Soon To Be New Eclectus Owner

[Dial Lady]

Hi everybody,

I am new to this board and I hope I figure out all the "gadgets" that come with it!

In a couple of days my husband and I are going to pick out, or shall I say the bird is going to "pick out" its new owner. I am really excited about this. I have wanted an Eclectus for years and now this is finally going to be a reality.

We have our choice of either one of the new 4 wk olds (male or female) or a 10 wk old female. The 10 wk old one was supposed to have been spoken for, but there is no deposit or contact info from the people. So the way I see it we will have a shot at it. From what the breeder says she is very gorgeous and very sweet. I just hope that she thinks we are neat.

We come from a horse background, so this bird ownership is going to be a very NEW thing to us. I am willing to study and learn so that I can be a good bird owner.

I have downloaded some things from the internet and am starting to read about the care, food, etc. Seems like I am definitely going to have my work cut out for me.

If anyone has anything they would like to share before we take this big step I am welcome to your input.

Also, I am probably going to need a "road map" through this whole posting thing with all its bells and whistles.

[The Outlaw]

Welcome! I too have a female Redsided Eclectus and they are wonderful. Much like the greys, they are not loud and no where near as demanding as many of the large parrots.

May I suggest you also visit Carolyn Swicegood's website. Its www.landofvos.com and its the BEST ekkie site on the net.

THE OUTLAW

[Crebain]

Originally Posted by Dial Lady

I am willing to study and learn...

You will make a great bird owner, congrats! :D

[Dial Lady]

Thank you for the kind welcome and the vote of confidence. This is going to be one of the many challenges I have ever taken on in my life. We are scheduled to go tomorrow to "meet" the "Ekkies" (you see I have already picked up a little terminology!). What will be hard for me to get used to are all the abbreviations I have seen you using. If someone can enlighten me with a place to go to learn about that it will be useful. I also notice that almost all the owners who have posted have "multiple" birds. I wonder if I will ever be in that same boat. Right now it seems like I will definitely have my hands full with just ONE bird. Oh well, I'm sure that could change in the future!

I am glad I joined this board and I know that I will gain a world of experience and knowledge from here.

Kris

[The Outlaw]

Here ya go:

** FID - Feathered Kid **

**FILDREN- Feathered Children **

ARN - African Ring Neck
B&G - Blue and Gold Macaw
BC or BCC - Blue Crown Conure
BE2 - Bare-Eyed Cockatoo
BFA - Blue Front Amazon
BP2 - Black Palm Cockatoo
BSL - Blue Streak Lory
C2 - Citron Cockatoo
CAG - Congo African Grey
CM - Catalina Macaw
D2 - Ducorps Cockatoo
DYHA - Double Yellow Head Amazon
E2 - Eleanora Cockatoo
G2 - Goffins Cockatoo
GC - Green Cheeked Conure
GCC - Gold Capped Conure
GCP - Grey Cheeked Parakeet
GE - Grand Eclectus
GSC-Greater Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

GW - Green Wing Macaw
HM - Hahns Macaw
HMC - Half Moon Conure

HY-Hyacinth Macaw

IRN - Indian Ring Neck
Keet - Parakeet
LB - Lovebird
LCA - Lilac Crowned Amazon
LP - Lineolated Parakeet (Linnies)
LSC - Lessor Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
QP - Quaker Parrot/Parakeet
M2 - Moluccan Cockatoo
MBC - Maroon Belled Conure
MGM - Miligold Macaw
MM - Military Macaw MM2 - Major Mitchell (LeadbeaterCockatoo)
MRHA-Mexican Red Head Amazon

MSC (MSC2)-Medium Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
OWA - Orange Winged Amazon
PC - Painted Conure
PFLB - Peachface Lovebird
RB2 - Rose Breasted Cockatoo
RFM - Red Fronted Macaw
RLA - Red Lored Amazon
RM - Ruby Macaw
RSE - Red-Sided Eclectus
RV2 - Red Vented Cockatoo
SIE - Soloman Island Eclectus
SM - Scarlet Macaw
T2 - Triton Cockatoo
TAG - Timneh African Grey
Tiel - Cockatiel
Too - Cockatoo
U2 - Umbrella Cockatoo
Umbie - Umbrella Cockatoo
VE - Vosmaeri's Eclectus
WFA - White-Fronted Amazon
WF - White-Faced Cockatiel
YCM - Yellow-Collared Macaw
YFA - Yellow-Fronted Amazon
YNA - Yellow-Naped Amazon

[jessicaboyer89]

Cogratulations on being a new birdie mom! I just got mine about a month and a half ago. She is a parrotlet. I love having a bird! They are such loving and entertaining creatures. They are a lot of work though, too. But you will find that it is sooo worth it. I found that this board is wonderful and very helpful with any questions you might have along the way! Good luck!

