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Post by plebscrubber on May 17, 2011 16:23:56 GMT 10
gudday,  I was recently given a baby scaley breasted lorikeet that had been rescued from attack from other birds. I have kept it with my 2 blue quaker parrots to try to reduce its stress. Its really wild and bitty and has almost full feathers but no tail. I am worried that its slowly starving because I dont know how to feed it. I dip some apple in some honey and jam that down its mouth, to try to replicate its natural diet of nectar? It dosnt seem to touch the seed at all.  Is there something else i can feed it? Attachments:
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Post by Robyn on May 17, 2011 17:52:18 GMT 10
You can get a good lori dry & wet from the local pet shop.
By the looks of the pic it looks like it's an adult & frankly i would not put it with the quakers you really don't know if this bird has some kind of illness.
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Post by avinet on May 17, 2011 17:55:53 GMT 10
How long have you had it? It isn't a baby since baby Scaly's have a dark beak which doesn't turn completely red until it is several months old.
ALso you mention that it has no tail. Can it fly? Or are its wing flight feathers missing as well? There is a possibility that it is suffering from a virus disease called Psittacine Beak & Feather Disease (PBFD) which in lorikeets causes loss of wing and tail feathers initially, and may also damage the liver sufficiently to cause eventual death.
If it does have PBFD it could be infectious to your quakers so I would keep them well separated. Generally adult birds with good immune systems don't catch the virus but better safe than sorry until you know the health status of the bird.
It does seem to have poor feather quality from your photo which also suggests possible PBFD.
As to diet - lorikeets generally don't eat seed, preferring nector and fruit. When keeping them we give special lorkeet wet mix and dry mix. Both come as dry powder and as you might guess the wet mix powder is mixed with water to form a thin creamy consistency while the dry mix is put in a dish dry and lef tin the cage, the sam eway that see dis for your quakers. Also give chopped up fruit such as Granny Smith apples, grapes, mandarin, berries such as strawberry, mango, paw paw and maybe some veggies such as corn. They also love to get flowers from nector bearing plants such as Grevilleas and Bottle-brush.
I strongly recommend you take the bird to an avian vet who can advise you about the health of the bird before housing it around your other pet birds. If you let us know where you live we can probably recommend a bird vet in your area.
cheers,
Mike
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Post by plebscrubber on May 17, 2011 19:15:07 GMT 10
Thanks for your help. Ive had the lori for 2 days, its been sleeping with the quakers because I was worried it would be cold at night. I am concerned that a wild lori will have lice or disease that will infect my quakers... but having other birds around seemed to reduce the stress of the lori  ill have a look for the wet dry lori feed. Maybe it isnt a baby, but its pretty small for a lorikeet, i can still see parts of it with skin exposed, and the fluffy baby feathers. also it has no tail? I thought that might grow later? He is fast and strong and wild but cant fly... just falls flapping Ive seen him chewing on the honey soaked apple a little I dont want to take it to a vet because 1) cost and 2) bad experience taking animals to vets who say its gunna cost $500 to heal this animal... so I say nah ill just take care of him see how it goes so vet said you can pay the 500 to fix it, or I can put it to sleep and charge you $30 if you leave with the animal ill call rspca and tell them its injured and your letting it suffer! (even tho it had already recovered a lot) so i paid $30 and let it die bum the vet I know a quaker breeder I might take it to him instead |
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Post by xoxoEbzxoxo on May 17, 2011 20:21:40 GMT 10
Some vets will not charge for injured wild birds.. I know my vet doesn't. It kind of does sound like PBFD. Lorikeets with the disease usually are unable to fly. It would be best to take it to a vet, if theres more than one vet in your area search for one that doesn't charge for wildlife and they will know if it does or not. Better safe than sorry in my opinion.  |
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Post by avinet on May 17, 2011 20:50:36 GMT 10
Thanks for your help. Ive had the lori for 2 days, its been sleeping with the quakers because I was worried it would be cold at night. I am concerned that a wild lori will have lice or disease that will infect my quakers... but having other birds around seemed to reduce the stress of the lori Maybe it isnt a baby, but its pretty small for a lorikeet, i can still see parts of it with skin exposed, and the fluffy baby feathers. also it has no tail? I thought that might grow later? He is fast and strong and wild but cant fly... just falls flapping The "baby" feathers you can see are the normal down feathers of an adult bird, and it has already started to lose some of its green body feathers, as I suspected from the photo. The bird is at least 6 months old, and definitely has PBFD. The condition of the body feathers and the lack of flight and tail feathers are very diagnostic. Such birds usually end up dying between 6 and 12 months from liver failure due to the virus's effect on the liver. PBFD is very common in local wild lorikeets and I have seen many such birds - people would find them and bring them to me to care for. At this stage of development of the disease it is likely to be shedding large amounts of virus and even if your quakers are in good condition with a strong immune system there is a fair chance they could get infected - quakers are particularly susceptible to the disease. I would be far more worried about your pet quakers getting infected than the scaly getting cold. If you don't want to take it to a vet (and your attitude to the vets is regrettable - 95% of vets have as their first concern the welfare of the animal) then I suggest you contact your local wildlife rescue group and arrange for them to take it and seek out vet attention. Most wildlife rescue groups have arrangements with local vets for free treatment of injured and sick wildlife. cheers, Mike |
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Post by plebscrubber on May 17, 2011 20:59:36 GMT 10
thats horrible, its infected and will die in a matter of months?  I have isolated it from my quakers... but they have shared a cage for 2 days already hmm... what would the vet do? just euthanize it?  I heard feeding sunflower seeds to the quakers can give them liver issues too, is that true? |
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Post by xoxoEbzxoxo on May 17, 2011 21:06:54 GMT 10
unfortunately the disease is untreatable so vets usually put them down. I got bought a wild cockatoo who had the disease, I kept him isolated from day one until I was able to take him to a vet where he was put to sleep.. with no charge.
