eclectus behavior

[Pharoh]

I jus recently adopted a voss marie eclectus female she is 4 years old.
And she likes to spend most of her time on the floor under something or in a dark place. is this normal eclectus behavior? is there something i need to do for her?
under something meaning a chair, her cage, a dressor, the sofa, it seems like
any dark area.

[The Outlaw]

I have forwarded your question to Carolyn. She will answer it shortly.

[The Outlaw]

Here is Carolyn's response:

Hi there,

Yes, there definitely is something that you can do for your four-year old female Eclectus. You can keep her off the floor. Yes, it is normal for her at the age of four to be seeking dark corners for nest sites. Once she settles on a place to claim as her nest, she will protect it against almost everyone, perhaps even you, and will almost surely administer bloody bites to any feet that come near her "nest".

Worse still, she is likely to become a chronic egg layer, laying nest after nest of infertile eggs. This will set her up for possible egg binding and calcium depletion, both life threatening conditions.

I know it will not be easy for you since she already has this bad habit, but you must confine her to keep her from roaming the floor. Try to keep her busy with wood pieces and natural tree branches to chew. You can give her other fun things to do, like interactive toys. There are food puzzles that require the bird to work at getting the treats inside. They will keep her busy for a good while.

Take her places with you in the car, and on walkabouts around your house and yard. Let her take showers with you and try to include in her in all your family activities. The less time she has to be "broody" and seek nesting sites, the happier all of you will be. It won't be easy at first but you can do it and if you want her to retain her sweet companion quality, it is a must.

Best of luck and let us know if you need help.

Carolyn

[Pharoh]

Ah, Thank You very much for the information. It was very helpful.

[Ekkie]

Originally Posted by Pharoh

I jus recently adopted a voss marie eclectus female she is 4 years old.
And she likes to spend most of her time on the floor under something or in a dark place. is this normal eclectus behavior? is there something i need to do for her?
under something meaning a chair, her cage, a dressor, the sofa, it seems like
any dark area.

What I do for my female Vos. is let her have a spot to play out of the cage.

She plays in the bottom of a draw that is left open and goes in and out of it at will. A large old telephone book for her to shred plus other soft toys and small pieces of wood. My Vos has not laid an egg in years since I have provied her with this place all her own. She will be 14 yrs young Christmas Eve. I purchsed a three draw plastic organizer from Target for $19. and she has the bottom draw and the top two draws to hold her other toys. She visits the top draws which hold her other toys that I rotate for her to keep her interested. She loves her stuff in there. She is in perfect feather. Hope this helps.

[The Outlaw]

Ekkie:

You have been very fortunate that she hasn't laid and egg and frankly, she still could. I cannot let my ekkie hen in ANY small, dark area without her going into full nesting mode. In fact, if I tried to retrieve her, it would be a battle royale. She is the only bird here that will stand her ground when it comes to defending her nesting site.

[Vankarhi]

sounds to me like she is hormonal (I too own an ekkie female) and from what I have read (Skye is not that hormonal yet) you should not let them on the floor where they can discover "dark, nesty spots", like under chairs, in cupboards or drawers. When she gets onto the floor pick her up and put her on the chair with you or back onto her tstand, playgym or back onto her cage. I do not let skye on the floor much anymore, she is usually on my shoulder or the chair I am sitting on when out of her cage.

[felisdomesticus]

I came home from work yesterday to find that Scarlett had started shredding the newspaper in the bottom of her cage. I'm not sure if it's because a piece of it was just conveniently sticking up for her, she was just bored, or if it's a hormonal thing.

She didn't continue her shredding after I got home even though I left the paper in there to see if she would.

I'm going to keep an eye on her today. I don't want to have to take the newspaper out but, obviously, I will if needed.

[The Outlaw]

Ekkie hens, though lovely, can be very stubborn. In fact, of all the birds here, mine is the most highly motivated to have her own way. If she shreds the paper again, I would stop lining her grates and simply line the seed tray. Its more work, but you gotta do whatever it takes to keep the hormones in line. You are an excellent bird parront. That will serve you well as years go by.

[felisdomesticus]

Originally Posted by The Outlaw

Ekkie hens, though lovely, can be very stubborn. In fact, of all the birds here, mine is the most highly motivated to have her own way.

oh I know. She is doing her best work to try to pull an Italian tile off the wall that is hanging next to her boing. I love it because it has 2 cats (a black and a gray one like my cats) and says "Beware of Cats" in Italian. It is the best place for the tile but Scarlett wants nothing more than to pull it off of the wall. I have started using a squirt bottle on her when she reaches for it--but as soon as I turn my back on her, she is back and trying to pull it off again. Brat!

You are an excellent bird parront. That will serve you well as years go by.

Thank you so much. I try my best for her.