[Chariclo]

Welcome Dial Lady!

And most importantly - congratulations! I can't wait to hear all about your new baby!

[Dial Lady]

Thank you for my first lesson in "Birds 101." Now after studying hard when I read posts I will at least be able to pick out some of the names without too much trouble.

And now to fit in with the group tomorrow we are going to visit a few SIE's and see what they think of us! But so far the girls have it since there are three (3) girls to one lonely boy. I think I really want a girl, but when tomorrow comes that could change, who knows!

Kris
(Not a Birdie Mom yet)

[The Outlaw]

Kris:

Here's something to think about: The male Eclectus parrots are just as sweet and beautiful as the females. The females seem to have higher than average plucking issues once they pass the 3 year mark (I'm currently battling that with mine) and the females can be VERY cage aggressive anytime after 2 years of age.I mean, like tigers. No one goes in their cages without permission.

However, when OUT of cages, they are usually sweet as sugar, seem to love little kids and are the darlings of visiting guests.

Eclectus parrots are fascinating, smart and extremely specialized. BE SURE you read everything you can about the Eclectus diet. You CANNOT use pellets without running the risk of all kinds of plucking and behavioral issues. They are very sensitive to food additives. That's what started my hen down the road to plucking I'm fairly certain.

Also, NEVER pair an immature male ekkie with a older female. Female ekkies mean business when they get broody and have been known to kill inexperienced mates. This is NOT an urban legend. I know this FOR A FACT.

Just want you to understand exactly why male ekkies are often considered the better pet, just as female amazons are usually considered to be better pets.

THE OUTLAW

[Dial Lady]

Ok everybody, it's official! I am now a "Birdie Mom" in waiting. We went today and made our choice. There was really no question about it - I went with the 10 wk. old female Ekkie. She liked both me and my husband, which was good. I even got her to start stair stepping using my arms. She felt pretty proud of herself to accomplish that. I am now really excited about her. She even has a name also. When I tell you her name I don't want anyone on this list to think I copied it, because I didn't. I was reading the other day and someone mentioned this name. Well to make a long story short, this particular name was very fitting for my situation. I just came from a caregiving situation with my Dad, which ended when he passed on May 30. There were numerous significant experiences since then and a rainbow is connected with it. This morning when I got up I was looking at some digital pictures I took of a double rainbow (which you don't see very often). These pictures were taken a couple days after his passing. It was almost to say that he and my mother were together again (since she passed last summer). I know this might sound kind of strange, but believe me I needed some significance to get through the situation. I have been looking forward since last month to look at and select my bird - and that finally did happen.

So for the record her name is Miss Rainbow. She is SO colorful and I think it is fitting for her to have that name. I took some digital pictures and I don't know how to begin to get them to the list. I am by no means an expert with computers and I will probably need some coaching. I know how to send e-mails with attachments etc. but anything fancier than that and I am lost!

I came home with all kinds of good books so I will have my reading material for a while. I also picked up the latest "Bird Talk" magazine for July. Was intrigued about the "potty training" article, in addition to ALL the COOL STUFF you can spend money on! I am sure my little girl is going to be quite spoiled. If I'm not mistaken I think there was also a "Parrot" magazine there. When I go next time I will check into that.

She just started flying lately and she is working on her landings. Just about gave me heart failure when she came at me. I just froze! Then the lady told me how she has not perfected the landings yet! After that things seemed to be alright. We concentrated more on just holding, climbing, talking etc. until she was very comfortable with both of us. She thought my glasses were a bust.

We want to get there at least once a week to bond with her. I think that two weeks is too long in between. I want her to remember me and not confuse me with anyone else. I am going to bring her a toy next time so she will have something to look forward to.

This is a dream come true to finally have a parrot. And to think if years ago I had never seen one of these birds then I would have never known about them.

Oh, before I forget, the rest of the story about this bird goes like this ... When I initially called this breeder earlier in May I was told that they had two 5 wk olds that were both spoken for. Well that turned out a little different, because the female didn't have any deposit nor was there any contact info and the people just disappeared and never came back or called. So that put me next in line for her. Can you imagine that? Now I know for sure that we were meant to have her.

Sorry this is so long, but as you can tell I am really excited about it.

Kris