Abstract
God bless c'ackatiels! Didn't W most of us start out with them ? If it weren't for them, I wouldn't have 11 Eclectus Parrots today. Over 20 years ago, my Cockatiels raised babies in the back yard and one pair had the freedom of the house with a nest box on the kitchen counter. I progressed to lovebirds, rosellas, a Jory and a Pionus.
In 1990, however, I decided I wanted an Eclectus Parrot. I had never actually seen one, but had seen many pho-
tos and had read many articles about them. Of course, I wanted a hen and decided that I liked the look of the Vosmaeri better. I called just about every ad for baby Eclectus I could find in all of my magazines. I obtained much information during this search. One woman wanted to be sure that I wasn't buying an Eclectus just to decorate my living room. I was a bit insulted at the time, but looking back now, I'd likely ask the same question of a potential buyer. I was quoted prices from $800 to $1600, and I have to admit that it was price I went for.
The breeder met me half way between our home towns. He showed me the contents of a plastic tub which he said contained my baby Eclectus. But it looked instead like a squeaking, moving lump, a form of a vacuum cleaner bag. I began to handfeed this baby when it was age six weeks. Many folks warned me that Eclectus were the hardest of all parrots to handfeed. I learned my first lesson here-find out for yourself. I'd handfed lots of Cockatiels and I'm the brave sort, so I believed the breeder's encouraging words, "Handfeeding Eclectus is a piece of cake."
All the way home I worried about her. If she was too still, I just knew my little dirt lump was dead. Was she too hot, too cold? Eclectus seem to be less sensitive to temperature change than other parrot babies are. They have a down that serves as insulation. Her "crib" was a cardboard box placed on a heating pad outside of the box. The size of her cradle grew larger about every seven days. I used towels under her and changed them as soon as they were soiled. Kind of reminded me of washing diapers.
Sure enough, she was easy to feed.
She just liked to eat slowly. From the very start, the Eclectus personality was compatible with mine. Very calm and laid back, she leisurely took her feedings, determined not to be rushed. We humans live in such a hurried world. Now this little bird enters my life and says slow down to my speed. So many treasured moments were spent handfeeding, stroking those emerging porcupine quill looking feathers, rolling lumps of handfeeding formula off her chin, and quietly bonding. Eclectus raised this way, I guarantee, will be excellent companions for a lifetime.
Because the new baby was on four feedings a day, she went to work with me. I took her box, heating pad, a "diaper bag" full of clean towels, a plastic bag for the soiled ones, formula, thermometer, etc. right along to work. In this way, she became used to traveling right from the start, and had plenty of contact with different people.
I recommend that prospective pet Eclectus owners take possession of their birds at an early age-the one or two feedings a day stage. I value the memories of my early weeks with my Eclectus (captured on film) as well as the memories in my heart's album. What a delight, watching a baby grow up. Lots of dos and don'ts to learn. Not much can actually go wrong, but if I had any question I called an Eclectus breeder. Six years later, I have a network of "Eclectus people" that I call regularly with new questions. I also subscribe to Edectus World newsletter written exclusively for us.
My first wonderful female Eclectus grew up to be an amazing pet. Over a year later I got a call from a woman who had a Vosmaeri male. Did I want it at a reasonable price, she asked, because he was picking his feathers from the stress of being teased by her husband? I promptly began making payments. My first two Eclectus became buddies, happily sharing a cage together, but they never seemed interested in mating. They are very bonded as great pals.
My first female Eclectus comes into the house at night, eats dinner with me and lies on my chest while I watch TV or read. She is happy to settle down on her blanket on my chest and go to sleep. She instinctively finds the center area of my chest, a bit to the left, directly over my heart. She scratches eight or nine times as if to rearrange
her nest. Then she grits her beak contentedly, drifting off to sleep with her head resting on a fold of the blanket. I would not advise this for everyone, but she actually sleeps in bed with me most nights. I have a king-sized bed and am not a restless sleeper. Her blanket is on top of the covers and she makes a valley in it. She will sleep up to eight hours this way, not moving. She has never pooped in bed either. In fact, at bedtime I hold her over some newspapers and, on command, she goes. Occasionally she will scratch and wake me up because she has to go in the middle of the night. Eclectus are easily potty trained.
Most of my Eclectus that spend time on my shoulder try to hold their droppings as long as they can. If we travel in the car, I give them opportunities to void when we get to our destination and at least every 10 minutes thereafter. They are so eager to please; they really want to do the right thing. I think my males, however, are better at being potty trained than are the females.
My first male Eclectus is a real clown. He is very tuned-in to me, with constant eye contact. His vocabulary is incredible. He has learned everything I could think of to teach him, and more. He even cusses. His timing and appropriate use of words is uncanny. When the other birds are noisy, he yells, "Quiet!" at them-and they mind. When the phone rings, he says hello before I can lift the receiver. If I talk on the phone, he says, "Uh-huh, yeah, OK," laughs and gives the usual responses when one is the listener in a one-sided conversation. Another male snores like I do. Evident, he watched me napping and snoring on the sofa so now every time I even sit on the sofa, he starts to snore.
My first male knows how to hoist an 18 inch chain with a bucket on the end of it. He hauls it up, beak over toe, until he wraps his toe over the bucket handle and reaches into the bucket for his reward-a nut. The trick is to start with a small bucket (from a hobby store) fixed to the top of the perch so the bird will get used to reaching into it for a nut. Then fasten a small chain on the bucket handle and lower it an inch or so each day, until the bird becomes used to hauling it up an inch or two. Gradually lower the bucket to six inches, then a foot or more. It is an easy and cute trick for a bird to learn.