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Post by mgaggie on May 17, 2011 21:22:06 GMT 10
You need to take the bird to a vet as soon as possible, it isn't fair to prolong the birds suffering unneccessarily, it needs to be properly checked to confirm if it does have PBFD (which from what you describe, sounds very much like it).
Sunflower seeds are very high in fat, and in my opinion should only be a 'sometimes food'. I googled sunflower seeds quaker, and got lots of hits about fatty liver disease.
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Post by avinet on May 18, 2011 12:22:58 GMT 10
Glad to hear you have separated the Scaly from the Quakers. It is unlikely the Quakers will catch PBFD but it is a risk so all you can do is keep an eye on them - especially for unexpected feather loss on the wings and tail.
It is likely that the Scaly will die in the next few months - although not certain. I used to own a pet shop her on the Sunshine Coast specialising in birds for 20 years and because of our reputation we got a lot of sick and injured birds brought in for us to examine. In general for Lorikeets with PBFD about half will die in the 6 to 12 months age period, about a quarter will appear to recover, may even be able to fly again, but have only partly beaten the virus and can still be a carrier of the disease, and the remaining quarter will gradually lose all their feathers and end up looking pretty naked. This last group of naked lorikeets may live for several years before either liver damage or another disease causes death.
And just a note for Ebz - PBFD in lorikeets seems to be a bit different in the way it affected them than in cockatoos since it only seems to affect the feathers - I've never seen a Lorikeet where the beak is affected, whereas in cockatoos often the beak is obviously deformed. There is a research project at the moment in Sydney about the effects of PBFD on Lorikeets.
cheers,
Mike
From the photo you posted my feeling is that your Scaly is in that first group that will die before it gets to 12 months old. Provided it is eating OK then they don't seem to be suffering at all - in fact many of them that are picked up young when they leave the nest can make vary happy and friendly pets, and when the liver does fail then death comes very quickly with little or no suffering.
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Post by plebscrubber on May 18, 2011 15:29:49 GMT 10
Thanks for your help
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Post by jusdeb on May 20, 2011 16:04:41 GMT 10
Your local WIRES will pick it up and assess it . It doesn't look to be a very well little bird .
They will move it on to one of their vets for treatment or euthanizing.Best place for it if you dont want to visit a vet.
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Post by plebscrubber on Jun 8, 2011 19:52:49 GMT 10
just an update on the scaley... i have just kept it as a pet and will nurse it till it dies or looks to suffer i give it honey and apple twice a day, it hides behind my vcr most the day cause its warm thereand he gets cold with few feathers the breeder didnt want sick wild bird and i dont really want it euthanazed unless its incapacitated i know he wont last long... i call him hugo |
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Post by flossy on Jun 8, 2011 20:45:41 GMT 10
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Post by avinet on Jun 8, 2011 21:01:45 GMT 10
I assume the Scaly also gets wet and dry lorikeet food as well as apple and honey?
It is impossible to say how long it may live, all you can do is give it as good a lie as you can until that happens.
cheers,
Mike
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Post by twr on Jun 9, 2011 13:33:09 GMT 10
As Mike mentioned, Hugo will need lorikeet wet or dry mix as its staple. I'm glad you are giving the baby a chance at a happy life. Good on you
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Post by plebscrubber on Jun 10, 2011 13:13:11 GMT 10
I dont know about wet and dry, I got him some necter pellets?
it had his picture on the packet! it must be ok
not that ive seen him eat it at all
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Post by flossy on Jun 10, 2011 14:04:01 GMT 10
Hi...... From my own experiences, nectar pellets aren't very widely accepted by lorries. If you can't get him some wet and dry mix, why not crush the pellets up and make them into a dry mix......he might be more inclined to eat it then? Lorries tongues aren't "made" for pellets and seed, even though they eat them......they need soft foods. You could even try and moisten the pellets with some water or some sugar free juice or something? Is this little guy eating anything at all? |
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Post by plebscrubber on Jun 10, 2011 17:29:18 GMT 10
yeah he gulps down the honey, and 2 thin slices of apple per day
ill mush up the pellets and drip some honey in it see what happens
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Post by flossy on Jun 10, 2011 17:47:25 GMT 10
Be careful of the honey....too much sugar can be dangerous for them, and I know I've read something on here about the dangers of honey.....have a look through the forum and see.... You know you could even try and "poach" the apple in the microwave and mush it up for him....no honey necessary......he would probably enjoy that too! What about spinach or endive or any leafy vegies? no lettuce, but some greens would probably be a welcome treat for him? My boys love endive...... Apple, orange, grapes.....anything like that.....and of course, try mushing up the pellets.... Keep us posted. Where are you located by the way? |
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