Help!! Found a Rainbow Lorikeet

[Noddy Boid]

I can't find the information I need about these birds, which are wild and abundant in the area I live, so I'm used to observing them pretty much every day.

But this bird was found hopping across a road, in a place where there were no houses around.

He now has a cage of his own, and I've found a rearing/conditioning food for lories. I've found nectar which I've freezed in ice-cube trays so that I can use one at a time. There are ample native flowers around which I pick and put in the cage.

He's been here for about 7 days now, and I figure if there were any serious health issues, they would have emerged by now - like he would have died or deteriorated somewhat. His breastbone has become obvious so I've increased the feeding routine - I'm not sure of the volume he should be getting - if it could measured in teaspoons - is say 6 teaspoons a day enough, too much, insufficient???

I don't know the type of personality they have, or how they move, or generally much about these birds, so I'm looking for some input.

How much do they eat?

He won't fly, even if you hold him low to the floor and 'throw' him. He just goes to the ground. He has all his flight feathers, no wings clipped.

He doesn't 'walk' like my galah, but rather comically hops. Very bouncy. Is this normal?

When found, he came to humans very happily. If I put a spoon in the cage with nectar on it, he happily feeds from the spoon, doesn't try to get away or act startled.

So I'm thinking he was a hand-reared baby. He is very colorful and appears to have all his feathers - so why won't he fly? Are fledglings ever in this limbo stage - does it just mean he hasn't learned to fly yet because he's only a few months old?

Even if he's sitting on a high position - like my galah's stand - he will jump down to the floor, not fly.

He is vocal only occasionally if I walk up to the cage, he will hop on the side towards me and squawk once or twice. But that's it, no other noise.

Vent is clean. Right now as I'm typing, he's preening.

I'm a bit confused about his behaviour, but then maybe I'm just used to my outrageous galah.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Monica]

He does sound quite young! I don't know about how much food, but you might also try offering fresh fruits or even fruit cocktails to him. This should help increase his weight, and you can even search for some homemade lory diets that you could cook up and make yourself!

Because of a lories diet, these birds normally tend to be hyperactive and bouncing off the walls! Literally like a sugar-high all day long! They are supposed to be quite active birds...

Could you though check his feathers??? Do any appear as if they are twisted??? When you mentioned that he couldn't fly my first thoughts were that maybe he has PBFD??? I've heard that lories can get this disease, and if they have it as a chick, they normally molt out of it as they mature... and it's something that lives with them for the rest of their lives, but doesn't always necessary effect them.

[aussie_Girl]

Hi there...
I have a rainbow Lorri....
They need alot of fresh fruit and veg in the diet... Such as cooked or raw veg... ( mine is not keen on much veg... she only eats raw carrots and fresh corn cobs)
As for fruit...she eats apples/oranges/watermellon/rockmellon/pears and grapes....
As for the jumping instead of walking... I like to call it "bunny hopping"
Yes this is all normal.... They r knowen to be the "The colourful clown"
My Lorri can not fly aswell... i dont know why... I got her at 1 yr of age... she only ever walks or jumps.... she does flap her wings... but cant fly...I have now had her about 10 months... and she walks around the back yard with me... climbs trees... and wonders... she always comes home and never go's 2 far...
They are good talkers if you spend the time in teaching them...
Goodluck... they r a great little bird...
Regards aussie_Girl

[irlgirl]

hello, my little nutcase loves to hop around like you described i have put a link to a vid of cookie hopping around for you.http://www.dropshots.com/daymainfram...0030101&cimg=6 they are quite comical little birds and can be quite a handful sometimes. cookie has grown his feathers back and we are just about to clip him again but he doesnt seem to know how to fly he just goes straight to the ground.. They do eat a fair bit and you should be able to get a lorrie mix from the supermarket I mix cookies like cookie dough or you could make it a little runnier if you like, with fruit I make small cuts in it so the juice comes out a little because cookie doesnt bite the fruit very much and prefers to lick things rather than bite.I hope all goes well and the little fella is ok.

