Eclectus diets are very different to that of any other parrot species. They have a longer digestive tract & some can do poorly on seed & pellet diets. Diets high in pellets have been known to cause Eclectus parrots to have an overdose in vitamins which can result in feather destruction, toe tapping & behaviours such as screaming & aggression. Some Eclectus parrots are more sensitive to their diets than others. Coloured or artificial pellets
can also have an impact on their health.
It is recommended your Eclectus have at least an 80% natural soft food diet & 20% everything else including treats, seed & pellet.
Eclectus parrots can eat 3 meals per day but many owners do feed 2 meals per day. Eclectus are known to be grazers. They tend to graze on their food throughout the day as well as eating 2 or 3 square meals. They don't tend to become overweight eating like this if they’re given a healthy daily diet & offered a large variety daily. Everything in moderation.
Most eclectus parrots appear healthier on a low nutrient diet than a high one which is why they seem to do so well on healthy human foods such as fruit & veg, sprouts & poorly on foods such as pellets which are high in vitamins & minerals.
While some parrot owners swear by a seed & pellet diet, it does not mean it is a healthy diet for them. While Eclectus parrots are said to appear fine & healthy while on these diets, the long term effects can result in a shorter life span, sudden death or health problems as the Eclectus ages. If you choose to offer your parrot pellets make it only a very small part of their diets & choose 100% natural Eclectus specific pellets where you can.
Offering a sprouted mix daily can give your Eclectus most of the vitamins they need for the day. Sprouts can be bought or home made. 24 hour soaking seed will also give your Eclectus more nutrition than dry seed, but not as much as sprouted seed.
High animal protein such as chicken & egg are not recommended for Eclectus parrots unless they feather pluck, are breeding, moulting or hormonal. Any other time a high animal protein diet has been said to cause health issues. Eclectus parrots require a high vegetable protein diet, which can be found in most veggies, beans, legumes.
I don’t recommend you give your Eclectus vitamin supplements unless specified by your avian vet. Offering added vit supplements without knowing exactly what your Eclectus may or may not need could result in an overdose. If you feel your eclectus is not eating properly you can put the occasional vitamin sup in their food but you should see an avian vet to check everything is OK and check if you do need the vitamin sups on a more regular basis.
If your Eclectus eats pellets you should not offer vitamin supplements. Pellets are already high in vitamins and minerals and adding extras could do more harm than good.
Eggs
Eclectus parrots don’t need to be fed egg on a regular basis. Egg has been said to cause extremely high cholesterol & arteriosclerosis which can result in an early death. Egg an ‘animal’ protein and Eclectus parrots require vegetable proteins. Your Eclectus will do well being given boiled egg about once three to four weeks only. It is said that Eclectus Parrots only go to the ground about once a year to forage for ‘animal proteins’. Egg is a good replacement for what is not available to them from the wild but do offer it sensibly and never over do it.
A breeding, fledging or Eclectus going through a heavy moult or plucking can have a little more egg than during these times.
Some Food Eclectus Eat In The Wild
These are just some of the plants that Eclectus parrots have been recorded to eat in the wild. They may eat all parts or only certain parts of the plant, fruit, nuts, leaves, seeds.
Pandanus (screw pine)
Nonda Plum
Red Beech
Grewia Papuana Burret
Mackinlaya
Pirrungu
Hopbush
Micromelum Minutum
Dissiliaria Laxinervis
Brittlewood
Nasturtium Tree
Syzygium Bamagenese (myrtle family)
Sarsaparilla Tree
Solitaire Palm
Livistona & Dicksonia Palms
Small-leaved Fire Vine
Crepe Myrtle
Cinnamonwood
Wild Eclectus parrots also eat seed producing grasses however they prefer seeds from fruits most of the time. They've been noted as choosing red & orange colour fruits over other colours. These fruits are very high in vitamin A. On rare occasions they also fly to ground to forage for mineral salts.
Eddie
