anyway. The safest thing really is just to not leave him unsupervised. What is your concern about the curtains? Really, I think the biggest thing is making sure you don't use Teflon, candles, febreeze, etc. House proofing you kind of just figure out as you go along.

 

[EkkieLu]

Hi Kelly! Welcome Aboard! I'm so glad you're here!

Any questions you have about ekkies I will be more than happy to answer as best I can. Ekkies are fresh fruit eaters. So limit seeds and nuts. Their digestive system is specially designed for this specific diet. I also give them steamed fresh veggies, especially orange colored - carrots, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, acorn squash, etc once a day. If you feed them mainly pellets and seeds/nuts they lose their brightly colored plumage and will turn grey.

Their heads are covered in fine "hairs" rather than traditional feathers. You will see these accumulated in their water bowls as they will often dunk their foods before eating it. I try to change their water several times a day as it gets cloudy rather quickly!

Sergei is harness trained and loves to go outside in warm weather with me. Males are generally more docile than the females. Lucy is very feisty and rules the flock. Let her settle in but make sure she knows that you are the boss! I'm still trying to get this concept across to Lucy!

I take my crew to our avian vet every 3 months to get their nails trimmed and a quick weigh in and check up. Then annually they all get bloodwork and smears done. Sometimes Lucy has to get her beak filed down too. In the wild, ekkies use their beak to make large holes for nests in trees which keeps their beaks the proper length but they tend to keep growing in captivity.

Ekkies rival African Greys where speech is concerned. They sound very human! I've taught them to call "MaMa" and "Come Here" when they want me. Ekkies are not screamers! Even when startled or frightened they freeze silently in place rather than scream and/or fly away as most birdies do.

Well that's my quick start advice! Many congrats on your new baby!

 

[EkkieLu]

Ekkies are not big chewers. Even their toys last a long time. They do peel anything with a skin - blueberries, peas, etc and will drop or fling the skins. Constant clean up is necessary to keep away fruit flies.

Sergei is trained to poop only in his cage and will high tail it back to his own cage when the need strikes him. Lucy wants no part of this idea! She has caught on to the idea of not going potty on me though, which I consider great progress!

Ekkie beaks are BIG!!! At least 3 or 4 times the size of my amazon's. Get to know your gal and read her body language before putting your hand near her. Even a little nip could require stitches!

 

[Monaco]

Thank you!

 

[expressmailtome]

Welcome, and enjoy the site!

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

welcome

 

[Monaco]

Welcome! Is she a flyer? If so, anything and everything can become a landing spot!

One of the obvious safety rules we have here is no one’s allowed to turn on the ceiling fans..watch out for windows and of course electrical cords!

I know you must be nervous!

Yes, I am! And excited, and terrified, and then excited again.

She's never flown. Ever. Always been clipped, I guess. Any thoughts on whether I should keep her clipped or help her learn?

A side note, I've just learned that she can talk in context sometimes. And when she's pissed at her owner she goes to the side of her cage, projectile poops, and laughs while she's doing it, then laughs when it gets cleaned up...
Thoughts on vindictive passive aggression?

On a lighter note, I'm told she doesn't make the flock calls or that alarming, paint peeling scream.

 

[calibird]

Welcome to The Avenue.