[KrystleLuvsBirdies]

irlgirl that video is too cute!!!

[The Outlaw]

I'm in love with this little bird. How cute is that? I know nothing about lories, but think you'll get all the advice you need right here.

[Tiki]

Aww, he's a cutie!

[Melzawelza]

He now has a cage of his own, and I've found a rearing/conditioning food for lories. I've found nectar which I've freezed in ice-cube trays so that I can use one at a time. There are ample native flowers around which I pick and put in the cage.

This is all good! fresh fruits and veggies are very important too!

He's been here for about 7 days now, and I figure if there were any serious health issues, they would have emerged by now - like he would have died or deteriorated somewhat. His breastbone has become obvious so I've increased the feeding routine - I'm not sure of the volume he should be getting - if it could measured in teaspoons - is say 6 teaspoons a day enough, too much, insufficient???

6 teaspoons is probably ok. maybe up it to a little more just in case. they tend to like the fruits and things more than the dry food anyway

How much do they eat??

I read somewhere that lories in the wild spend about 70% of their day looking for food and eating it. I dont think pickles eats that much, but he likes to graze and nibble a lot. They definitely eat more than other birds because a lot of it is like liquid and their digestive systems are so fast

He won't fly, even if you hold him low to the floor and 'throw' him. He just goes to the ground. He has all his flight feathers, no wings clipped.

If he was owned by someone else they may have clipped him and then let them grow back. pickles feathers have pretty much grown back but he still doesnt fly. He's happy to run around the floor!

He doesn't 'walk' like my galah, but rather comically hops. Very bouncy. Is this normal?

Totally normal, all lories do this! and its very cute!

He is vocal only occasionally if I walk up to the cage, he will hop on the side towards me and squawk once or twice. But that's it, no other noise.

He may just still be getting used to his surroundings. or you may be the luckiest person alive and you have a quiet lorikeet!!! haha

[wood773]

Hi Noddy ikeep prs of lorries and they should have axcessto food at all times. ifeed mine twice a dayon netar not to thick as this is bad for them.if they are healthy there beaks should be redy black coulor if it is the nails on your handcoulor they arnt well.As for the flying check the primary flight feathers in both wings to see if they have been clipped Jim

[chestersmum]

I do agree with most of what people have said here, but this bird sounds very similar to my Sexy Rexy, he was found walking through our Bistro!! However for your sake (and the birds) I hope his fate isn’t the same as Rex’s who died of suspected blood poisoning as a result of his injuries about a month after we found him.

First of all is he a Rainbow Lorikeet? If so what colour is his beak? If it is black or brown then he is less than 6 months old, if it is a bright orange then he is a healthy adult, if it is a dull orange or yellow then he is very old or sick. Also have a look at his iris, what colour is it, it should be the same colour as his beak. This should tell us approx. how old he is. Also have a look at his feet, are his legs really dark or are they a medium grey, are his toenails rounded or are they quite sharp?

If he is a Rainbow and his beak is quite dark, then you have a baby, and you can ignore pretty much the rest of this post. If you have an adult then you might be up for a bit of disappointment as I fear he is no as well as he should be.

Can you post a photo of him?

You say he has all of his feathers, but are they in good condition? Is the edge of each feather smooth or does it look like little knotches have been taken out? Are his feathers nice and bright or are they a bit dull looking? This might be a bit hard to tell if you have never seen lorikeets up close before to compare to. Check him for mites or lice. The best way to do this is to give him a bath so he is all wet and then sit him on a with piece of paper of a white sheet and see if any come off him when he preens. You should probably spray or dust him just to be on the safe side anyway, you don’t want him to give anything to your galah.

