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BambooZoo Kimforster BambooZoo BambooZoo Kimforster Montessa_Python Kimforster |
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BambooZoo View Profile |
Expecting Ecci Drama
Advice and experiences please! I am bringing home a 10 year old female ecci tomorrow. Terrible feather shape, both plucking and I am pretty sure vitamin defiency to start, and has been laying an egg every 6 to 8 weeks for an entire 5 years. Nest or no nest doesnt stop the cycle. She ditches the egg duing the nesting. Never been near a male. Has anyone out there had success with the wooden eggs? Have a clue where to get them? Here are the other factors.......I have a 6 year old female and a 9 year old male. They are not bonded. Jazz is very intimidated by Boo’s forwardness. Boo is very frustrated and views me as his mate. Though he will feed Jazz through the cage bars or if they can reach each other while out with a reach across, but if they come into physical contact there is quite often drama, ie. Boo will take bites out of feet and has done so to Jazz 3 times in the past 4 years. Boo also lived with a female when he was younger and she intimidated him so much he doesnt play with toys and plucked beneath his wings, his wings, his legs and his back. P.S. Everybody lives in the dining room, including a C.Grey, B&G macaw and a Green wing. I know I have complicated my life much........but am I going to be able to get through it! HELP! |
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| 10/11/08 08:20am |
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Kimforster View Profile |
Message To: BambooZoo In reference to Message Id: 1878694 Expecting Ecci Drama
A 10 year old female is a hell of a risk. Generally ekkies are extremely hardy, male & females are equally alike in all ways & are absolutely fantastic birds to have. But a 10 year old female can come with a bit of a messy background which can make things very hard for both her & your family. I would try & did as best as I can to find out about her past. The more you know, the better you can prepare yourself for her being in your home. www.eclectusparrots.net This is my site & may answer many questions you have, particularly regarding diets & health. www.eclectusparrots.net/forum to discuss any issues, answers questions you may have. With the egg laying. Are you removing the egg straight away? When she lays, it should be 2 eggs, 3 max. Allow her to sit for the duration & when she realizes they may not hatch she will stop & leave the eggs. Also try & rearrange her cage area so it isn’t so inviting to lay eggs. Give her more things to chew & play with . Ekkies are pretty intelligent & love toddler interactive toys. If she’s ditching the eggs wooden eggs may not make any difference. |
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| 10/11/08 08:53pm |
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BambooZoo View Profile |
Message To: Kimforster In reference to Message Id: 1879065 Expecting Ecci Drama
I have spent the last 2 weeks emailing back and forth with Ginger’s owner and have a pretty thorough grasp on her, her likes, dislikes, history. She has only had one home and was purchased while the very last of her hand feeding was being done. She has been plucking since a year old. (Since the owners had a new baby.) Sometimes to the point of being almost bare. The egg laying started at 5 years of age when she also decided that she liked no one but the primary care giver. The husband can sometimes hold her but is very wary as she has bitten him often. Twin girls 16 are too afraid of her to handle her. 9 year old does not handle the bird at all. She is laying one egg at a time and tosses it from her "nest" at some point during the process, from my understanding it may be after a week or after 2 or 3. She will lay anywhere including the grate without a nest. The owner gives her one after the egg is laid and takes it away the day the egg is "thrown" from the nest. She has always been the only bird in the home. The diet she has been on has been a good one but hasn’t been supplemented with extra vitamins. No junk. I do use kids toys ~ that started mostly after the Green wing destroyed a 50 dollar bird toy in 2 days. I am just as concerned as to how my own ecci’s are going to react to the new addition, though my own little diverse flock has been very good as each addition has been made. Thanks Kim. Pat |
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| 10/12/08 06:58am |
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BambooZoo View Profile |
Message To: BambooZoo In reference to Message Id: 1879240 Expecting Ecci Drama ~ Jinjer’s pic
The panic was a waste of energy :D She is being an angel and in less than 15 hours here has joined the flock talk. But we have a lot of personal issues to solve. Pat |
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| 10/16/08 03:40pm |
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Kimforster View Profile |
Message To: BambooZoo In reference to Message Id: 1881986 Expecting Ecci Drama ~ Jinjer’s pic
www.eclectusparrots.net/forum New babies can often result in many parrot plucking. Unfortunately it’s one of those times it’s really difficult to stop. Some parrots are just very fearful of babies & by the time the bubs have grown up a little the plucking still continues simply out of bad habit. And habits are almost impossible to break. Many parrots do become life long pluckers even in a very happy environment & health wise it does cause any issues. It’s very odd that she’s taken to the primary giver only. Ekkies are a very unusual parrot in many ways & one of these ways is that they bond to the whole family. Often it is an adopted ekkie that only bonds to one person & either hates or is fearful of all others. It is otherwise unusual. If she is removed from her cage, given a new cage or new set up & a great deal more time out of the cage, a toy box etc all this can distract her from wanting to lay. Ekkies are opportunist breeders. They breed at any time of the year that conditions are favourable, so taking away these opportunities may help. Also reduce her daylight hours a little. LOL yeah kid toys are a lot cheaper, especially when they’re destroyed in seconds flat! Is her feather condition due to her plucking or something else? |
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| 10/17/08 12:02am |
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Montessa_Python View Profile |
Message To: Kimforster In reference to Message Id: 1882315 Expecting Ecci Drama ~ Jinjer’s pic
Although I am not an ecki keeper, I have heard that feeding any bird egg shells and egg is a good way of getting calcium into them. Not all at once... also possibly offering a cuttle bone, and a boiled cow bone like you might give a dog?? As well as vitamins. I would look to unusual toys, dog toys, dried out french bread with fruit inside... things she would have to work at to get the stuff inside. Possibly ferret, and rodent toys would work too. I can’t help with stopping the egg laying, but I hope the other information proves some what helpful. Carol |
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| 10/17/08 09:08pm |
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Kimforster View Profile |
Message To: Montessa_Python In reference to Message Id: 1882709 Expecting Ecci Drama ~ Jinjer’s pic
Eggs & egg shell is fantastic for parrots, but not all. Ekkies can only have animal protein such as egg while breeding & moulting. Any other times can be harmful to their health. Unlike all other parrots, ekkies need a high veg protein diet & low animal protein diet. As for vits. Again ekkies dietary needs are different to other parrots. Vit sups are often a cause for toe tapping syndrome or other health issues. They do extremely well on natural vits in fruit & veg & badly on added vit sups. |
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| 10/18/08 11:00pm |
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