Change in Bahavior

[dhaines]

Just found this site, and am hoping I can get some advice from others who might have experienced what I am with my 2-1/2 year old female eclectus.

She suddenly started the toe tapping and wing flipping late this past fall - maybe October. In addition, she used to talk and chatter all day. That has stopped and she now just makes the same sound over and over again. I took her to an avian vet about 3 weeks ago and also discovered she has started leg chewing. In looking at other posts, I've seen others with similar issues, just not sure if all at the same time. I was given antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication and prepared some "bird bread" per the vet recommendation which I put the medicine on for her to eat. I thought the chewing was getting a little better as it started looking like her legs were healing, but now they are even worse than when she went to the vet.

I have her on organic pellets, and I just read I should stop any pellets with spirulina in it, as well as other things to eliminate from her diet. But I don't see much advise on what I should be feeding her, if I am to eliminate the pellets. I have some Volkman Eclectus food, which I give her just a little of every day since that is primarily seeds, which I mix in with the pellets. I put fresh veggies and fruit in a separate dish along with some crazy corn or other rice/pasta mix. But since the pellets are her primary diet, and I want her to have a good variety, what else can I feed her? Is there a pellet that doesn't have spirulina?

Any help would be most appreciated. I am worried about my baby. Her name is Ruby too!

 

[Birdiemarie]

I'm sorry you are having issues with your Ruby.
I would suggest stopping the pellets and instead feed her various rice and veggie mixtures (keep the white rice to a minimum and look for brown, red, black, etc). Sweet potatoes are a hit with many ekkies. All kinds of red, dark green veggies are good. Cauliflower is also good.

Pellets (even those made for ekkies) have a concentrated amount of vitamins in them (even if it's natural) that some ekkies cannot tolerate. There is a great variety of foods you can feed Ruby instead of pellets. If she is a picky veggie eater you can sneak them into birdy bread made without corn meal. Also cut up fresh veggies into different shapes till you find the shape she likes the best. Also start her into foraging for food may help.

Also stop all protein foods which includes nuts, beans, eggs and also stop corn which has been known to exacerbate food allergies. You may be able to introduce some of these back into her diet later on but for now you need to stop them in order to stop the sensitivity from getting too much of a hold on her system which may cause her to become an habitual plucker.

 

[ncGreyBirdLady]

Welcome to AAI'm sorry that Your Ekkie is having problems! I know that diet is Very important for them.Here is a link that You might find helpful.
Laurella Desborough's Eclectus Center

 

[ncGreyBirdLady]

Great Post Marie

 

[dhaines]

Great tips! Thanks for the advice. I will work on changing her diet immediately.

I see some suggestions in the Laurella Desborough's Eclectus Center for sprouted sunflower, safflower and wheat, but have no idea where to find something like that. Doesn't sound like something I could find in a grocery store. Any thoughts?

 

[CarmieJo]

to the Avenue! I just bought my first bag of sprout mix but this site Sprouts was recommended to me and I have found it helpful. I would also urge you to visit Land of Vos and read everything you can there. Land of Vos - Carolyn's Recipes

 

[jmfleish]

I recently received a PM from one of our members asking about what I was changing to get Cooper SIE to grow some feathers back and thought this thread was as good as any to talk about it. I was going to try and get some pictures this evening too. I'm very proud of the several feathers Cooper has been growing back.

A little background for those of you who don't know. Cooper is a male SIE whom I've had since he was 15 weeks old and is now 7. I also have his younger brother Taco who came to me at about 2 maybe 3. Taco had been bitten by a GW Macaw in his last home and when he was taken to the vet, the vet mentioned that he thought he saw signs of plucking as well as mutilation of both legs like the original poster mentioned. He also started to wing flip and toe tap. I've never had any issues with toe tapping or wing flipping or even picking with Cooper, but he did always over preen his flights.

To get rid of the wing flipping and toe tapping in Taco, we did what Marie had mentioned...stopped all animal protein as well as beans. Since that time, I've been very careful about animal protein with him and haven't had any issues since. Cooper started plucking severely about a year ago and it's been about three weeks now since I started really regulating his diet.

Both birds used to have access to Roudybush and/or Zupreem pellets along with veggies, fruits, and sprouts, but I also have to admit that I would get lazy and rely too heavily on the pellets over the years. In the last three weeks, I've stopped everything but a few TOPs pellets that I bought. I feed everything raw, no frozen of any kind. No animal protein at all. Veggies that they get a lot of are zucchini, squash, carrots, sweet potato, and the mixed herb salad that you can find in the grocery store for human consumption. Whenver I can find either organic and US grown berries, I throw them in. Same with bell peppers and hot peppers of any kind such as jalapeno, habenjero, serrano, etc. I have also greatly increased the amount of fruits I give them including, pomagranite, papaya, mango, kiwi. I don't bother with apple, pear, orange, grapes, and some of the more popular human fruits as these don't have a whole lot of nutritional benefit, although the fiber is probably good for Eclectus because they have a longer digestive tract that needs more fiber than other birds. I also use Doris' mixes (www.avianorganics.com) as well as a few things from Volkmann and Goldenfeast but I make sure that the few things I do use have no added vitamins or minerals. I try to feed sprouts everyday as well and you can buy all sorts of mixes online or you can make your own from the bulk bins at co-ops or some grocery stores. My guys seem to really enjoy garbanzo beans, almonds, corn, spelt, kamut, triticale, sesame seed, sunflower seed, mung beans, adzuki beans, winter berry, rice, etc...the sky is the limit with what you can sprout. My guys also really, really like Doris' sprouting mix. I just ordered some more and should have gotten more than the one bag...I wish she offered it in bigger bags!

Hope this helps.

 

[Birdiemarie]

Jen, it always makes me feel encouraged hearing about the ekkies who have successfully stopped or slowed down their plucking after their diets were changed. It's fascinating how it will work with some and not with others.