Has he got any injuries? Sometimes they are not obvious, we didn’t pick up Rex’s for about a week. Can you stretch his wings out, I mean does he let you or does he pull away? Rex had a chunk of something under his skin, we couldn’t get it out, he wouldn’t let us touch it, but after a little while he got it out himself and when I found it on the bottom of the cage we still couldn’t work out what it was, it wasn’t wood or plastic, it didn’t look like a seed either, but I think that is what it was. It was actually pierced through his skin on his breast, it went in then came out again. We only noticed it when he started to pluck feathers out from around it, this was his way of keeping it clean and he did a pretty good job.

How active is he? You say he hops about, which is normal, but does he ‘play’. What is his energy/activity level compared to your galah? Lorikeets are normally as active or more so than galahs. Rex was not, but our new baby Chester won’t be still!!! Healthy lorikeets will roll around on the floor, climb, jump, flap and generally do not sit still. How much does he sleep during the day? You also said that he is not very vocal, lorikeets are extremely vocal. Rex made the occasional sound, and he would sometimes call out when he heard other wild lorikeets, but he probably made the same amount of sound in the 1 month as Chester does in 1 day!!!

You say our little guy doesn’t fly. Rex didn’t either, however he liked being up high. He found a curtain rod and that was it, it was his. We hung a rope up so he could get up and down as he liked. Lorikeets learn to fly at quite an early stage, about 2 months, so if his beak is orange then he is defiantly old enough to fly.

If your bird has a genetic deformity, quite common in lorikeets, he won’t be able to fly and hence most of them don’t live that long, they get eaten or attacked by predators. These birds are sometimes called ‘runners’ (they run, not fly). They are usually pretty good at climbing and will try to get up high any chance they get, more so than other birds.

If you can, weigh him. Healthy Rainbow Lorikeets are about 150 grams. My Rex was only 100g, and he was smaller than most others, so we too though he was a baby. He was just very unwell.

Rex came to humans and did not seem scared or unhappy, it seemed natural to him. The first chance he got he crawled up my shirt and sat on my shoulder and snuggled into my neck. He was like that with everyone. He would eat off a spoon and drink from a cup. It was like he had been hand reared and very well socialised.

It seems as though you are feeding him ok, try some fruit though, apple is good. If you can get some lychees, do so, these are their favourite! Whatever you give him, just make it small. If he is unwell as I suspect he will most likely lick things rather than chew them. This might be why he is not putting on weight. Have you wormed him? Worms can cause anything from poopy problems, to feather and flight problems, and ofcourse weight loss and the inability to put weight on.

You said that you think he is doing ok because he has not died or deteriorated yet. I don’t want to be negative and I do hope that your little guy is going to be ok, however birds are very good at pretending they are well when really they are sick. By the time you notice any symptoms it is usually too late. Rex was growing new brightly coloured feathers on his chest and head and a new tail feather, he was looking good and acting like normal (what was normal for him) but then one day he just couldn’t stand up and then with in a few hours he developed breathing problems and peralasis, then he had a fit and died. I held him for the last 4 or so hours of his life. I preyed and I cried and I begged him to live, but it didn’t work.

This may all seem strange and you might be thinking why would a wild bird be so adjusted to humans and why is he so well behaved... It’s basically like they can’t be bothered fighting anymore, they realise that they have come across a good thing and they stick with it and take advantage of the fact that they don’t need to look after themselves anymore. It is very common for the ‘runners’ to display this sort of behaviour, I’m not sure exactly why. Unfortuently the stories all seem to end in a similar way. I hope yours is different.

Rex didn’t die from anything we did, we just prolonged his life. His last month was a good one, he had plenty of good food, a warm safe place to live and lots of love. He brought joy to our lives and we miss him very much.

This has gone on a bit hasn’t it, sorry. My suggestion is to keep doing what you are doing. Make sure he is happy and give him a good life. If he doesn’t make it then you can rest assured that you did the best you could.

Feel free to ask me any questions if there is anything you need clarified.

Good luck...