sidech wrote:Pajarita wrote:If I had a choice, I would never go with an eclectus, their breeding season in the wild is too long, their diet way too specialized (if you check, you will see that the only eclectus that live over 20 were either wild caught or first generation offspring of wild-caught, 99% of them die young), they don't display before they bite and they never give you a warning nip, they always go for the kill.
I completely disagree with you. They are very easy to feed when you know what you're doing. I can provide a good diet plan to help. And I do know Eclectus who are living past 25.
About the not warning part, never heard of that, and I am very educated about Eclectus, and know many, many people who own them. You're probably talking about the female being aggressive, which I agree with. But males are sweetest parrots of all. They are suckers for affection !
There are exceptions to the short life problem but it's a matter of percentages, besides, if you think about it and do a bit of research, you will find out that prior the Wild Bird Conservation Act, 99.99% of ekkies sold were wild-caught and they only started breeding them in captivity after that so I stand with my words, ekkies that are 25 years or older are 99.99% wild caught or first generation offspring and there aren't that many of them compared to the huge number of ekkie pets there are.
As to diet, yes, we have learned a lot since then but it's VERY hard to give them a good diet, much, much, much harder than any other parrot. They seem to age much faster than other species, they are highly hormonal birds (hens are known to lay two clutches every year) and they develop problems that other species don't have (wing flicking, toe tapping) as well as conditions that are only common to old birds (like high cholesterol and liver malfunction) when they are still way too young for them (I am talking birds that are not even ten!). They are also very prone to FDB and there is now a theory that they are salicylate sensitive. So, with all due respect, in my personal opinion, they are one of the hardest species to keep healthy in captivity and you need to put A LOT of thought, research, work and money into it - something most people can't or won't do.
You are correct that males are sweeter than females but they can be holy terrors, too. I took in a chronic plucker which was a doozy! He was the first bird I've ever heard growling as he was coming for me with his wings and beak open and murder in his eyes! And his name was Romeo! LOL As to body language, they are different from other parrots, they don't really show they are not happy with you like a gray or a zon would, for example. And they don't give you a warning nip, either. They just kind of freeze and look at you without batting an eyelash and you think everything is OK when BAM! they bite real fast and hard (an ekkie was the only bird I've had that killed another one -and for no good reason either! all the lovie did was fly over and perch next to it and a second later, she was dead) so I would say that this is not a bird for a family with children.
and have owned an irn 
before too. I was looking forward to adopting another parrot of which out of years of research I came up with either an amazon 
grey 
or eclectus. I've done plenty research and know the dietary needs of all three and can very easily handle each. I actually am very good with birds and really hit it off with an eclectus at the pet store. I have enough cash for each bird, their monthly nail and wing clips, their food, their large cages, new toys every two weeks and live in a family of five and a butler who all interact with and take care of my 
