New Female Eclectus

[BirdGuy21]

Hello everyone.

In a few weeks I am going to be taking in a rescued fourteen year old Eclectus parrot. She is mildly plucked on the chest. Her diet for the past several years has consisted of peanut butter filled pretzels, oatmeal cookies, sunflower seeds, and grapes. I am not sure if this was her diet for the entire fourteen years or the past three. We will be taking her to the vet to determine how badly this diet has affected her. I know there are a few members here who are very knowledgeable about Ekkies, and I wanted to confirm some of my research and diet plan with other Ekkie caretakers.

I plan on offering fresh veggies and fruit daily. I know Ekkies have a longer digestive tract and need a low protein, high fiber diet. We feed our other birds a daily chop consisting of brussell sprouts, bell pepper, carrots, and snap peas with different additions of sweet potato, kale, cilantro, dandelion leaf, apple, pear, banana, coconut, starfruiit, mango, papaya, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and dragonfruit. They also are offered Volkman Soak and Simmer mix and egg a few times a month. They are offered Harrisons Adult Lifetime Coarse in the morning, and two tablespoons of seed twice a week. I know pellets are generally not recommended for Eclectus. Should I offer a small amount?

Any thoughts on my diet offerings? Would my current mixes work well for the Eclectus?

 

[camelotshadow]

No idea on diet specifics but yours sounds good.
Hope she checks out fine as that's not a good diet to be on for long.
Female eckkies are so beautiful!

 

[Lady Jane]

Calling @Laura729

 

[BirdGuy21]

Forgot to mention brocolli and cauliflower in my chop recipe.

 

[Laura729]

Congrats and it's awesome that you're adopting a rescue. The very sweetest bird I've ever had the privilege of knowing was a female Eclectus (don't tell my bird boys I said that, though ).

Sounds like you already feed a great diet to your birds, so the ekkie diet tweaks/additions should be pretty easy! However, converting her from a poor diet to a healthy one may not be as easy, as ekkies can be stubborn, especially if they've learned to love junky foods. You won't want to transition completely right away, as this could be hard on her possibly already compromised liver, so try mixing some of her old diet if you can (though you don't want to continue with the sugar and salt from the cookies and pretzels....) with a bit of new, healthy things and slowly increase the ratio of new/healthy foods.

@EkkieLuv has lots of diet knowledge and she and others posted some great info here: Food for Eclectus | Page 2 | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

Also it will be good once you see what the avian vet says about her overall health. And some vets still recommend pellets for ekkies, but I don't give Charlie pellets except for some ground up TOPS pellets mixed in with his chop or sweet potato mash on occasion. This might have been mentioned in the thread I posted the link to above, but I add healthy oils (coconut, etc.) into Charlie's sweet potato mashes.

It may be difficult getting her to try new things, but if she sees you eating and enthusiastically enjoying certain things, she will likely want to try. And I always advocate sneakiness when necessary, haha. Charlie still doesn't like to eat his carrots so I chop them into teeeeny pieces and "hide" them in his sweet potatoes. Or I add spinach, for example, into his fruit "smoothies" (organic frozen berries usually), which he learned to like because he saw me drinking a smoothie one day and wanted to try. Some birds will try something cooked that they won't try raw and vice versa, and sometimes the size and shape of a food will make a difference (Lucius likes small cubes of peppers but not strips, for example).

Can't wait to hear more about your girl!

 

[BirdGuy21]

Thanks @Laura729, I actually volunteer with a local parrot rescue and this little girl came in about two weeks ago with a Greenwing Macaw. We were told she hasn't been out of her cage for several years, but she stepped right up for me and stayed on my arm for over half an hour until I put her back. She seemed willing to eat fruits and veggies, as long as I took a bite of them first.

Thanks for the compliment on diet. Her current foster mom is weaning her off of her prior junk food diet and she said it's going fairly well. My Conure's eat pretty much anything, so hopefully she will see them eat and will follow suit. I didn't notice any toe tapping or wing flipping while I was there, but I was only there for an hour and a half - two hours. I can try to TOPS pellets for her. I feed my other birds Harrison's, but they are fortified and I don't want to cause or exasperate any food allergies. I will definitely study up on the posts in the link, already see a lot of good info there. How often do you use the coconut oil?

As for breakfast for your Eclectus, do you offer a chop mix? Probably offer foods that won't spoil easily throughout the day. I like all the recipes I've found for different mashes, breads, and mixes. I will definitely be trying those out. And I will definitely try the smooth idea!

Here's a picture of her She only had one stainless steel toy in her cage, so I will have to introduce new things to her and possibly show her how to play.

 

[Laura729]

In her cage for years - it breaks my heart. We frequently hear that story too at the rescue where I volunteer.
She's gorgeous!! And she has a sweet, sweet face. How lucky for you to find each other.
Haha, those ekkie piglets almost always seem to fall for the "let me try what you're eating" trick!

