Lorikeet Novice Help Please

[lorinovice]

I am wondering if you can help me.



My nearly 14 yo son and I went to large pet store in Sydney (Australia) yesterday and put a deposit on a cinnamon lorikeet. I have been researching since then and I am feeling quite nervous about the poos! I had no idea what I was in for - and not sure whether we should go ahead. But having said that we are animal lovers and committed to care for the life time of any pet we take on. I have always had dogs and done foster care of rescue dogs by way of example.



However, the bird is to be my son's with me as back-up. He's a pretty good kid but busy as I am with school, work and sport etc. Not sure if we'll be able to fully clean the cage everyday. We would change water, feed etc. but hose trays out etc.- would that need to be daily? I am also anxious about where to house a large cage where poos won't projectile into places hard to clean etc. I had thought that we would be able to have bird inside (as well as outside at times) if we get a cage which is on a stand or otherwise portable.



I saw on YouTube where someone had wrapped glad wrap around the lower bottom of the cage to reduce the escape. Do you think this is viable and would it have any effect?



I also saw mention on other forums about lining some of the cage with perspex but not sure how this would work either.


I am keen to find a way to make this work as the bird is really lovely and we have always enjoyed the locals here. 

I can't even picture how the whole poo thing works - we have loads of native wild lorikeets here in Westleigh (near Hornsby) and never seen them do it.



And very interested to find the right food. The bird has been hand-reared on high sugar feed which doesn't sound great to me. I would prefer to feed less refined sugars because of the effect high sugar diet can have on the bird's behaviour.



If you have time to chat I would REALLY appreciate it.



THANKS very much.

Kim

[kez]

Hi Kim,

How did you go with the Lorikeet? Did you end up buying him? I have found with my lorikeet that while he is definitely messier than any bird that I have had previously, it isn't as bad as I had heard. The only time that he is that messy is when he has just eaten his wet mix - he will go about every minute when he has just eaten wet mix. I mostly feed him dry mix now as it can be left in the cage all day and he just mixes it with water himself. I only feed him wet mix once a day. With a lot of patience and persistence you can potty train them for when they are inside. I just give him a reward and tell him good boy when he does his potty on his stand and he learns that he gets a reward for doing it there! That way you can just put something large and washable under his stand. That doesn't mean he doesn't mess up, but I have found that baby wipes work fantastically even on carpet when he messes up (mind you my carpet is not white!)

You can buy a fabric cage surround from some pet stores that can reduce the mess but I haven't found it unmanageable. I do mostly keep his cage outside on the verandah where it is easily cleaned off.

As far as food goes, I buy Avone Lorikeets rearing and conditioning food which you can buy from most pet stores. This is a mix that you can use wet or dry, so you don't have to have multiple mixes.

Do be aware that Lorikeets at least Rainbows are very active birds and need more attention than some other species.

All the best,
Kez