General

Lorikeets are a very lively interactive parrot and will be comfortable with doing many things that any other parrot may not be e.g. having a shower with you, rolling on their back and sitting in your pocket. Lorikeets are a very social bird and love interaction, whether that is by direct contact, or vocalisations. 

Settling Down

Leave him in his cage for the first day, so he can familiarise himself with his new surroundings. Do not place him outside with other birds, as during periods of stress, their natural disease resistance is down, and they are more susceptible to catching something. They should never be placed so wild birds can access their cage, as wild birds are common carriers of disease and parasites. Ensure they have shelter from the weather, including the wind, sun and rain. For the first few nights, use a night light for them, so they can see as this is the scariest time when they are new, and you do not want them to break a wing by flapping about in an unfamiliar cage. Ensure he is returned to his cage regularly, in the excitement of exploring, babies can forget to eat and drink, so it is better to place him back in the cage, rather than placing food and water around the house. Please remember that your lorikeet is a baby, and has just been separated from his family for the first time. It is not unusual for them to misbehave and exhibit behaviour such as screaming for the first few days, up to a week. This is a normal process, it may not happen, but is likely to. Now is the time to set limits for your new baby. Do not take him out of the cage if he is screeching, as he will learn that if he screeches, he gets to come out! Introduce family members slowly, and do not let too may people around him, as this will make him scared, and if scared a natural reaction will be to bite. Never discipline a bird physically, if they are naughty, put them away in their cage and cover them. Birds can quickly become hand shy if mishandled. 

Feeding

Unlike most other parrots, Lorikeets are nectar eaters. They should be feed a lory dry or wet mix instead of seed, and nectar should be given at least once a week, as a treat as that is closer to their natural diet. They can have small amounts of seed as a treat, but it is not a balanced part of their diet, and too much can damage the bristles of their tongue and prevent them from eating comfortably, leading to weight loss and malnutrition. Food should be changed if it gets wet, dirty or too low. You can also give them native flowers such as bottlebrush, but take care to aviod flowers with bugs and be sure they haven't been sprayed with pesticides. Lorikeets also love fruit and vegies, they can be given: apples, pawpaws, rockmelons, honeydew, sweet mandarins, pears, peaches, corn, grapes, raw beetroot, carrot (whole and grated), and mangoes. Remove any uneated fruit daily as it will attract ants and fruit flies to your cage and will go bad quickly - you don't want your bird eating spoilt food! Lorikeets have naturally wet poos but keep in mind that the more wet food you give, the more liquid the poos will become. 

Never feed avocado, chocolate, bread, honey, rhubarb, caffeine. If you would not eat it (too old, sour etc), don???t give it to your bird.

Worming

This should be done every three months. This is easily done by putting it into the drinking water; I recommend Avitrol Plus as it is an all wormer. Wormers are bitter, so often birds do not like to drink it, you can squeeze some orange juice into the mix to help hide the flavour for those fussy birds. Don???t worm on really hot days (too much can be drunk) or wet days (not enough will be drunk) and when worming, do not give any other water sources to drink this includes fruit, or a bath.

Vitamins

Additional vitamins are not generally needed, so long as they are fed balanced diet, mainly consisting of lory dry and fresh fruit. If you want to supplement them with extra (careful to not overdose), we use Soluvet vitamins once a week (add to the drinking water).

The Cage

Try to use some natural native branches instead of perches as they provide a rougher surface for grip and to file their nails down on. Rope perches are also great for their feet. Try not to put perches over the food and water, as he may poo in his own food!! They love baths, and the water should be changed each day. The bottom of the cage should be changed daily and scrubbed weekly. You can use newspaper, pine shavings, silver sand or chaff on the bottom of the cage. On cold nights cover their cage, in summer use a thin black sheet if you cover them (they might sleep in longer in the mornings too!).

Toys

Lories love licking anything metal, from jewellery to taps and knives!! (Watch they don???t catch their tongues). They will chew them too. Being a member of the parrot family, keep in mind they will chew anything they deem to be of interest so remove anything toxic e.g. baits, plants with sap etc. Wooden toys are good as it helps to satisfy the chewing urge. You need to keep the lorikeets toys clean, as damp dirty surfaces attract mould and mildews. Washing with dishwashing detergent and warm water is fine. Some acrylic/plastic toys may even be put in the dishwasher! Try to clean at least once per week. They can recognise colour, so find colourful toys. Rubber bands are good, but supervise. Lorikeets can be very possessive animals, especially with toys. If your parrot has a favourite toy, he/she may protect it aggressively. It is best to not touch that toy when your parrot is around. It is quite natural for them to do this, and not something to be concerned about.

YOU MUST SUPERVISE THESE GUYS, AS THEY ARE VERY CURIOUS CREATURES AND CAN EASILY GET INTO TROUBLE. 

Checklist

• Suitable cage
• Lory wet
• Lory dry
• Cuttlefish
• Toys
• Wormer
• Cage cleaner
• Fruit dish
• Bird bath
• Cage cover

We hope you enjoy your new pet!