wanted to share this one with new lori owners

[tielkeets04]

after having my rainbow lorikeet for a few months
Black lines started to show up on his green feathers
I couldnt find what they were in my book and pet store owners just looked at me as though I was mad
I found out from a man on the internet that the Black lines were the first sign of a calcium deficience
the second sign is the feathers breaking off below the black lines
this problem is common in young lorikeets
and can be fixed by adding a little grated cuttle bone to their feed
all the best tielkeets04

[Catbird]

Thanks for the great tip Tielkeets! Its good to know the problem was so easily treated.

[nova]

Thanks for the info i have only had mine for a week so i am still learning all this.

I feed mine dry food, fruit (which he has just started to eat in the last 2 days) and bottle brush flowers. Some are telling me not to bother with wet food, dry food is enough? but some sites are telling me to feed him wet food Arrrrr please what do u guys feed them?

I want to make sure i get this right but getting told one thing and another.

[AussieBirds]

Hi Nova, it's best to give them a choice of both wet and dry mix, let them make the choice.

John

[nova]

Thanks for that i am off to buy another feed dish in the morning so i will get some wet. its the same place i got the dry food and other dishes and the fella went on about how he was the expert and no need for wet food LOL.

[Catbird]

And don't forget a dish of water too. Some lories like to mix their own, so to speak.

Claire

[nova]

thanks for that, he has his dry and water ect just getting told there must be wet food or no need Arrrhhhh LOL.
glad to have found this site today.
;D

[AussieBirds]

Nova you can buy containers that have two compartments, put the dry in one side and the wet in the other.

John

[eckie]

hi nova
may i suggest putting a big water container in the bottom for him. rainbows love to get in the water
and have a swim.
i used to make my own dry food recipe for my rainbows worked out alot cheaper. i gave them wet food once a week or they get 2 messy. keep giving him fruit and lots of bottle brushes also see if you can get him grevilias
or how ever you spell it they love them

[nova]

I put a big container on the floor last week but for some reason he will not goto the bottom of the cage not even for a feed of bottle brush (when he drops them) i took it out for the moment. I came back from dropping the boys of at school this morning and he was having a jolly old time in his water dish LOL. So in went the water cotainer on the bottom of the floor but he still won't go down there. would it just be him getting use to the cage still or that he is a baby and not a great flyer yet?

[eckie]

hi
could be a bit of both
onces he becomes a better flyer and use to the cage
he will want to explore!

[Viraba]

Hi Tielkeets,
I only have one pair of rainbows at the moment.....have had more ! Both are real characters..........though I have a sneaky thought that they're not Bonnie & Clyde.........but Bob & Clyde !!!! Both these birds sat on their perch for nearly 2 days before they really felt at home in their new aviary........they did eat/ drink of course but didn't diviate from the same flight path so I'd say your bloke is still settling in. The other thing to remember is that it's not very often you see lorrikeets on the ground in the wild either ( up here anyway) so he may just be playing out his normal instincts

I reckon the arguement as to whether you feed wet or dry mix to lorrikeets is similar to whether we use seed or pellets and can often depend on where you live. We live in NQ and I only feed my 'guys' dry mix, plenty of fruit and also blossoms when I can get them. I find that wet mix goes off so quickly in the heat up here and by mid-afternoon if you haven't taken it out it's gone putrid and can actually start to ferment !!!............ever seen a drunk rainbow lorikeet Having said that, I have used wet mix from time to time but normally when I'm on holidays and can take out what they haven't eaten after a couple of hours.

If you give only dry mix make sure you provide enough water. I have 2 containers in seperate places, 1 with the mix, the other away from it. The birds make their own wet mix with the one beside the food and normally drink from the other. I use a small 'continuous drinker' for the second one............you know the ones I mean ??........like they use for chooks only smaller.

I also agree with Eckie, while it's easier to buy the pre-packed lorrikeet foods it's much cheaper to make your own. Plenty of different recipies around with ingredients readily available with the normal grocery shoping. If you want a copy of some let me know.

I also put a calcium supplement in the water, though I'm sure that your idea of grated cuttlebone would also work well given that they go through the water really quickly.

Enjoy you rainbows.......they're great birds (even though a bit messy

Viraba

[nova]

thanks for the reply.
He still won't go to the bottom of the cage, i guess he might when he is ready. He won't even go to the lower branches.

I have made lots of headway with him. He now whistles the one i taught him will come over and eat honey off my finger with my hand in the cage. & if i call him smarty pants (LOL don't ask) he comes over to me. Not bad since i have only had him under 2 weeks. ;D
I have decided not to feed him the wet mix for the same reason as you .. the heat.
I give him fruit ect as well as his dry and at the moment there is plenty of bottlebrush around so he is getting some fresh ones each day to his delight. LOL.

[tielkeets04]

with the wet mix I remove it as soon as he has had his fill , you can also give them a bit of egg biscuit but dont feed it wet as it go's off very quick and can cause thrush in your birds mouth
all the best tanya