Need help quick, a decision needs to be mdae today!

[ccg]

Hello everyone!

Alright, so hear it goes. We have been looking into getting a another parrot at some point, nothing to serious, we have just been researching various species since we got our Nanday, I believe you all call it MBS.

Anyhow... Last night browsing some local classfieds I found a Male Eclectus for $1000 CDN with large cage. He is only 1.5 years, not sexed, the couple has had a child and are sadly selling him because he is to loud... real good planning on there part I know...

Questions, how loud do these guys get? She said when he screams it scares the kid, I have a Nanday, how much louder would be then that? Much large bird so is it taht much louder? My nanday only screams when something scares him, other animals looking into the window etc. My fear is that the Nanday will be a lot more vocal with another bird in the house and and I am not experienced with the Eclectus or how loud they can be to begin with?

So everyone, is this a good deal, and what do you think we should do? Our only exp with with a Nanday, no larger birds or anything. I have attached a pic below, hope it works. PLease give some guidance if you can provide any!

Thanks !


[IMG][/IMG]

[pbinva]

Poor Boy - his cage is rather empty - he prolly needs more toys to play with!! I don't find Peeka to be loud at all - he did scream/screech once when he fell off his perch and was scared. He mostly sounds like a little monkey and is fairly shy about his making sounds - he only does it when he thinks no one is paying any attention to him and there fore thinks he is by himself. Peeka is also only 10 months old so he has not gone thru puberty yet - so that may be a difference. That sounds like a reasonable price for the bird and cage - that cage is very nice and big!
THat poor guy does need more stimulation than is in his cage presently.

Good Luck - I personally don't think you can go wrong - but be sure to read and study about their diets - they have very specific needs in that regard!!!!!

[ccg]

Thank you for your input! I know, when she emailed me a pic I was sad for him, I must have 25+ toys for our Nanday alone!

We have time and money for a second parrot, I myself am not to concerned with the noise level, but the wife might have something else to say about that.

[Valo's Moirana]

Originally Posted by ccg

We have time and money for a second parrot, I myself am not to concerned with the noise level, but the wife might have something else to say about that.

LOL also ask the neighbors if you have any - they will communicate which elevates the overall noise level

[Amie]

ekkies have a nice scream, but they usually do it at "specific" times. Scarlett screams if we haven't told her hi when we come in (for instance, if I come home, but need to put groceries away, she gets a little impatient!) and in the morning when we start getting up. It's their way of saying "HEY!!! I'm here!" It's what they do in the wild.

The scream is VERY different from how the conure screams. It is short, loud, but not shrill. It will still hurt your ear if you're right next to him, though. But they don't scream a lot. This particular bird is probably trying to get attention from his owners, (look how bored he probably is in that empty cage!!) And him screaming is the only way he gets any kind of emotional response. So, you'll have to spend a lot of time IGNORING his screams for the first few weeks. Don't respond to them, and only come to him when he's being quiet or talking at a pleasant volume.

From just looking at his picture, he's a Red Sided. I'm basing that solely on how dark his beak looks in the picture. It's REALLY hard to tell on the boys, though, and it doesn't matter much. If you decide to get him, we'll share a chart if you REALLY want to know so you can measure and weigh him once he trusts you. By the way, he doesn't need to be DNA sexed, he's a boy. The girls are red (see my siggie pic for my female ekkie--and ignore her plucked neck!)

I love my ekkie. I've had her since she was 5 months old, and she's 12 now!! Mine has some loneliness issues since our African Grey died and plucks, but we're working on getting her beautiful again. Plucked or not, she's the love of my life!!! They aren't big on cuddling, persay, but will want to be with you all the time. My Scarlett will sit on my chest for hours and let me pet her sides. She also LOVES to be on the back of the recliner while I'm watching baseball games, and has appropriate YAY! and Boo! noises she makes when I'm happy or upset at how the game is going. LOVES musicals and will sing or talk more when we're playing music or watching a musical on TV (she's a big fan of Sweeney Todd!!).

They aren't really one-person birds. My Scarlett prefers me, but will willingly go to everyone. She'll even choose to go to my fiance over me if he's just come home or is doing something really interesting like cleaning the kitty litter.

Please check out Eclectus Parrots for their dietary needs as it's the most difficult part of keeping an ekkie.

Yay!! Good luck!

[ccg]

We have our own house, so the only time they'd be heard is in the summer when the windows are open. I am still not sure what to do! I emailed her about 50 questions and left her a message to call me back. And before someone makes a comment on my orginal post, I realized I typed hes not sexed lol... Typo on my part!

My concern is if my Nanday starts to scream, he only does this when hes scared or sees aniamls outside the windows, or if someone rings the door bell.

[Amie]

Originally Posted by ccg

We have our own house, so the only time they'd be heard is in the summer when the windows are open. I am still not sure what to do! I emailed her about 50 questions and left her a message to call me back. And before someone makes a comment on my orginal post, I realized I typed hes not sexed lol... Typo on my part!

My concern is if my Nanday starts to scream, he only does this when hes scared or sees aniamls outside the windows, or if someone rings the door bell.

Haha, sorry, I commented before you wrote this :)

While your birds are quarantined they will probably talk across the house, so it will be a little loud at first. (you should have the ekkie in a comletely different room than the Nanday until vet tests come back to make sure he doesn't have anything that could hurt your Nanday. He shouldn't considering he's an only bird, but you never know!)

Once they're in the same room, they won't talk to each other as loudly. And just thank God you only have two birds. When my mother fostered for a rescue, she'd have 8 or so birds at a time, usually cockatoos since she's really good with them, and bringing a new foster in meant 8 or so Cockatoos screaming across a house for a month. We visited very seldomly when we could help it while she had one QTd!!

[ccg]

Thank you amiestgermain!

I was hoping to see a post from you today. I am sitll waiting to hear back from her, and hopefully I can go see the bird today or tomorrow.

I hope this works out now, we are excited and I know I can provide a much nicer home for him. More comments are welcome, I'll post again as soon as I hear back!

[bgenie]

I don't know anything about Ekkies, so I can't comment on that part of your decision, but we adopted a "screamer" B&G 1.5 yrs ago. It took about 1.5 months to really get the screaming down. That means consistently ignoring all of her screaming efforts for a good solid month. At about 3 weeks, my husband (who is the one who really wanted Gracie) said, "Something's got to change...I can't live with this forever...". It was VERY frustrating! Every time Gracie starting talking, mumbling, or using acceptable vocalizations, we would interact with her, and completely turn our backs (literally) from her if she started screaming. It was a long 1.5 months, but now she is a wonderful, well adjusted, talking (notice I did not say screaming!) parrot. It was well worth the time and effort that she required!

On the second note, the people we got her from told us "not to bother giving her toys because she would just destroy them..." and the only toy that she had in her cage was about an 8 inch section of 2 x 4. With time, she has learned that not everything has to be made an immediate toothpick, and now she really enjoys actually playing with toys. That too took some time and patience, but as she realized that toys would keep coming, she slowed down on their destruction. (I think part of this was also that she needed the wood for beak grooming and such and had not had it available to her).

Good luck with your decision, please keep us posted!
~Melissa

[alarmingparrots]

Good for you!!
Keep us posted on how the bird is doing once you get her.
Good Luck!