Help with my rainbow

[rainbowlorry]

Hi there im a new member and i have a 8 month old hand raised rainbow lorrikeet. this is the first time i have had one so help would appretiated.

First of all we were told he was raised by a male and is why he really only hangs out with me. this is a problem as he was a birthday gift for my Girlfriend.
Koko(the lorry) for the first few months was nice and sedate just alot of poo. But the last month or so he has been bailing up my girlfriend he will put his head down squark and run for her feet biting them and drawing blood, he doesnt do it to me. it has got to the point where when he does this we have a shoe box with holes in it to throw over him.
Iwas thinking that it was because he is out of his cage alot and thinks he is boss, could this be the case.
its like he has a split personality one minute he will be fine the next he will be attacking. i just dont know why it is maily towards my girfriend as i play rough with him not her.
also would getting him another bird be a good idea or not if so what bird would be good.

How can we calm him down a little
Thanks
Bevan

[swanwillow]

umm, I'd lay off the shoebox thing. My baby is about the same age as yours, and is about to hit the naughty age. What are you feeding it?

I'd actually look at YOUR behavior. How do YOU treat him/her? Where do you give scritches? ie; do you do full body rubs, or stick to the head/chest? If your doing full body, tail pulling types, thats a form of, well... X-rated ness. And make the bird.. LIKE you a little more than it should.

One way to help is.. have her do all the foot work with feeding. Have her give bits of sweet fruits. Shes the one that now gets to serve the nectar and dry mixes (and/or I should say) PLEASE don't feed the 'new' pellets for lories... Feeding Your Lories & Lorikeets
Pellets are being found to not be good... If your feeding those, otherwise, disregard.

ANYWAY, have her give lots of special treats: bits of strawberry, peaches, things like that are SUPER good and my baby loves strawberries.Have only HER give those treats.

and more exercise. Lories are NOT calm at all, EVER! they aren't supposed to be! Hyper sugar high monsters forever. I love mine... If its just feet, then wear shoes, socks, and try your darndest to keep her off the floor, which seems impossible for me too..

I'm sure others will be along before too long with more ideas too!

[rainbowlorry]

Thanks for the reply. I feed him store bought nector that we mix with water.
He love fruit and vegies like peas and corn. also he love spaghetti or noodles.
I am the one that usually does the feeding and when im at home i usually give him the loving... i think after what you say he does LIKE me alot more than he should.
Im gonna try to get my girlfriend to feed him and give the treats from now on see how that helps.

The biting isnt just at the feet its any bare skin that he can get at.
i want to get this behaviour under control ( well as much as possible anyway)
as we have another 15 to 20 years together and he is our lttle boy that we will never part with and i dont want him to be a cage bird.

Thanks

Bevan

[swanwillow]

whats strange.. my baby will go to anyone but my youngest son, which I don't blame her, since he was the one that pulled out her last tail feather (she plays so rough, it was hanging by a thread.. and, well...)

hmm, Maybe the rolling ball with bell cat toys would work to wear off some energy before cuddles and playing? Make sure all other pets are out of the room with the door closed, and start rolling balls. Teach her how to play fetch even! Great fun for everyone, and it might wear her down after 15 minutes or so... at least, wear her down enough to be handleable!

[Tiki]

It's breeding season in Australia right now and I think your little guy is hormonal. He is probably thinking of you as a mate and your girlfriend as a rival. Don't get him a girlfriend though unless you are an experienced breeder and have homes for the babies to go to. You could try getting another male fi you think he needs a friend. The problem is, you can't be sure they will like each other or not.

[Heather_Bird]

Hi Bevan,

Your lory is sadly going through the normal 'teenage' thing that all lories do. It will pass but it may take a while. You just have to ride it out and make sure you are doing everything you can right. This is the time when the most lories are re-homed and it is really sad as they are truly great birds and we just have to help them through this stage to end up with amazing buddies.

It can happen anytime from 6 months onward and lasts until they are 18 months or a little more. My first question to you would be, are you sure this is a male? It sounds like a female to me. They tend to be stroppier at that age and also tend to be better with men than women. Not a complete rule but something that is pretty unambiguous in my experience. That would explain 'her' attachment to you and apparent dislike of your GF. If I am right then that will pass to some degree but she will always prefer you.

You really need to get yourself a good book on parrot behaviour and psychology and read through it with your GF. My recommendation would be the 'Guide to Companion Parrot Behaviour' published by Barron's as this covers all the bases in easy-to-understand language.

Just remember that you ARE cleverer than your bird and you ARE in charge. You need to adopt strategies that will remind your little feathered tyrant of this. Watch the diet and also get your GF to do the nice stuff like giving treats and doing the daily feeding. She needs to be brave so no bare toes on offer and no risky stuff. A thin pair of gardening gloves may help her overcome her fear of contact and can be discarded when she and the bird are a little more settled. Hope this helps and good luck buddy!

All the best,

Heather

[Banshee]

Your lory sounds like he acts a bit like mine. My Little Sexy really only likes me and ignores everyone else unless they go near him but he REALLY hates my ex-husband! Whenever he calls round Little Sexy goes nuts in his cage, trying to get out to attack the ex and screaming at him and yelling "f**k off". ( I think he learned that from me because when it first started happening I'd yell at the ex to F off for upsetting my bird) Its kind of cute the way out of all people he picked him to hate the most, I guess he's trying to tell him that HE's the new man around the house