For some of us with Eclectus hormones come around with a bang and our once sweet, loving bird becomes a gremlin! For Viggo hormones brought on a boy who would scream, lunge, bite, regurgitate on his perch and toys and have his way with nearly anything he could shake a feather on. This blog was started specifically because of hormones and a journal so to speak for myself to look back on to see what has worked and what has not as well as to help others along the way. Must Haves for a Hormonal Bird: Night/Sleep Cage Lots of foraging items The two above mentioned were huge on the avenue to improvement. In fact sleep cage alone seemed to cut back on his hormonal ways within days. But that wasn't without some diet modifications as well. Keeping his beak busy also helped through foraging toys (Paper bags stuffed with treats, boxes with treats, puzzles with treats) Viggo loves almonds so I used slivered almonds to coax him into foraging and allowed him to watch me place the almond in the chosen foraging method. I also weaved kale, lettuce, beet leaves and such through the bars of his cage, put food in whole to keep him busy breaking it up, or on a squere like a kabob. Viggo is flighted which during hormonal times is good and somewhat of a pain. The plus, I can keep him busy with flight to burn energy but those stunning wings can also carry him with ease to have his way or try with anything or fly at my daughter to strike at her. I chose times for flight where I can have one on one time and keep him active and busy! Prior to bed is a great time. I repeatedly say diet is key...key to everything when it comes to our feathered friends, especially so with a hormonal bird. I found that cutting out cooked foods all together helped immensly. No warm mashes, rice, cooked/warm veggies....Instead I found that by cutting back on warm foods and fruit and feeding more raw veggies and sprouts that also played a part in cooling hormones. I change my chopped veggies often but one I love to make and that Viggo loves is: Kale, jalapeno, green/red/yellow/orange bell peppers, beets, bok choy, broccoli, sweet potato. All of the above are just pulsed to bite sized bits in the food processor and then mixed in together. I then bag the above into portions for each week. 2TBSP for each morning, so 14TBSP/bag and then freeze those not in use. I just pull and defrost when needed. Having food prepped is wonderful for those of us with crazy busy lives. It's fast to prepare, bag and put away and saves on daily chopping and prep. Here's a daily run down of food and amounts I feed. I'll give both an idea of when he's hormonal and when he is not hormonal. I feed based on the fact Viggo is flighted and active. If your bird is clipped I would cut back to 1-1.5TBSP of sprouts Morning Meal: 2TBSP of Sprouts 2TBSP of the above Chop veggie mix (Lots of raw greens) 1TBSP of mixed berries (Black berries, raspberry, blueberry, pomogranate) *I will also add a sprinkle of flax seed, hemp seed, chia seed on top of his veggies mix. Mid Day Snack: 2 slices of apple 3 pcs of Slivered Almond Dinner: 2TBSP of mixed veggies (peas, carrots, green beans) Leaves of lettuce or kale weaved through the bars 1TSP of budgie seed (no vitamins or anything added) placed in a puzzle to forage. Slice of Papaya or Mango When Viggo is hormonal I cut out corn, pellets and cooked foods. I find that with him these tend to trigger hormones. When he is not hormonal and generally through the winter months I will feed small amounts of Harrison Lifetime pellets (either fine or course). Not daily and just a sprinkle or a couple course fed in the morning. Here is a run down of a basic non-hormonal daily feed: Morning (Not Hormonal) 2TBSP Sprouts 2TBSP Mixed Chopped Veggies (lots of raw greens) 2TBSP fruit (Mango, berries, papaya, passion fruit.....) 1TSP Harrisons (Or I will feed this as his afternoon snack in place of the almonds) *I will also add a sprinkle of chia, flax, hemp hearts Afternoon Snack (Not Hormonal) A couple Apple or Banana slices 3 pcs slivered almond Dinner (Not Hormonal) 2TBSP Mixed veggies in chunks 1TBSP cooked grains (Quinoa, rice, cooked legumes) Bedtime Snack (Not Hormonal) 1TSP Budgie Seed Each week I give Viggo a small amount of cooked egg hormonal or not. By Small I mean less than 1/4 of a hardboiled egg. He has never shown much interest in chicken, fish, chicken bones or any other meat. When he is not hormonal I will also switch out his evening grains for bird bread that I make. Viggo generally eats everything in his bowl without fail. Sometimes he will toss food to the bottom of the cage but being that I cover the bars with newspaper for easy cleaning it catches the food and Viggo will go down and work on whatever he tosses later. Some foods he doesn't care for but will destroy. It's been a learning curve for sure, trial and error through the ten years that I have had him. Initially when he first came he toe tapped and wing flipped which got me into journaling and it helped immensely to learn the triggers. In later years I have done the same with his hormones and this is how I have learned what works for him diet wise. I highly recommend journaling to anyone who is struggling with toe tapping, wing flipping, hormones or just behaviors. It truly helps! Sometimes reading back you learn that it's something small that you are doing that triggers on going behaviors and it hits, then through removal...voila the behavior ceases. Joining bird chats and online groups also helps as the abundance of people able to share what they have done for different struggles can assist in our own. Feeding Eclectus is fun. Be a chef, change it up, make it colorful and vary the sizes of the food fed. Ekkies love to eat...but be aware of what you are feeding and how they respond. I hope my daily run down of what I feed and the amounts help. Remember, the mentioned fruits and veggies are a guideline, change it up...they do get board like us.