Naughty Baby Eclectus - HELP!!

[mybirdz]

Yep

[vankarhi]

Well I was surprised when Charmaine (lady at the dog trial a few weeks ago) told me that her friend swore by his seed diet with some fruit and veges. I told her I didn't agree and she said "well he swears by it and his birds breed all the time..........whatever rocks your boat"

We didn't really get to talk much about what we feed our own birds as she was heading home and I was entering the ring for another event with one of my dogs........but I was a bit shocked.

[mybirdz]

Yeah, I'm slowly convincing some people to change their ekkies diets but it's a bit sad when you hear about these diets, especially with ekkies. they're one species bird that can have some terrible long term effects from it.

[zisforzoe]

Thanks again everyone, I'm taking the seed in a bowl each day out gradually, he only gets a tiny bit and so now I'll use sunflower seeds for training when I get to that.

It's extremely hard for me to say this and I don't want to have to give up but this bird has obviously not been hand raised. And all of us for the last two weeks have been striving to tame him but he simply is not improving, and if anything he is MORE aggressive than when we brought him home the first time so I don't know what this means/why he's doing this. I know that it is possible to just be unlucky to end up with a bad tempered and naturally aggressive bird - it does happen and I wonder if this could be too hard on him and also on me, I've already become attatched but at the same time I feel like he would possibly be better off in an aviary. It breaks my heart to think I would have to give him up, but if he will never come out on his own will (and things are not improving, they are most definitely worsening) and will always be unhappy and aggressive then maybe this is not worth it for either of us.

I really needed a friend after one of my cockatiels died at the begginning of the year and I still haven't gotten over it. He was always desperate to have me around, he would snuggle up to my face and he was the most amazing bird, and to find him on the bottom of his cage after choking left me devastated and still has me crying when I think about him. I thought that Waldo would be the perfect bird for us but he hates me, he really hates me. It's not fair to have to hold him down to stop him from biting and flying, for me or him. What's depressing is that even during the night when he used to be sweet now he's exactly the same as he always is - unmanagable.

Just last night I broke down crying when I went to pat him and he left my lip bleeding, and then he bit my hand and my nose. He doesn't stop, I don't know why he's worse than before!!

I don't know what to do anymore, I just never feel happy to have Waldo around because he's not a nice bird and he severely dislikes me. I don't know how I can change this, or if I can. But I don't want to have to give him up.

[robert]

This is very sad,Zoe. from Robert and Precious

[Jane]

Zoe please don't be disheartened. You obviously have a great love of birds and your 'tiels look really happy and healthy
Waldo is going to 'try it on' with you at various stages while he grows up, but if you keep your strength up through the rough patches you will have a great friend at the end
There are some great courses and people who can help with your challenges with Waldo. Did you see this thread
aussiebirds.proboards27.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=5856

if you are not in that area then maybe you can get some phone consultations etc

but please keep asking q's here and we'll do our bestest to help you and Waldo

[just4birds]

Eckies arent a bird that you can snap your fingers and have him be perfect ... sorry to say ...

I took on a 1 and a half year old male ... who would bite and pinch me like crazzzy ... and yeah it hurt like hell ... but i wanted an eckie soo i was gonna do what i could to at least get him to step up ..

I watched some bird training dvds ... and read some books ... and then one day just decided that i was going to do some basic training with him ...

and now he will step up ... do around 4 or 5 tricks ... like wave and shake hands ... he still gives out a bite here and there ... but all his fast learning makes up for that

You have hardly had the bird long enough for him to settle in ... whether or not he was hand raised ... over time ... and the right reinforcement he should come around ...

Even my baby eckie who is 7months and was hand raised by me ... gives me nasty nips on my ears ... and fingers ... and tries to stick his beak in my eye ... its all about teaching them ... all i have to do is say "gentle" and he either lets go ... or doesnt grab so hard ...

I think you should get some books and dvds ... and maybe youtube some of Barbara Heidenreich stuff ....

*Lisa*

Ps. If you are in the Sydney area feel free to pm me ... i'll sit down with you in person and try and help if you are interested ..

[mybirdz]

Hi Zoe

Can I ask how long you've had him for? It doesn't sound like you have had him long & only taming even a tame bird is no where near long enough. You need to have a lot of patients & give this bird months. Weeks is really not giving any bird the chance to settle properly & get to know everyone & everything & start trusting & be willing to train.

His raised aggression levels now can be because he feels pressured into moving on too fast. This can cause aggression in ekkies. Have you read my previous post. he needs more time to settle & things need to go slowly & in his own time he will get it but pressuring him will make things worse. You need to give him the time he needs to be comfortable before you can work with him successfully.

I can tell you now Zoe, you're not unlucky & have a bad tempered ekkie. This bird is afraid. he is in the unknown. Possibly I also suspect he's also not hand reared. This doesn't mean the worst & he won't tame, he will. this just means he will take longer to tame.

[Laraine]

I'm so sorry you are having so much trouble Zoe. Why don't you contact your local Avian vet and explain the problems you are having. They might be able to put you onto someone who is knowledgeable in training Ekkies.

[zisforzoe]

Ah thanks everyone, I was pretty upset when I posted that last message. Just a bit nostalgic.

I'm taking it slow now, as if I caught Waldo from the wild and put him in a cage. I'm eating near him and letting him spend most of the time in his cage to allow him to get used to the home before me. I take him out occasionally just to sit on my hand and I won't go anywhere, (however if I do he still flies silly bird.) so I can just pat him and talk to him.

Everyone's been very helpful, when he's tame and friendly I'll let you know.
Wouldn't have been able to do it without your support,
Zoë.

[Jane]

I'm glad you are feeling more positive Zoe Please keep up the updates for us

[rajasmom]

When your bird is in a good mood and receptive try taking him over to the glass wall and then touch the glass and say see it glass its solid then make sure he beaks or touches the glass do this often and he will soon learn that the glass is a solid object I have a sunroom that has huge windows all around it when I get a new bird I take it on what I call a little adventure and we walk around to every window and every mirror in the house and I make sure the touch each one so that they know it solid I have never ever had a problem with one of my birds flying into the glass My amazon is fully flighted and flys from one end of the house full out to the otherend and when she gets to the big wall window she lands on the cage thats just in frount of it its her outside cage so when she flys to it I know she wants to go outside so I put her in her cage and wheel it out the door. she has never hit the window teach your bird that its a solid object and you won't have to worry anymore

[vankarhi]

Good idea Raja'smom. I never thought of that. Hope it works for Zoe