# Eclectus Parrot



## PhilK (Sep 13, 2009)

We have a green cheeked conure, Archie, at our place and we are in LOVE with him. Such a great, great parrot and an awesome member of the family. I never thought I'd like a bird as a pet, but you don't know the personality they have until you own one, do you!

Anyway, I'd love to get another bird.. especially as I am moving out soon and Archie loves dad so much I couldn't bear seperating them... I have been looking into various birds and love the eclectus parrots. Males particularly I think. I have done a search of Google and the boards but thought I'd put up a thread too.. Does anybody own them? Recommend them as a pet? How much could I expect to pay for a young hand raised eccie? Size cage?

Please tell me all you know and feel free to share photos, stories etc!


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## Noongato (Sep 13, 2009)

I think theyre around $900, and u need a licence... I sometimes skim past them when reading other classefieds. I love the females, the blue and red is stunning
Ive also heard they arnt a very social bird..theyre skittish or somethingo rather. I stopped reading so much when i read the price tag. Hahaha


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## =bECS= (Sep 13, 2009)

You dont need a licence for eckies
You can pick up ones for handraising if you wanted to do it yourself, for around $500 - 700


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## Noongato (Sep 13, 2009)

Ok, maybe i tell fibbs, its just what i remember reading somewhere... 
Or maybe it was something completely non related? My blonde is showing so it couldve been anything... sorry


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## Goulburn_herper (Sep 13, 2009)

=bECS= said:


> You dont need a licence for eckies
> You can pick up ones for handraising if you wanted to do it yourself, for around $500 - 700


 

Not trying to argue but i think you will find that in QLD(each states requirements differ) he will need a license considering they can be found in the wild....in the far north

i could be wrong but im almost certain this is the case................


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## PhilK (Sep 14, 2009)

I've heard you need a licence too... I will investigate that.

Does anybody here own one? What are they like as companion birds?


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## beeman (Sep 14, 2009)

PkilK, My father inlaw breeds Eccies as well as 3 of the black cocky forms.
Eccies make great companion birds, they tend to bond to one person and are 
for the most part very social birds (they dont like to be left out lol)
Would be a sound choice if thats the way you decide to go.


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## bundybear (Sep 14, 2009)

phil,
eckies are lovely birds with heaps of personality and great vocal skills.
there is approx 8 sub species (from memory) of eckies of which only one is native to the very top end of australia. you do need a licence for the native species however they are not that common in captivity. 
the most common one in captivity is the red sided ecky which no licence is required.
the differences in some of the species is very minor and can often be overlooked by backyard breeders resulting in cross breeding.

unlike many other parrots, eckies seem to bond to multiple people alot better so they are great companion birds. 
they can get a bit squarky if they dont get enough attention but then again so do most parrots.
price range from $500-$1000.
Trish from The Parrot Package in Wollongong often has some very nice hand raised eckies, look her up.


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## jacorin (Sep 14, 2009)

try petlink mate,or even try bird mags that qld breeders advertise in,it dont hurt to ring and ask


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## Freeloader (Sep 14, 2009)

Get a hand reared one. Be prepared for biggest racket that you have ever heard if it thinks you are not paying it enough attention.
My wife's male eccy, Edward, is in the kitchen and has a german and english vocab of about 25 words.
Phil i implore you to have a serious think before purchase as you will be putting it in the will for your kids. Their lifespan is 35years.


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## Bluetonguejo (Sep 14, 2009)

My dad has eckies they fly down and eat from my hands and call out hello all the time. even though they can have loud calls some of the many different calls are really amazing like rainforest bird noises and they also mimic things like the kookaburra call.


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## mysnakesau (Sep 14, 2009)

Don't forget we have Australian Eclectus parrots which you DO need a license for and are usually harder to find and more expensive. The most common kept eckies are the New Guinea species which are virtually identical to our Australian companions. You don't need a license for exotic birds.


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## notechistiger (Sep 14, 2009)

http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p01389aa.pdf
Page 16 and 17.

You will most likely need a licence for it. Both the Australian and "international" Eclectus parrots are only available under licence other then _E.r. macgillivrayi _(check the subspecies of what you are purchasing).