My boys like to sleep in (I'm very lucky, I know), so breakfast food is usually a bit of fruit (if they are awake enough and I know they will eat it quickly) and a healthy cage mix that won't spoil during the day, and then dinner is our "big" meal with lots of fresh and cooked stuff.
Avian Organics has some great mixes: Not Just for Ekkies Cage Blend ~ Organic Seed Mix for Eclectus Parrots Visit Avian Organics for Fresh Organic foods Pet Parrot or Bird
I also get some that don't contain pellets from My Safe Bird Store at times.
Oh! And sprouts are great, too!

I usually use coconut and/or humanely sourced red palm oil to help "mash" his sweet potatoes that he gets most days, and some extra in the winter to help with dry skin. He loves both and will even eat them "plain"! He was severely plucked when he first came to live with me so I used these oils in foods to try and soothe his irritated skin, and he has done well with it, so I just stuck with it. He no longer plucks but still barbers at times, poor boy.

I absolutely had to show Charlie how to play with toys. He never had any except one moldy, plastic thing in his previous home. If you find a food or treat she especially loves, a clear, acrylic foraging toy (so she can see the treat and will want to figure out how to get it) could work well. Charlie loves baby toys because I would sit with him and play with them with him when he first came to live with me. Ekkies often love shredding things (but you don't want to encourge nesting for your girl, so just keep an eye on that) and soft woods like balsa. Charlie's absolute favorite thing is his "junk box" on top of his cage (I use shallow cardboard boxes) that has random toy parts, cleaned out plastic containers (you can make foraging toys with treats inside things like empty plastic spice containers, too), cardboard pieces, etc. I've made a mini one for in his cage too - plastic baskets or buckets (plastic or stainless) work for this. He loves to dig through them to search for treats, or to just throw things on the floor.

 

[BirdGuy21]

In her cage for years - it breaks my heart. We frequently hear that story too at the rescue where I volunteer.

I know, I hate hearing stories like that. I'm glad she wasn't too scared to come out of her cage though.

Ok, so it sounds like I can use our base chop mix as a breakfast/throughout the day meal, and then add some fresh cooked foods and breads for dinner. I will definitely try out some of the recipes I've found for a dinner meal. We get home around 3:45-4:30 daily and our birds get their diner almost as soon as we get home.

I usually use coconut and/or humanely sourced red palm oil to help "mash" his sweet potatoes that he gets most days, and some extra in the winter to help with dry skin.

About how much coconut oil do you use per serving, and how many times per week? Since she has some feather damage, I am sure it will help. Very sorry to hear about your boy barbering.

Anything you think I'm missing? Want to make sure I have the bases covered so she can have a great new start to life.

 

[sunnysmom]

She's very lucky to have you.

 

[BirdGuy21]

Thanks Michelle! I'm excited to have her and hope we can do some good for her.

 

[Laura729]

I know, I hate hearing stories like that. I'm glad she wasn't too scared to come out of her cage though.

Ok, so it sounds like I can use our base chop mix as a breakfast/throughout the day meal, and then add some fresh cooked foods and breads for dinner. I will definitely try out some of the recipes I've found for a dinner meal. We get home around 3:45-4:30 daily and our birds get their diner almost as soon as we get home.

About how much coconut oil do you use per serving, and how many times per week? Since she has some feather damage, I am sure it will help. Very sorry to hear about your boy barbering.

Anything you think I'm missing? Want to make sure I have the bases covered so she can have a great new start to life.

If needed, a little bit of this might be helpful in her initial diet transition since it has (too many, actually) sunflower seeds, which were a large part of her previous diet, it sounds like. You could put some in her bowl as part of her breakfast/day time food mix, maybe with a little bit an AO dry cage mix initially, and then use small amounts of it mixed in with or on top of chops or mashes if she seems reluctant to try them (the price right now on Amazon is a bit higher than usual, in my experience, just FYI, but other online stores carry it as well): Amazon.com : Volkman Eclectus Diet 4lb : Pet Food : Pet Supplies Again, certainly not the perfect food, but if it could be helpful to have on hand. Also, after she settles in and you are introducing new, fresh foods to her for dinner, you may need to decrease the amount any daytime cage mixes (if you decide to use them), so she doesn't fill herself up snacking on seeds and nuts during the day, making her less likely to try or eat much of her healthy dinner.

