Getting Ekkie OFF Pellets

[Nostromo]

Hello all,

I have a new to me 3 year old male ekkie. He came to me eating Roudybush and some veggies & fruits (mostly fruits). I tried offering only chop, foraging for larger veggie and fruit pieces, and TOPS pellets, but he only picked at his food. I put some Roudybush in his bowl and he gobbled it up. How to help him switch from Roudybush to TOPS at the least, and eat more of his chop??? He'll pick through the chop but doesn't eat all that much of it. He recently started plucking in his old home and I'm wondering if the Roudybush is partly to blame.

 

[parrotcafe]

You should keep him on his old diet until he feels comfortable in your hom, at least a few weeks and then very very slowly start transitioning him over. It has to be done very slowly as birds have been known to starve themselves to death during diet transitions. It would be ideal If you have a scale that can weigh in grams and weigh him while you’re doing the diet transition to make sure he’s not losing too much weight.

 

[sunnysmom]

I usually let a bird settle in for a couple of weeks before I start making dietary changes. A new home can be stressful even if they seem like they're doing fine. I once saw an Ekkie diet chart somewhere. I'll try to look for it. As for fruits and veggies, some birds don't like "chop" and just prefer bigger pieces. @Mizzely had an interesting article about that. So, I would just keep experimenting on different sizes, raw, cooked, etc until you figure out what he likes.

 

[Mizzely]

Here's the thread!

Journal - Should zoo foods be chopped (macaws)

Thought this was interesting (emphasis below is my own)... Abstract Globally, many zoological collections provide their animals with diets that are chopped into small chunks, yet there is limited empirical research to measure the benefits of this practice. Preparing chopped diets takes...

forums.avianavenue.com

Ripley avoided chop for years until I started giving him large chunks of food! I'm talking like the size of his head lol

 

[Nostromo]

Thank you for the help, guys! I will give him back his pellets, definitely don't want to cause undue stress or weight loss. Tonight I put a bunch of his roudybush pellets in his chop and he is busily picking them out and flinging food to the floor for my dog to scarf up, haha. I'm hoping having the Roudybush in the chop will help him get used to eating it.

I've been offering whole foods and he seems somewhat puzzled by them. In his bowl he immediately flings them out, but I've been placing them in a spiral foraging toy and he picks out the apple through the bars of the spiral and seems to enjoy and spend time eating the apple that way. He has shown no interest in any other whole chunks put in the spiral but I will keep offering! I've also put some Roudybush pellets in another more challenging foraging toy that is a circle he'd have to work to get them into the slots. He hasn't shown much interest in that yet.

For the Roudybush, how many pellets should I give? I do worry that if I give him as much as he wants he would eat only Roudybush and no chop. Is that okay during these first few weeks, or should I offer restricted amount of pellets? His feathers are in rough condition, I think at least partly due to diet.

 

[Mizzely]

If he doesn't seem like the big chunks, try the other way. You could run them through a food processor and chop them up finely. You could also try freeze dried or dried veggies and see if he likes that better. TOPs is also a good idea.

I also agree that diet changes don't usually have to be priority one. Even though we want them to be their healthiest ASAP, letting them have their comfort food is important in the beginning.

I would probably offer a smaller amount of his preferred pellets a couple times a day and have veggies available the rest of the time to see if that will make him more willing to eat them.

But definitely do things slowly

 

[Nostromo]

@Mizzely Okay, will do! I spent all that time making the chop and now I'm overly eager to feed it to him He does eat the chop more than the whole pieces, he just doesn't eat all that much of either. I tried offering TOPS and he won't touch them yet. I'll keep offering of course. He's been eating - getting almond slices at treats, eating apple chunks in his cage, eating some of the chop. But he did seem hungry and was very eager to eat the Roudybush when I offered it. So I'll give him a certain amount of Roudybush each day until he feels more settled.

 

[Emma&pico]

Is there any reason you don’t want him on roudybush ?

mine gcc love parsnips and carrots grated long big pieces I do cut them in half broccoli also helped them start eating so did chucks of pepper with seeds on just some ideas mine won’t eat chop but then I don’t make it offered

 

[Nostromo]

@Emma&pico Roudybush is fortified with vitamins, which I've read are not ideal for Eclectus. And he's eating more Roudybush than chop, which is again really not good for Eclectus from what I've read. His pellets should just be occasional supplements but almost all of his diet should be fresh foods.

 

[sunnysmom]

This is the information on diet that the rescue I help with PEARL Parrot Rescue recommends to it's Ekkie adopters/fosters:


Eclectus (Ekkie) parrots digest food differently than most parrots who come through the PEARL foster program. They prefer softer foods and shredded paper and soft wood toys.
Ekkie Daily Diet

• About 50% chop and veggie mix.
  • Make sure to include good sources of Beta Carotene in the chop.
  • Lightly cook (steam) hard root vegetables to soften them a bit. For sweet potatoes, lightly cooking can make the nutrients more digestively accessible.
  • The PEARL website has good resources on how to make chop, safe fruits and veggies and sprouting. Recipes | Pittsburgh | P.E.A.R.L. Parrot Rescue
• About 10% soaked or sprouted seed mix. Soaked seeds can be mixed with the chop mix to make it easier if you want.
• About 40% Top’s Parrot Food pellets.

 

[Nostromo]

@sunnysmom Thanks!! I've been going based on the recommendations from Laurella Desborough, who is one of the foremost Ekkie experts in the US from what I've read. Per her experience, she recommends no more than 10 pellets per day, and a quarter cup of a specific eclectus seed mix. I don't feed the seed mix and am doing pellets instead for that portion of the diet. The rest should be sprouted seeds, chop and whole fruits/veggies. Seems like there's lots of different ideas about diet for ekkies out there, so I'm doing my best to find something that feels sustainable for our family! I just ordered a sprout mix yesterday from Dr Sprout so hopefully that'll come soon and my boy likes it.

 

[parrotcafe]

@sunnysmom Thanks!! I've been going based on the recommendations from Laurella Desborough, who is one of the foremost Ekkie experts in the US from what I've read. Per her experience, she recommends no more than 10 pellets per day, and a quarter cup of a specific eclectus seed mix. I don't feed the seed mix and am doing pellets instead for that portion of the diet. The rest should be sprouted seeds, chop and whole fruits/veggies. Seems like there's lots of different ideas about diet for ekkies out there, so I'm doing my best to find something that feels sustainable for our family! I just ordered a sprout mix yesterday from Dr Sprout so hopefully that'll come soon and my boy likes it.

Is it Volkmans ekkie seed mix? I do put a little of that seed in foraging toys

 

[Nostromo]

@parrotcafe Yes it is! That's a good idea, I might order some and try that. He doesn't forage or play with toys at all so that might help motivate him.

 

[Emma&pico]

Aww ok I don’t know about their diet so was just wondering

@Emma&pico Roudybush is fortified with vitamins, which I've read are not ideal for Eclectus. And he's eating more Roudybush than chop, which is again really not good for Eclectus from what I've read. His pellets should just be occasional supplements but almost all of his diet should be fresh foods.

 

[parrotcafe]

@parrotcafe Yes it is! That's a good idea, I might order some and try that. He doesn't forage or play with toys at all so that might help motivate him.

This is Sophie’s favorite foraging toy. Maybe try something similar? I don’t think he will be able to resist it lol