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## =bECS= (Sep 14, 2009)

mysnakesau said:


> Don't forget we have Australian Eclectus parrots which you DO need a license for and are usually harder to find and more expensive. The most common kept eckies are the New Guinea species which are virtually identical to our Australian companions. You don't need a license for exotic birds.



I didnt look at the location, my bad 

Not many pure natives around though, and they have a much higher price tag.
Alot of people sell the Australian x New Gunieas too, which is a shame, but like you said, you cant tell the difference if you are new to them...


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## PhilK (Sep 14, 2009)

frogboy said:


> Phil i implore you to have a serious think before purchase as you will be putting it in the will for your kids. Their lifespan is 35years.


I'm only 21 mate.. I sure I hope I don't die at 56 :lol:! Cheers for the advice though.



notechistiger said:


> http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p01389aa.pdf
> Page 16 and 17.
> 
> You will most likely need a licence for it. Both the Australian and "international" Eclectus parrots are only available under licence other then _E.r. macgillivrayi _(check the subspecies of what you are purchasing).


Thanks a lot for that info, I'll give it a read just now. 

You say the Aussie and internationals need a licence except _macgillivrayi_... but _macgillivrayi_ IS the Aussie eclectus subspecies? I'm confused..

I would like an Aussie eclectus (to be patriotic and because they're the biggest) but apparently they're expensive and hard to come by, and maybe the size is more of a hindrance (providing a big enough cage etc).. New Guinea one would be the way to go then I guess. I'll read through the legalities now.

Meanwhile, surely there are others who keep eccies? Post away!!

EDIT: upon reading pages 16 and 17 of the EPA document... it says eclectus parrot (Australian subspecies) _Eclectus roratus macgillivrayi_ is a restricted bird.. and all other eclectus are international birds. But I dunno what "international bird" means... Maybe I'll email them for a final answer.


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## swampie (Sep 14, 2009)

Paul and Sheree from Noah's aquarium and pets at Caboolture breed eccies as well as conures on a regular basis, give them a call and they'll give you all the info you need.


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## notechistiger (Sep 14, 2009)

PhilK, I was simply quoting the document. I don't know the Eclectus subspecies


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## Noongato (Sep 14, 2009)

Theres a bird expo thing in Orange every year in March. Cheapest birds i ever seen, got my handraised GC Conure for $50


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## PhilK (Sep 14, 2009)

notechistiger said:


> PhilK, I was simply quoting the document. I don't know the Eclectus subspecies


No worries mate. Sorry if I sounded rude I didn't mean to! I've emailed the EPA and hopefully they'll get back to me and clear it up!

Any photos of your own eclectus parrots guys? Mustn't be as popular as I thought!


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## Radar (Sep 14, 2009)

We've got a couple of pairs at work that are trained to work with the public to raise money for different things, they are a great bird. I may be biased though, as I don't live there....and don't have to put up with their racket 24/7.


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## cougars (Sep 14, 2009)

I had 3 breeding pairs of Eccies. They were all inquisitive and friendly.Can be real noisy at times. They need lots of fruit and don't do well on a all seed diet.Theres 9 different sub species,But the main one in Australia in the New Guinea (roratus polychlorus) They're a great pet.


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## PhilK (Sep 14, 2009)

Yeah I have read they need even more veggies and fruits than most other parrots.. I can do that though, no worries.

What about toilet messing? Any ideas?


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## JaxxO_o (Sep 15, 2009)

She is a treasure 

She really loves passionfruit & from wat I hear most do


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## PhilK (Sep 15, 2009)

Well I got a reply from the EPA today..

_"Further to your email, please note that the licence you require for the Eclectus Parrot is a Recreational Wildlife Licence._
_The Australian Eclectus parrot is a restricted bird, so if you are planning on having more than 2 of them, you will require a fully restricted licence. This is an additional $180.40 on top of the $60.05 licence fee._

_The non-Australian Eclectus parrot is listed as an international bird, so if you want one of them you will require an International endorsement on your licence. This is an additional $13.40 on top of the $60.05 licence fee._

_If you are just going to have the one or two Australian Eclectus parrot, you can have a standard recreational wildlife licence. This is a total of $60.05 for the licence, as well as $6.50 for a record book."_


 I've emailed back asking the following questions but thought I'd post here too. So is this the same recreational wildlife licence I already hold for my herps? I plan on having one New Guinea male, so if it IS the same licence I just pay them $13.40? And if it IS the same licence as my herps I can have an Australian eclectus (if I can find one) without paying any extra?


