Goldie's Lorikeet with shredded feathers

[MtzMichael]

Hi,

We just brought home a cute Goldie's Lorikeet a couple of days ago. It seems healthy in that it is active, a lot of personality and playful. Also, its eating and drinking like what I'd assume is normal.

However, there is a decent amount of grey color on its feathers that appears to be shredding of its feathers.

At the bird store, they did seem to take great care of it - gave it attention and kept it well fed. In fact they raised this lorikeet. It was in a room with many other parrots but that didn't seem to bother it as when we'd visit it, it would immediately want to play.

Here's a picture:



They fed it powdered nectar, water and applesauce. That's what we're feeding him now.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Michael

 

[Cydney]

Hello and welcome to AA! Make sure you post on the Welcome board to introduce yourself.

As for your new Goldies, congrats! It does look like some feather destructive behavior. If you don't mind, I have a few questions. How old is he? Is your Goldies for sure a male? What brand of nectar has he been eating? He definitely needs a little more variety in his diet, fruits and vegetables. Has he been vetted recently to rule out any medical problems? Do you have any other birds?

 

[MtzMichael]

Hello and welcome to AA! Make sure you post on the Welcome board to introduce yourself.

As for your new Goldies, congrats! It does look like some feather destructive behavior. If you don't mind, I have a few questions. How old is he? Is your Goldies for sure a male? What brand of nectar has he been eating? He definitely needs a little more variety in his diet, fruits and vegetables. Has he been vetted recently to rule out any medical problems? Do you have any other birds?

Hi Cydney! Thanks for the quick reply.

We're not sure of the gender, although the store thinks it's likely a female. As for age, I believe it's around a year or so.

The nectar is "Lory Life" powder.

I did give her and apple, which she loved. ( I'm starting to call it she! ). Can you tell me what other kinds of fruit, vegies and what-not we can feed her?

We haven't taken her to a vet yet, as we only have had her a couple of days. But we definitely can do that.

We have two other kinds of birds - 2 parakeets. At the store, she was in a large room with Macaws, Amazons and other types of Loris.

When we bought this lori, we also bought its cage ( which is really roomy ). And we also kept all of its favorite toys with the hopes that she would feel more at home.

Please feel free to ask any other questions. I do have a couple books on Loris, but it seems there isn't a lot of info out there - well as much as I'd like anyways!

Thanks,

Michael

 

[Cydney]

Do you have any names picked out yet? I considered a Goldies and ended up with an Iris. Love the lorikeets though!

I'd get her vetted as soon as you can to rule out any potential medical problems and potentially protect the budgies, just in case she were to have something contagious. What kind of cage did you get with her? How big is it? From the picture it looks like it has plexiglass on it, does it?

Lory Life is a good nectar brand. In addition to Kai's nectar, he also gets birdie bread and fresh foods. With the fresh fruits and veggies I vary how I offer them, either in chunks, shredded by the food processor into little pieces or pureed. The puree is great for getting them to eat foods they may not usually eat alone and I think Kai appreciates the variety.

Some foods I usually include are cantaloupe, papaya, carrot, cooked sweet potato, squash, peas, broccoli, berries, pomegranate, pear, bell peppers, hot peppers, cooked grains like quinoa, barley and lentils, cooked beans, and sprouts, among other things, are all good foods to add in. Kai also has cinnamon, oregano and cayenne pepper added in to his bread.

I usually limit things like apple and corn because of a lower nutrition content, and I don't feed citrus as vitamin C increases iron absorption and Lorikeets are prone to Iron Storage Disease.

Loriinae Exotics - Lory Diet
FEEDING LORIES
Articles

 

[MtzMichael]

Do you have any names picked out yet? I considered a Goldies and ended up with an Iris. Love the lorikeets though!

I'd get her vetted as soon as you can to rule out any potential medical problems and potentially protect the budgies, just in case she were to have something contagious. What kind of cage did you get with her? How big is it? From the picture it looks like it has plexiglass on it, does it?

Lory Life is a good nectar brand. In addition to Kai's nectar, he also gets birdie bread and fresh foods. With the fresh fruits and veggies I vary how I offer them, either in chunks, shredded by the food processor into little pieces or pureed. The puree is great for getting them to eat foods they may not usually eat alone and I think Kai appreciates the variety.

Some foods I usually include are cantaloupe, papaya, carrot, cooked sweet potato, squash, peas, broccoli, berries, pomegranate, pear, bell peppers, hot peppers, cooked grains like quinoa, barley and lentils, cooked beans, and sprouts, among other things, are all good foods to add in. Kai also has cinnamon, oregano and cayenne pepper added in to his bread.

I usually limit things like apple and corn because of a lower nutrition content, and I don't feed citrus as vitamin C increases iron absorption and Lorikeets are prone to Iron Storage Disease.

Loriinae Exotics - Lory Diet
FEEDING LORIES
Articles

I'm sorry for the late response.

Just a couple of days ago we decided on Penelope ( Penny for short ).

The cage isn't a brand name, but was made by a small company which specialized in parrot cages. It's very big giving the lorikeet a lot of room to play, jump around and all that. It has a play area on top too so the lorikeet can climb up there and play. It does like to spend a good amount of time out of its cage.

The bottom of the cage is designed to allow the droppings to mostly fall further down into a large tray - where we have new paper. That tray slides out w/o needing to open the cage.

It was the cage it was being kept in and since it was used ot it and it is very well made, we decided to buy that cage with the bird. We didn't realize this little lorikeet needed such a big cage but the store was clear that they really need the room.

It has the food area which slides out allowing us to change its food w/o opening the main door. Also, around the food area there is plexiglass helping to keep the area a little bit clearner.

Also, there are rollers on the feet of the cage so we can roll it outside to hose down for cleaning time!

Thank you for listing the various foods it can eat. It gets really excited when we give it something different. It loves zucchini and it also liked the cooked sweet potato. It really seems to like watermelon although it probably doesn't need any help with watery fruit - we only gave it that because we were having some and it was so excited to get a piece.

Thanks!

Michael

 

[Birdroom]

Hi, congratulations on your new Goldies Lorikeet. I have a Goldies and his name is Kiwi, he was a dna'd male and he is two years old. Kiwi looks just like yours.
I feed Kiwi the nectar mixed with water and I offer him the powder. He eats greens, rice, apples, pears, watermelon, kiwi, banana, grapes and any other fruit that I have.He likes corn, carrots, peas and beans. He takes a bath every day .

He does not eat the lori pellets, he does eat millet. I offer him some flowers that he nibbles on and he licks the nectar.He enjoys his swing alot. He talks and mimics sounds.
Did you go to the vet yet? She could be chewing on his feathers or have another health problem, her feathers should not look like that.
Good luck with her.
Here is a picture of my lorikeet.