Help need lory sized gag!

[magdalena]

So I thought since I could happily enjoy the noises of large cockatoos a lory would fit right in here but Poe makes the most excruciating noises I am ready to stab my eardrums out. He does them when he's happy, when he's hungry, when he wants out or in, when he's playing, when he sees me, when he doesn't see me, etc.

He's driving my boyfriend up the wall (I think I'm about to be single soon lol) which is in turn driving me up the wall. I did tons of research on lories and hung out with a few different types but nothing prepared me for the shrillness, I think I've had a headache for the past 2 weeks. Not sure what to do at this point. He's come around from his shyness and is stepping up onto a stick like a champ and likes to play on his cage or playstand and is beginning to let me touch him but I am deaf in my cage-side ear and don't see him changing his frequency to anything less deafening. The noise he makes seriously gives me nausea and I am not exaggerating.

Rehoming has never been an option I like to consider (especially this early on in a new relationship with a bird) but I am about to go into epileptic fits. Any tips, ideas, suggestions? We are considering moving to the basement so he can have the house to scream in. Does anyone know any deaf people looking for a lory? I really don't know what to do, I love him, he's beautiful and funny and not very messy for a lory but ow. OW.

[FoxersArtist]

Lories are loud and their pitch is unique. It is physically painful and I would rather listen to a cockatoo with screaming issues than my red lories. I feel fortunate to have them in their own area and their sounds cannot be heard in my area unless both house and aviary doors are open. When people come to visit the birds, they will often hold their hands over their ears because the lories are just...well...that impressive. Some lories are not as bad but I have yet to find anything to get our lory, Mars, to quiet down some. She is just loud ALL the time for all of the same reasons you mentioned. Both of our lories have sounded off while on my shoulder and I have permanently lost hearing since those occurances. I wish you the best of luck and hope you can work something out. I am here for you in any way I can be.
-Anna

[Ashling]

Yes physically painful and nauseating sound abut right :) Ashling lives in my ROOM! It's a shame he calls non stop though. Ashling will stop usually if I get her out and play with her or engage her interest in something. That's the only advice I can give :S


Oh and pm me for the info on lory sized gags ;)

[Abby]

At one stage we had 2 suns and 2 rainbow lorikeets in the bird room. If you were in the room with the door shut and the 4 were going off it was piercing. My husband would last about 5 minutes before he couldn't bear the noise anymore.

Mel's suggestion was about all that worked here as well. Only problem being that then they get the idea that if I scream my little lungs out I get to come out and play. Could end up reinforcing the behaviour.

It's not so much the volume but the tone that I find makes you want to just plug your ears and their beaks.

[magdalena]

Yeah it's the tone exactly. The problem is he IS out and engaged when he's doing it, he does it to his toys, to me, to the mirror, to the wall. I contacted his breeder, she thinks it is a beacon call, him calling to other lories. Well I'm not getting a second one lol. It's like he's screaming to let the other lories know where the fun stuff is and everything is fun. Which is why I wanted a lory in the first place. But I agree with Anna I can totally deal with 'too screaming but not this, it breaks my heart. Youtube at full volume doesn't do it justice. I guess I hung out with the wrong lories in the past, when they are talking they aren't so painful. It's going to take a while for me to get Poe to talk instead of scream though (if ever, blacks aren't known to be big talkers as far as lories go). I'll be dead by then I think.

The breeder gave me some info on people looking for black lories and the rescue we got Casey from offered to take him too (they have a rainbow there so maybe he'd be happier) so we'll see. It's hard with Poe since he's not tame to reward the good quiet behavior except with abundant praise (which I'm not really sure he cares about) and visibly dribbling a little honey into his dish since he's still shy of me and ignoring the screaming doesn't seem to phase him since he's not doing it for me but for himself.

Thanks for all of your advice and support, I'll keep you posted on what we decide.

[angelicarboreals]

Let us know what you decide to do. I do agree that a lory's call is in no way musical, lol. Luckily my guy isn't too bad, but I think it is because his first owner did not reward yelling, and he knows that if he screams for no apparent reason I will ignore him/ walk away. The only time he really lets lose is if he is mad or scared, or if he thinks I am not being fast enough when it comes to getting everything ready to feed him, lol.

I noticed that you mentioned you feed him honey. Please be careful with that, I was told not to feed honey when I got my rainbow as it could contain spores of botulism that the pasteurization does not kill. Many lory sites say the same thing. Agave nectar is what I use, and is much safer.

[magdalena]

I read that honey was bad unless it was pasteurized but I'll stop using it. I give him a pencil eraser sized drop every few days not huge amounts in any case but it's better to be safe. I'll try agave nectar (good luck with my finding it in the middle of the nowhere void I live in lol). I was told hummingbird nectar with added sugar (!) was ok as a treat as well.

Well I listed him on exclusivelylories.com and will contact the people the breeder gave me info for and see what happens. I'm continuing to work with him in the meantime, he's come a long way from untouchable to semi tame already.

[Tx mommy]

Wish I was closer so I could help you out. Luckly my husband is tone deaf so My Cherry doesn't effect him. In fact that's part of the reason I haven't been on bird board in awhile. I adopted Cherry right after the new year. A treat she adores is papaya, the bird center we go to locally carries it in bulk. We treat her when she's quite or says words. I am lucky because Red's are pretty good talkers and she just turned a year old so she's still easy to deal with. I love Blacks though I haven't been able to find any locally try the papaya or grapes. I spend lots of time just talking to Cherry because it seemed to calm her down when we first got her. She did a lot of the same screaming your talking about; telling the others what wonderful stuff she found. It took about 2 months and now she's calming down and getting quite talkative. good luck.

[magdalena]

Well, Poe went to his new home yesterday. I hope he hasn't deafened his new mom and dad yet. Instead of interrogating all of the people who emailed me interested in him and then having to ship him I gave him to the rescue I got Casey from since they really wanted him so I still get to see him and he gets a friend with the rainbow lorikeet there and a really good home. Many thanks to them for offering to take him!

I know their adoption process is very thorough so I won't have to worry about him going to a bad home or becoming a breeder bird and being able to visit made the surrender a lot easier. Even though I didn't have him that long I spent A LOT of time working with him so I was already attached and it is hard giving up a bird (or any animal I assume) when you have wanted one for so long. I think he'll be happy there though and only fear for his new parents' ears.

This is my first morning without an 8am migraine (he always woke up first). If I ever get another bird I am surely not going to go by recordings of calls alone but I think I will probably stick to greys and 'toos since I know they are ear-safe. Sad because I absolutely love lories and their unique personalities.

[Tom Lawless]

It had to have been bad when you can say that Cockatoos are ear safe.

I'm sorry you had to make this decision. I know it wasn't easy but you made sure he went into as good or better a situation.

Not all birds are for everyone and it is important to know your limits and to be respectful of the limits of people you live with.