 Now I just need to decide between Aussie or New Guinea eclectus..


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## billiemay (Oct 3, 2009)

I think that will just be the int fee plus a $10 amendment fee. I'd love to keep an ecky too. Do you know much about what kinds of fumes would be toxic to them? Apparently some cleaning products and coated fry pans are really bad.


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## Serpentes (Oct 3, 2009)

You can keep your parrot on your herp license.

Lots of things are toxic to parrots including Eclectus. Any aromatic cleaning product, chemical fumes, teflon frying pan fumes (yes, they emit fumes), scented candles- the list goes on. You also have to be careful of temperature changes, like moving from inside to outside or heated to non-heated rooms.

You need a lot of patience with an Eclectus, they're wierd creatures, often noisy but pretty cool. I've hand raised a few, they are a bit different to most other parrots, you'll see. I had one that you could lie down on it's back, and he wouldn't get back up for an hour or more, or until you turned him over yourself.


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## jham66 (Oct 30, 2009)

Serpentes said:


> You can keep your parrot on your herp license.
> 
> 
> Is this true ? I thought it would be a different type of Rec Wildlife licence........ and what about the record book, can it be in your herp book? and do you need a record book if you are getting the New Guinea Eclectus?
> ...


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## ambah (Nov 1, 2009)

Eclectus are great  I've had mine for just over a year now. He's a Red-sided Eclectus (Eclectus roratus polychloros). He was hand-raised when I got him from a local breeder, he still doesn't like being touched with hands anywhere other than his beak, but apparently eclectus' aren't often cuddly birds but he loves kissing and will let me kiss him everywhere.
He knows how to say his name, Charlie & "I love you", impersonates people laughing, wolf whistle and he calls our cats "Pepper" and "Gus".

Gets along great with both myself and my partner & I agree they tolerate multiple people heaps better than other parrots I've kept. He's not fond of strangers touching him at all but doesn't mind them around the house, they're quiet most of the day but morning and night they can be a bit noisy, especially when its dinner time. I've taught him toilet training, he climbs over to his perch when he needs to go, only sometimes makes mistakes.

He gets warm mashed sweet potato, sometimes with peas & corn in it or steamed broccoli & cauliflower for dinner, once a fortnight he gets a boiled egg and cut up fruit salad for breakfast. Snacks throughout the day on vetafarm pellets & seeds. Avoid black sunflower seed, grey sunflower seed is ok. Other bad stuff has been already mentioned.

On a shorter note, I love him to bits! If you do end up getting one, I'm sure you'll feel the same way.


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## LIZZZARDS (Aug 7, 2010)

*Ekky*

I em in LOVE with eckys and you DO need a licence for all ekkys.
aussie ones you can get for arownd 1 and a half grand maby 2 saloms lsland ekkys
are the 2nd best to get and cheeper to buy than aussie ones. you could pick one up for arownd 500 - 800 $. they are also the 3rd best talking birds in the world(no 1 is the african gray parrot) and there are one of the birds in the world that can suffer from obesitie so once he/she is weend try to get him/she on health foods like veggies.
they need dayly exersize.
if you need any more help feel free to give me a call

Trav(LIZZZARDS)


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## PhilK (Aug 8, 2010)

You joined this website to make a post on a topic that is a year old...?


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## J-A-X (Jan 14, 2011)

seeing as this thread has been rediscovered.... Did you wind up getting an Eckie after all PhilK ?


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## PhilK (Jan 17, 2011)

Decided not to Jax, as it is a huge commitment and I don't know where I will be in a year or two. When I know I will be in one place for a longer time I will certainly get one - and a dog too!


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## J-A-X (Jan 17, 2011)

nice to see you thought it through thoroughly, hopefully one day you'll get there. just dont forget the pics when you do


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