A Special Pet Eclectus

Eclectus parrots make exceptional pets when they are happy. A daily routine for your Eclectus should not be totally rigid but should follow the same patterns of Eclectus in the wild. Feeding and social contact should take place at a similar time in the morning and evening. Your Eclectus can be left alone during the day in a large cage with plenty of toys to play with and activities to explore. The following story outlines a practical daily routine that helps keep Georgie the Eclectus happy and healthy.

Georgie is a particularly special and clever Eclectus. He has been cared for perfectly by Ms O’Brien who has agreed to share his story on our webpage. Georgie’s story will help you understand the time and care required to keep an Eclectus happy and also show what a fantastic pet they make.

Our Georgie!

"Buying an Eclectus was not a spur of the moment decision, we spent months deciding which parrot was best for our home, planned his room and bought all the equipment- cages, toys, pedicure perches, stainless stee feed bowls and digital scales.

I remember the day I drove across to the pet shop to pick up my Valentine’s Day present. A quick wing clip and I loaded the little green bundle into the car, along with a play stand and some more toys.

When we arrived home Georgie was quivering and didn’t want out of his carrier, so we got him some fruit and put him in his new cage for the night.

After a week Georgie was still not eating much, he did not vocalise and was not active in his cage. He had discharge from his nostrils and very watery droppings. We booked in for our first visit appointment with Dr Marshall.

Dr Marshall showed me how to prepare hand-rearing formula and gave me some medicine to be given with this. Thus began our steep learning curve.

Georgie took the warm mix from a spoon and we had food all over the poor little thing, up the wall and on the floor, my husband and I had not kept a hand reared companion parrot before. We fed Georgie like this twice daily on his T stand, and weighed him before and after the meal, he usually ate about 12 – 14 grams. The hand feeding really assisted us in the bonding process and we taught Georgie to "step up" at this early stage which made weighing him and removing him from the cage so much easier.

It was necessary to keep the temperature in Georgie’s room warm enough that he could recover, so we got him a bar heater, a timer and a gauge with an alarm for monitoring his room. Georgie was also happier at night with a little night-light.

We started weight charts, plotted significant events, for example if he was up late, trips to the vet, when he bathed and if his nostrils were wet etc. We got the "Guide to Eclectus Parrots" first edition, and this became our "bible". We started buying Australian Bird Keeper magazines and ordered others from the U.K and U.S. We educated ourselves as much as we could on all things ‘parrot’-.

I spent lots of time with Georgie showing him things around the house, playing with his toys, reading to him and singing, (heaven forbid it) but Georgie loved this the most and cooed along during the songs. Georgie loved nursery rhymes and silly songs about him best.

Georgie developed a fascination for the fish tank and so we started to feed the fish every morning together and say hello to all the fish.

By about eight months Georgie was only having the hand rearing formula once per day and just one or two spoons was all he wanted, but this was handy for the continued administering of his medicines. Georgie’s beak was now starting to get a lot more orange colour in it and much of the black on the upper mandible was starting to disappear. His feathers were still dull and tatty and covered in stress bars, but he had begun to improve. Georgie began to vocalise a lot more in his room by himself early in the morning and late in the afternoon. He was playing lots more and very eager to join the family now. Georgie loved to chew, so we gave him plenty of eucalypt branches to shred, and lots of foot toys to hold and destroy which was fantastic for improving his dexterity and balance too. At night I’d sit by his door and listen for the sweet sound of Georgie grinding his beak before going to sleep.

During September, when Georgie was 9 months old, he started his first moult. We could see a beautiful luminescence in the new feathers. His feet were looking great and the beak even better as well. By this time Georgie was playing fetch, saying a couple of words and flapping his wings in preparation for flight. Georgie also loved to play passive games like ‘peek-a-boo’ and ‘copy cat’. His favourite food was passionfruit so we now used this medium to give medications. Georgie also enjoyed his daily millet spray treat.

As the weather warmed up we were able to take Georgie outside in his cage. It was highly entertaining when Georgie listened to birds calling over head and he would sing out "Hello", continuing to get louder and louder. Georgie would look at me puzzled becaue he received no response. Eventually Georgie picked up some bird speak, and now often makes calls to the birds outside.

By 12 months of age Georgie was saying about 14 phrases and we knew he was happy when he sang "Zippidy-Du-Da". As he said each new word we logged it in a diary. We decided to keep Georgie flighted for the health benefits this exercise would provide. Georgie had to learn he was only allowed to fly under supervision and so he was returned to his perch or cage when he became a little over excited. This took lots of patience and determination on our part. Georgie quickly learnt the words "no" and "stay there" and now continues to regularly say "naughty boy" when he knows he has done something wrong.

At about 13 months Georgie began a vocabulary spurt. He seemed to be verbalising new words and phrases often, so we started a ‘Georgie Dictionary’. We found that while we could teach Georgie something new in a short period he seemed to learn much more from our conversations or during play. Georgie would practice many of these new phrases in his room for days, sometimes weeks before he would verbalise to us, often coming out with a new saying in context.

Georgie likes to watch television (cartoons in particular), or videos featuring birds. He has picked up a few of these sounds and must have been watching the Crocodile Hunter, because he has recently learnt "Crikey".

Presently, Georgie has a reasonably standard daily routine and so, he has learnt the order of his activities. He will now wait on his sleeping perch until I remove his covers and he greets me daily with an emphatic "good morning", then just as I am about to say "ready to come out", he moves down to the door saying it himself. I take Georgie to be weighed and he usually adds "ready for breaky".

Fetching: Interactive play is essential for bonding with your Eclectus. It also encourages your bird to learn to occupy itself when alone.

Georgie similarly, uses words appropriately during play, he now often plays fetch by himself, and after throwing a foot toy, he says, "go get it" and returns with it, praising himself all the way. He loves to spend time with us on the couch but he is also very independent. He likes to be kissed on the beak or the back of the head, but prefers not to be handled a lot.

Georgie is very uneasy with new household furniture so when a new item appears in the house we always take Georgie to have a look and explain what it is. During the day while we are out we leave the radio on for Georgie or we play nursery rhymes and nature cds etc, we also currently rotate his toys weekly for greater mental stimulation.

Georgie is a very important part of our family, he is a wonderful companion and our best friend. Georgie is extremely intelligent and hence he is very sensitive to what is happening around him. He does not like raised voices or harsh tones, but he can sure let out a few commands of his own to his human slaves when he wants to. Georgie also loves to assist with the daily household chores. He screams with joy to the sound of a vacuum cleaner, loves to pick letters off the keyboard while we are on the computer and likes to supervise the daily cleaning of his cage.

Now at almost two years, we are teaching Georgie the difference between big and little, we also use the game of fetch to get him to bring us different colours. This requires lots of repetition but we know he is capable of understanding these concepts and we all have lots of fun. We look forward to sharing lots more fantastic experiences with our beautiful little green king.

Copyright © 2004 Rob Marshall, All Rights Reserved.