Grabbing with their feet?????

[huskergirl99]

I feel somewhat silly asking this question.............

At roughly what age will my Eclectus begin picking up food with his feet, or holding it with his feet?

He is six months old, and we've only had him for a week, but for some reason I expected him to hold certain pieces with his feet.

Thanks in advance for your input and opinions!

[tamaran2]

My male SIE is 5 and he never uses his feet. Then again Jim has a female which he put up pic of and she uses her feet. So go figure.

[joshbirdlover]

my male sun conure does that and he is 4 years old! :) it is kind of cool watching them eat like that!

[Kachina]

Ekkies tend to not use their feet, although there are certainly some who do. None of my 3 have ever used their feet to hold anything other than an almond to pry it out of the shell.

[sunnyshine]

I have a 20 month old Ekkie and he holds things with his feet all the time. He started when he was probably around a year old. He loves foot toys! Young Ekkies are usually pretty clumsy, so just provide him with some foot toys and maybe as he gets older he'll start using his feet more often. But I think it just depends on the individual bird.

[Tinker]

My budgie clearly thinks he is a different type of parrot. He's always trying to hold his bell or swing toy or rhygrass or lettuce with his feet. He's terrible at holding food though, and enevitably drops it. Doesn't stop him trying again though - I don't think he learns too fast!!!!

[melin]

It is personality of the birds. A friends Grey never uses his feet. My guy uses his feet for everything. Eclectus are not known for using there feet, this is some of the reasons for giving them smaller food.

[New Ekkie Mom]

It's not a silly question at all! :) Several people here have already said that Eclectus are not known for holding things with their feet like cockatoos or macaws. It really is just in individual bird thing. Some people have Eclectus who use their feet all the time, others have Eclectus who never use their feet. If you want him to use his feet for things, just provide him with foot toys and hope for the best. Keep in mind, though, that he may still never use his feet. Congratulations on your new Ekkie!

[jimpierce7]

Well now thats just silly. Ekkies don't hold things with their feet!!!

[tamaran2]

I told you Jim has Pics....