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Hi, i'm getting an eclectus in a few weeks and have a few questions.

Firstly i'd just like to say hi! My names Billie and I've only kept finches before but I'm definitely a large parrot person.

I am at uni for a large part of the day two days a week, but my mum is home. Is it a good idea to record my voice reading childrens books while i'm out?
What times should I be giving him breakfast and dinner, or is it mainly about keeping a routine?

With toxicity, if he is housed downstairs and the oven is upstairs can it still be dangerous?

Also, i'd prefer not to clip his wings, so i'd like to try to get him to wear a harness and leash. Does anyone take their bird for walks in the park or car drives?

When I bring him home how do I stop him from getting scared? should i give him a few dark places in his cage a talk softly to him?

Haha just a few questions... Any other advice you want to offer would be great too!
Thanks, Billie

I am at uni for a large part of the day two days a week, but my mum is home. Is it a good idea to record my voice reading childrens books while i'm out?
Some people may record their voice, but a lot of people usually leave on nature shows, kid shows, or buy DVD's for parrots to watch/listen to. Some play music or even leave the radio on.

What times should I be giving him breakfast and dinner, or is it mainly about keeping a routine?
This usually varies for everyone, since everyone tends to wake up at different times and be home at different times. Breakfast should hopefully be some time shortly after the bird wakes up, and dinner, hopefully about an hour or so before he goes to sleep. Be sure to leave food inside the cage she he'll have something to snack on when you are not around - and read up on eclectus diets.

With toxicity, if he is housed downstairs and the oven is upstairs can it still be dangerous?
Does the oven have a self-cleaning feature? Does it contain PTFE? If yes, then he may not be safe anywhere within the house, especially if it's all on the same air system. However, the self cleaning feature does not need to be used, and you dont have to turn the oven up too high. There are other dangers besides ovens.

Also, i'd prefer not to clip his wings, so i'd like to try to get him to wear a harness and leash. Does anyone take their bird for walks in the park or car drives?
If you don't want to clip, then have the breeder harness train him while he's a chick so he better accepts it as an adult, and look into recall training. You can find a lot about that under 'free-flight' training - although for safeties sake, you should still use a harness while outside.

Recall training in parrots is the same concept as teaching dogs to come - and if trained well, is a great training tool that could help you get your pet back if that pet ever escapes. It's no guarantee it will work out-doors, but with a flighted parrot, it's something you should consider training just for a little extra safety.

Basic Flight Training for Parrots
Indoor Recall Training
Should you clip your bird?
The Flighted Birds wiki
Living with Flighted parrots
Carly Lu's Flight Blog: Parrot Training, Flight & Recall
Free Flight Training
Flyers - Home
Recalling Phoebe
February, 2005 - shanlung
Tinkerbell, a free flying CAG
Good Bird Inc. Companion Parrot Training Through Positive Reinforcement
Bird-Click : Bird-Click
Parrotrecalltraining : Recall/Freeflight Training for Parrots
Freeflight : Freeflight
The Bird Man of Las Vegas

Free flight gone wrong. (check out new videos from this guy)
YouTube - Tui parrot missing free flying - don't try this

When I bring him home how do I stop him from getting scared? should i give him a few dark places in his cage a talk softly to him?
See how his behavior is. He may be perfectly fine when he gets home or he may need time to settle in. You can give him some extra security by putting a blanket or sheet partway around the cage.

Good job Monica!

Here are a few other things that might be specific to an Eclectus:

http://www.birdchannel.com/search.aspx?q=Eclectus <-general Eclectus information
http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-magazines/bird-talk/2009-february/bird-talk-eclectus-colors.aspx <- special issue on a 10 yr study in the "islands" of the Eclectus (all) species

Remember that an Eclectus diet is high in fruits and be sure to use only "organic" fruits and veg's

I feed my eclectus twice a day, 1st in the morning with fresh pellets and their seed (change out yesterdays bowls) and their fresh I feed just before my dinner where I put it over whats left in their food bowls. But that is my schedule and yes you should stick with regular times during the day. I also have two water bottles available one with pure spring water (from Wal-mart) and the other Lori nectar mixed with the pure spring water.

Thanks heaps. I'm so excited. I have found some good sites on eclectus diets, but does all the food have to be organic (is it because its more nutritious or can normal fruit be really toxic?) or only if you're feeding them the skin. We get fresh fruit and veg delivered weekly and i think some of it's organic but not sure about all of it. Does anyone know where to find the best list of things that can be toxic to birds? What do you clean your rooms with?