New Mom

[Aeon]

Hi everyone! I've been lurking here for a few days and already learned so much. I'm so glad I found this board. My husband brought us a new baby home from a recent trip on Saturday....a 3 month old female eclectus (as yet unnamed - we're waiting for her personality to show). I should probably mention we also have 3 dogs who've never seen a bird up close before....they're learning under close supervision. Anway, it's been years since we had birds. We had a blue front amazon and a sun conure previously but had to adopt them off when we had kids as the birds were extremely jealous and I didn't like leaving them in their cages all the time. Kids are now 11 & 14.
So far the kidlet is doing great and starting to get chatty. Stepping up is a 50/50 thing. And she's defintly not a morning bird (say hi, gimme food and leave me alone) Now I have a few questions
Hard boiled eggs...chop up the whole egg (shell and all)? 2-3 times a week?
Pasta.....I read in one post on here that it's not all that good for them and on others that it's great for them. Now I'm confused. And how often should I give it to her?
I called the only avian vet I could find around here this morning and was told that unless I notice any signs of illness that there is no reason to bring her in......does this sound right? What should I be looking for? She's eating good (although yougurt quickly became wall art LOL) her feathers and color are beautiful. Her wings were clipped before we got her. Worst thing going on now is the occasional fall from the perch, which never fails to scare me though I try not to show it (we lowered them and gave her a flat surface to rest on off the floor of the cage should she be so inclined).
Also, does anyone have a link to a good reliable source of seed/food online?
Thank you
Steph

[LMPego]

Congrats!
I'm concerned about what the vet told you. If you don't have any other birds, then you don't have to worry about anything getting passed to them, but what about a health guarantee from the breeder (I assume a 3 month old came from a breeder). Plus, all birds should have a well birdy check up once a year. Still, you have to decide what's best. It's also not a bad idea to take the bird to the vet to get it used to that whole idea, meet the vet when it's not an emergency, etc.
I've personally never heard that pasta is bad. My birds love it, but they have a good well-rounded diet of seeds, pellets, veggies and people food. Whole grain pasta is more nutritious than white flour pasta, and everything in moderation.
I try to buy a lot of my food from The Birdbrain because they help to support The Gabriel Foundation, but they're not necessarily cheaper. Both Drs. Foster & Smith and Great Companions have good variety. (Again, not cheap, but definitely convenient to have food come to your door!)
I look forward to hearing more about your new baby!

[The Outlaw]

Hi and congratulations. I think your vet advised you wisely with such a young bird. The ekkies are quite vulnerable to many diseases for the first 2 years that other birds seem more tolerant of. Since she seems fine, you have lots of time to vet her later on.

Please remember that the eclectus parrots are very unique birds in that they really, really do require a primarily fresh fruits and veggies diet. I have a female that will soon be 4 and she never pulled a feather until I stupidly offered her some Pretty Bird Eclectus pellets that a well-meaning friend raved about. She is now pulling out her blue chest feathers. I've discontinued ALL pellets (I knew better, I don't know why I got so damn lazy) and she's back on the diet recommended by Carolyn Swicegood. If you haven't checked out her Land Of Vos site, please do. Its the best source of Eclectus info on the web.

I offered eggs to all of my birds about 3 times a week. Granted, I have a lot of macaws and 2 greys, but they all seem to do quite well with the extra protein. I serve them in many ways: hard boiled with shells ground up and tossed in, French toast, and scrambled or in an omlette. I also toss them in birdie breads.

I have not been able to find any diet better for Ekkies than Carolyn's. Until this recent event, my Mai Tai was always in perfect feather. Also, please don't feed much seed. Keep it at no more than 25% of her total diet. Here's the address of Carolyn's site:

www.landofvos.com

THE OUTLAW

THE OUTLAW