Posted by Mary N. on May 19, 19100 at 18:09:16:
In Reply to: How messy are they? posted by Carol Teal on May 19, 19100 at 07:31:58:
Hi Carol!
The eclectus diet is very different from that of lories in that the lory diet is virtually liquid (as you have observed) and the eclectus diet is solid. Eclectus appear to require more fiber in the diet than many other species of parrots to maintain good health, so from that perspective, they are less messy.
As Johanna mentioned, eclectus are very good eaters, and tend to EAT their food - which is great! - They do toss and drop their food, and can make messes by "snoveling" - one of my great "scientific" terms which means they dig through their food dish for their favorite morsels and while they do, food in the dish is either thrown out on purpose or falls out as a consequence of their searching! hee hee!
Like other parrots, when eclectus eat, they build up food on their beaks which they "flick" off or rub off on their cage or perches. This can make for some messes!!
Mostly, the mess stays in the cage, or in the close proximity to the cage.
We have a cage that has a "seed catcher" or "apron" around it. Some people don't like these because they bang into them, but we really like ours. I cover the seed catcher with paper (old greenbar paper from the office) like a "bib" and change the paper on the catcher each day when I clean the bird cage. It takes a minute to do, but I think it is faster than cleaning off the stuck on food. If you don't cover the catcher, spray with water from a mist bottle while you are getting ready to cage clean, and the food comes off easily.
If you have your cage on a tile or linoleum floor, the floor will be easy to sweep or wipe up. If you are like us and have your cage in a carpeted room, you might choose to use a plastic shower curtain under the cage (they come in colors that can match your decor) or you can use old bath towels around the cage. We have a shower curtain under the birds' playtree in the livingroom (we only give dry food on the tree) and we use a few old bath towels in their room (also carpeted). We shake the food that lands on the towels into the cage when we clean the cage each day. This works well for us.
The birds also make a mess in their cage when they stand on their food dishes to eat. They get food on their feet, then track it around in their cage. We just use the good ol' spray bottle and mist the cage a bit when getting ready to clean, and the goop comes off pretty easily.
Some people like to use steam cleaners such as the Vaporetto or VaporMax (there are others, I am sure). My folks have 7 bird cages, including 4 large macaw cages, and the steam cleaner makes cage cleaning a lot easier for them.
I would say, then, that eclectus are probably less messy than lories, but are probably about as messy as any other parrot. For us, it is not unmanageable. I completely clean the cage each day (all cage bars, all perches, paper, bibs, floor, food/water dishes - the works) and it takes me an hour. More if the birds are "helping" me and more if they have been having a really good time eating AND playing with their food - which they do. :)
IMHO, eclectus are great family birds. I would not foresee any problem with an 11 year old child and an eclectus parrot – I have posted a link to a response to a question about eclectus and children that had been asked here on Ask Polly. Hopefully it will be of help as you research adding an eclectus to your family.
Have you had a chance to use the Search button at the top of the Ask Polly page? I think it is a cool feature as it searches all of Ask Polly and Land Of Vos for the search word you enter. I have been having fun with it since it was installed a couple of weeks ago.
Please be sure to let us know if you have any questions and good luck with your research!
Al and Mary
Cabby and Chardy (SIE)
: We are considering the purchase of an eclectus, from what we've researched and heard a male is the bird for us. Feeding fresh food would be fun, however my sister has loris and because of their diet they are way to messy for me. Please let me know your experiences with these birds I have an 11 yrs old boy.