Thinking of Buying a Lory~!

Hi! My mother seems to have her heart set on getting herself a Lorikeet, but we have a few concerns that I hope someone on this fine forum can help us with. I own a Pineapple Conure, he is one year old this month, would these birds be at each other throat? I know that is kind of broad and will depend on the birds themselves. How tricky are they to take care of compared to Conures and Cockatiels? Being a nectar-eating bird.

 

Hey @WallyLoopey can you answer?

 

Hi

Lorikeets are very aggressive to other species and can actually kill birds larger than them! Mine tries to go after my blue and gold macaw- they truly have no fear! You cannot leave them out or alone with other species.

They are comical and entertaining birds but do have some downsides. They will splatter your walls and floors with liquid (poop) and they need their diet made fresh every day.
As soon as you pick one up, he will poop all over you. You have about 30 seconds to get him to his destination before he does it again!

They can also be nippy, not suitable for children at all ( I have a 7 and 8 yr old and mine are too nippy for them to handle). They tend to bite even when just excited.

Here’s what mine eat everyday, which is a low iron softbill diet

-Blessings Lory gourmet nectar- blended in vitamix with peeled apples, pears, cucumbers (they get this twice a day- I store in glass jars in the fridge no more than 2 days)

-Blessings Bugs ‘n Fruit - dry in a bowl at all times

-Low iron fresh fruits-

Fruits/veggies that can be safely fed everyday are watermelon, peaches, pears, apples, cucumbers.

I tend to stick to that list and avoid citrus and grapes.

Bananas are relished but are only given as a treat about once a week.

You can also give plain black tea in a seperate bowl once or twice a week. The tannins are thought to help block iron absorption.

 

Here’s the link to the dry mixes I use

https://loryfood.com/products

 

@WallyLoopey that could be a problem. She wants another bird in the house and fell in love with the Lorikeets bubbly bounciness, but I don't want to worry about the new bird biting off Mackenzie's head.

 

My lorikeet was willing to be friends with my Sun Conure, but the Sun Conure was having none of it. In fact, because the sun was very possessive of me, he would dive bomb the lorikeet to keep him away from me. I eventually got the lorikeet a same species friend. Out of those two lorikeets, one (my original male) could be trusted not to bite. The same could not be said of female. I wasn’t bitten by her, but because I knew her history (she was my son’s bird) I knew not to trust her and how to avoid the bite.

You can make up their food in bulk. I freeze it in ice cube trays.

 

Looks like she has given up on the Lorikeet mostly do their odd diet and the possibility of it spraying poops between the bars of the cage.

She still wants a playful bird, one that can talk is a major plus so the search continues! Thanks for everyone's comments!

 

That’s why I don’tn own one!

Remember that just because this one or that one *can* talk doesn’t mean it will. Talking is merely a bonus most of the time. Male tiels can talk, for example, but we got Tully as an unweaned baby and Tucker immediately taught him to whistle — so he never did talk! Several of mine talk but it’s unintelligible. Skittles only says peekaboo, ready , Skittles... so you just never know.

 

Lorikeets aren’t good talkers either. The best talkers are african greys and double yellow headed amazons, but I wouldn’t describe them as bouncy. My amazon is very outgoing but in my experience greys are more shy.

 

I really think she is wanting a bird for the wrong reason.
You want a bird because you love birds, if they are playful and talks it should just be a bonus.
You never can tell that any bird will talk or be playful.