Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all. I am new here. I am the new, proud owner of a beautiful 4 year old male solomon island eclectus named denny. He is the sweetest bird in the world, will go to anyone and has a huge vocabulary. I have done much research on the care of eclectus parrots so am well prepared but just wanted any new imput that you could give me. also wanted to share some pics of denny.

Congrats he's beautiful

Mine is only a bub so he's not looking as nice LOL a little on the scruffy side.

If you have any Q's I'm sure they'll be answered for you.

actually i do have a question. dennys previous owners fed him mainly pellets. im not sure they were specifically meant for eclectus. i have been trying to get him to eat more fresh fruits and vegitables and ween him off the pellets but he just doesnt seem to be interested. he does have symtoms of toe tapping which i assume is attributed to improper diet. How can i get him to eat the right foods?

If he has symptoms of toe tapping is vital to get him on the right foods.

It's unusual for ekkies to not like fresh food, so, it might not be too bad trying to convert him, but some are stuborn.

You can first make sure he is eating 100% natural pellets specifically for ekkies. The diet change must be gradual. If it's too quick this can cause complications for him. Then gradually ween him off these. A diet should be about 80% home made soft foods & 20% everything else, this can include pellets, seed. Nuts, grains, sprouts are essential as a part of their diet.

How long have you had him for? This may depend on how much he trusts you. He needs to trust you to accept food from you. Work with him as much as you can & build a trust & bond. Eat foods in front of him & make them sound really yummy. Make a fuss about what you're eating. Curiosity may eventually get the better of him.

You may want to start with tropical fruits & sprouts. This site is just an indication of how you can do srpouts easily, check it out:
http://eclectusextras.bravehost.com
Sprouts are an excellent source for the vits & mins they need & don't get from the fresh food variety.

Ekkies not only have a sweet tooth but they also LOVE fresh chilli. You can try adding skewers of fruit to his perch/cage & leaving them there. Let him go to it when he's ready to. I know my ekkie doesn't like me to intefere when it comes to getting himself aquainted with his new toys. If I offer them to him, he'll run the other way. If I add it to his stand & leave it to him, he'll wonder over himself & check it out. You can try this with the skewers. Also add a whole fresh chilli to the stand.

You can chop bowls of mix fruit & veg & add a drop of OJ, lime juice or lemon juice for flavour, crushed nuts, sesame seeds. They love seeded thing so fruit like kiwi fruit might tempt him, seeds from capsicum, chillis.

Pumpkin raw or cooked plus pumpkin seeds are an excellent source of vit A.

They love warmed uup meals too! Cooked & mashed, bean mix (cook dried beans 2 hrs) brown rice, pumpkin, egg & shell, sweet potato mashed & served up warm for dinner. With this one you might want to try rolling some pellets in the cooked mash to tempt him. Once he gets a taste he might be willing to have it without some pellets.

I forgot to mention corn.

They love corn so a slightly cooked peice of fresh corn on the skewer will also tempt him, however don't over do it with corn. Everything should be in moderation & we discovering lately that the real corn lovers are getting too much corn which also causing things like allergies.

thanks so much for the info. I have had him only for 3 days so it is just the beginning. he is starting to try new things now.