Eclectus?

[Wynette]

Does anyone have Eclectus? I've been interested in getting a Solomon Island Eclectus for years and years, but I don't know anyone that has one...would love to meet someone to learn from about this beautiful breed!

 

[triplebbirds]

I have a male VOS that i adopted as an adult.

 

[Wynette]

OH! GREAT to meet you! The VOS are larger than the Solomon Island, correct? I'm glad to have found you - I have many questions! Are the males calmer/easier to "befriend" so to speak as adults?

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

We had a red and blue eclectus at the sactuary I used to work at. Her name was Willow and she was pretty sweet. She LOVED fruits and veggies. She'd come on my hand sometimes, but often didn't want to get off! Sometimes she would walk down on top of the other cages and harass the other birds and she could get a bit nippy when I would try to get her back in the cage. I think in a one on one situation, she'd be a very friendly bird.

She also wasn't as loud as the other parrots we had and she was pretty calm as far as birds go.

 

[triplebbirds]

Yes if memory serves me right the vos is a bit larger. I am not 100% sure about him being a vos because the males are harder to identify. For the most part the males are a bit calmer and friendly than females but there are definatly differences between different birds.
Noise factor, they are quieter than my bigger conures ive had. But he has his abandon ship noise. It is his alarm call.
Really any questions feel free to ask.
Do you have birds already apart from chickens?
Their diet can be a bit tricky. Pellets are an iffy issue with them.

Lucky eats pretty much anything we give him. He is slightly agressive right now but its spring time and he happened to fall in a house with breeder birds.

 

[Wynette]

Thanks for the info., friends! Nope, I only have chickens right now. I did a lot of research into Eclectus a few years back, but sort of abandoned the idea when my husband lost his job in '08. Hubby is close to retirement, and I had been thinking that if I could find a rescue bird, he would REALLY enjoy having one around. If diet is a bit tricky, this might not be the best one for us to begin with, although I know they live MANY years (30+, correct?) and I'm unsure if I want to make that big of a committment to another variety just for practice...know what I mean?

Question: are Eclectus better off alone, or are they happier with a friend/partner? If they are happier with a friend, need it be another Eclectus, or would another breed work okay? THen again, if I got another breed (assuming Eclectus would like a friend), the diet thing...woudl be tricky feeding two separate diets to birds housed together...thoughts?

 

[triplebbirds]

Any companion bird would usually be better as a single bird, providing you can provide its companionship. Diet is somewhat an iffy issue because you have so many schools of thought. Basically from what im learning a vairried diet is the main thing. Life span, I would have to re-look up but 30 years is short.

 

[spotsplus]

This is Joseph. He's 6. I've had him since he was a hand fed chick

He talks up a storm and says sentences like "my name is josph- eclectus are great!"

They are really nice parrots

Tammie

 

[Wynette]

Spots, thanks for posting! He's BEAUTIFUL! Oh....I mean HANDSOME! What are your thoughts on diet?

 

[spotsplus]

Quote:
I've been feeding a commercial "parrot" food that is labelled as "a complete diet" and has dried fruits and veggies as well as seeds. I also give him a spoonful of wild bird seed as well as table food like eggs, pizza (he loves pizza!), toast, fresh fruits ect. He can tell when we are making his favorite foods and he'll call out "pizza! pizza" or "toast, pancake, eggs" ect

Tammie