I have actually been giving more red palm oil than coconut oil these days - this is the kind I've been using (organic and unrefined, as well as sustainable and responsibly soured - very important ): Amazon.com : Nutiva Organic Red Palm Oil, Unrefined, 15 Ounce (Pack of 2) : Grocery & Gourmet Food
Depending on the size of the sweet potato or other mash or chop food base, I will usually do maybe a tablespoon of the red palm oil and a small dollop of coconut oil when making approx 3 week's worth of mash for Charlie and Lucius. If I'm using coconut oil only, I use probably 1/2 tablespoon?? Charlie usually gets some red palm oil every day, either in his mash, on top of his dinner, or just as a treat, sometimes with some ground flaxseed and/or chia seeds sprinkled on it (it stays pretty solid unless it gets very warm), and he LOVES it. Due to the fact that he is still often a finicky eater, the RPO is a way to make sure he's getting his much needed vitamin A, but recommended amounts can really vary based on a bird's current diet, weight concerns, etc. There are also varied opinions on the amount of coconut oil that is recommended. In addition to using it in some mashes or cooked foods, I usually also give my boys a small drizzle or pea-sized (approx) chunk of coconut oil 2x a week or so, and sometimes more to help with the dryness of winter. Here's a thread with a little more discussion about coconut oil AND a @JLcribber 's awesome "parrot butter" recipe: Coconut oil? | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

When does she get to come home with you? I'm sure you can't wait. And she's lucky to be going to such a great home.

 

[BirdGuy21]

I have seen the Volkman Eclectus mix before, a local parrot supply store here sells it. If needed I can use it to help her transition. Is this the AO mix you were thinking of? And would you recommend mixing this with the daytime chop? From what her foster mom has been saying, she seems to be taking to fresh food pretty well. My goal is to continue in the right direction with sprouts and bird bread.

Definitely agree with ethically and sustainably source red palm oil. As for the size of the chop mix, we vary it. I will have to see if she prefers a certain size chop. I will see how her vet results come back and see if she is lacking in one particular area. I give my birds about half a table spoon for all three of them of coconut oil over top the chop twice a week. I will get the red palm oil from amazon before she gets here and start that as well.

She comes home on Tuesday! Can't wait to see her again and get her back on track to health .

 

[BirdGuy21]

Red palm oil is ordered . Thanks for the link @Laura729 !

 

[Lady Jane]

Laura has a wonderful way with making birds happy. Also much talent for making custom bird toys that hers and my bird loves. The box idea is similar to the little bucket.

 

[Laura729]

I have seen the Volkman Eclectus mix before, a local parrot supply store here sells it. If needed I can use it to help her transition. Is this the AO mix you were thinking of? And would you recommend mixing this with the daytime chop? From what her foster mom has been saying, she seems to be taking to fresh food pretty well. My goal is to continue in the right direction with sprouts and bird bread.

Definitely agree with ethically and sustainably source red palm oil. As for the size of the chop mix, we vary it. I will have to see if she prefers a certain size chop. I will see how her vet results come back and see if she is lacking in one particular area. I give my birds about half a table spoon for all three of them of coconut oil over top the chop twice a week. I will get the red palm oil from amazon before she gets here and start that as well.

She comes home on Tuesday! Can't wait to see her again and get her back on track to health .

I was thinking of the dry mixes as an option for breakfast/daytime, if you didn't want to worry about food spoiling (and they are good to have on hand for snacks, back-up, etc.), as well as transitioning her diet, but if she's already adjusting to the fresh and healthy foods, that's great!!

Can't wait to hear more about her! You must be so excited!

 

[BirdGuy21]

I was thinking of the dry mixes as an option for breakfast/daytime, if you didn't want to worry about food spoiling (and they are good to have on hand for snacks, back-up, etc.), as well as transitioning her diet, but if she's already adjusting to the fresh and healthy foods, that's great!!

Can't wait to hear more about her! You must be so excited!

Got it I will definitely get some. I like the "Not Just for Ekkies" mix from AO, but shipping is a tad expensive. Any US options with similar products? If not I can take the shipping costs, they have some nice stuff! Been looking for banana chips for a while after my local store stopped carrying them. Her foster mom says she has been enjoying lots of fresh foods.

Get her tomorrow!

 

[BirdGuy21]

She's here! I'll try and get some pictures once she is settled in.

 

[Laura729]

Got it I will definitely get some. I like the "Not Just for Ekkies" mix from AO, but shipping is a tad expensive. Any US options with similar products? If not I can take the shipping costs, they have some nice stuff! Been looking for banana chips for a while after my local store stopped carrying them. Her foster mom says she has been enjoying lots of fresh foods.

Get her tomorrow!

You'll want to watch the sugar content of dried fruits and make sure they aren't treated/preserved with sulpher. Here's a thread that may be helpful: Where to find dried fruit? | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

Can't wait to see photos and get an update on how she's settling in!

 

[BirdGuy21]

She's already eating her snap peas, Brussels sprouts, and bell peppers .

And she gave me two nice bite "tattoos" , lol. Just a little reminder from her to show me who's really boss.

 

[Laura729]

She's already eating her snap peas, Brussels sprouts, and bell peppers .

And she gave me two nice bite "tattoos" , lol. Just a little reminder from her to show me who's really boss.

Aww, don't be discouraged (it doesn't sounds like you are, though) - like you said, she just has to first show you who's boss. The fact that she's comfortable enough to be eating right away is a great sign, though.