New bird, need some advice

[Schooner]

Hi All!
I bought a Lorikeet three days ago! I walked into a pet shop, saw a rainbow, and just had to have one!
I checked out other pet shops around town before buying, wanted to see more and to get a clearer understanding of pricing. also the initial bird looked a little scruffy.
Nobody els was selling hand reared lorikeets, apparently it's not the right time of the year, only the avery variety were available, considerably cheaper of course but I really wanted a hand raised tame bird.

So I bought the bird for $395AU. hastily took him home and into a decent sized cage that I had prepared earlier.
I fed and left him alone for the rest of the day/night to adjust a little and recover from the stress of moving.
The following day (yesterday) during morning feeding I immediately noticed that he starts hissing every time I moved my hand close to him, he would back off, react nervously and fearful.
This behavior did not change throughout the day. If anything it became worse towards late afternoon, leaping to the back wall of his cage, sometimes hissing and lunging, if I so much as place my hand in the cage he would hisses, and leap to the far side.

The only time he accepted my hand was when I offered him food, he has no problem licking my fingers after having dipped them in honey (moderately pasteurized ), when I try without honey he would quickly sample my fingers and get away.

Several times he's swaying from side to side, bopping his head and hissing continuously, at absolutely nothing, I was some distance from the cage at the time.

Today is day 3, he has become more confident in his new environment, I have given him the freedom to leave his cage whenever he wants.
He's still untouchable, will retreat to his cage when I move my hands too close to him, except when offering food. He is hissing frequently.

now, what I would like to know... is this normal behavior for a new hand reared bird?? am I rushing or forcing a little too much too soon? The pet shop said I could 'play' with him immediately, which I did not do, now on day 3 he is no different, practicing the'step-up' technique is out of the question

Another point of concern, he seems to be pecking at his feathers frequently, maybe in response to itchiness Scratching every part of his body, claw or rubbing his head up against objects. The undersides of his wings do not look that good, there appear to be many feathers missing.
He sneezes Occasionally.

The pet shop (located in the CBD, Hobart, Tasmania) kept this Lorikeet in a cage with numerous other birds, including a rosella and an eccelectus parrot, in a not so large cage. I once read you should never keep birds of different species in the same cage, is this true? A relative that came with me later commented that two of the birds in the cage where actually fighting.

Is it possible that this environment has un-tamed him and instilled fear?

I am not sure how old he is, his age depends upon which pet shop attendant you ask, one said he is 3 and a half, another stated 6 months -maybe I should take the average.

They refused to give me the details of the breeder, I complained and said that with any product, especially a $400 bird, you would want to know where it came etc. Eventually they agreed to reveal the breeders contact info. but only after purchase is completed.

I would very much like to hear from others in regards to what one should expect from a new hand reared Lorikeet.

He is a cute bird, probably less perfect colour wise than other lorikeets out there, and definitely scruffier, that doesn’t bother me at all. I just don't want to own a bird that has issues caused by traumatic experiences or is untamed and may not become tame and playful again, I paid too much for that.

[nailsrglue]

First of all, the petstore is probably lying about the age, as you already suspect. If the bird was once hand reared, but has been in a public cage for several years with children poking at it and other birds being mean to it, then its not going to necessarily be hand tame anymore. Petstores often do not take the time to keep a parrot friendly.

So right now, you need to be monitoring its health, preferably getting it checked out by a vet. Make sure its on a good diet. When you choose to have playtime, consider spending time just talking to the bird to calm it. Teach it that you are not something to be afraid of while giving it treats for acceptable behavior. When it begins to warm up to you, try making it step up with a couple of perches instead of your hands. Practice the step up game for several days with the perches before movin on to your hands.

As the bird gets older, continuing to play the "step up" game where you make the bird do it over and over, will keep it in line and avoid it becoming snobbing and refusing to step up when its in a bad mood.

Pet stores are shady, but this doesnt mean you cant have a good relationship with your pet. It may take some time to re-tame, but patience is a virtue.

Finally, about the itching. Give the bird a shallow dish with water in it. The bird needs to bath and preen to keep it from itching. Its probably part stress induced, part cleanliness, and part health issues causing the bird to start plucking. This can turn into a nasty habit, so do everything to stop this behavior as soon as possible.

[BiiRDiiELuV805]

I have reason to believe (from what you have explained) that the lorikeet was hand fed as a baby but the pet store workers did not do their job to spend time with the birdie to keep him tame and friendly, i own 6 pairs, 1 pair i consider my pets they hatched a baby about 8 months ago and i hand raised the baby, when the new family came to pick up the baby she was tame and absolutely loving, the new parents called me 2 weeks after they had the baby in their home and told me that she had gone completely wild after numerous questions they revealed that they were not spending enough time playing with her or giving her attention so naturally she became "wild", it is very important that you keep handfed lorikeets socialized and give them lots of time, unfortunatly i bought the baby back because they had lost interest in the baby loriekeet because she would bite. hiss and try its best to avoid them, i have now had the baby for almost a month and unfortunatly it is almost impossible to tame her down and after speaking with other lorie/lorikeet breeders in my bird club they too have told me that its almost impossible to re-tame them, im not trying to have to give up because every bird deserves a good chance, my advide is to clip its wings and play with him/her in a quiet room for a few minutes everyday and do your best to gain its trust.
As far as the feathers i would also put a bowl of water for him/her to cleanse her feathers a bit better, and find good quality vitamins and suppluments (meal worms are great for protein) to give him/her.
That petstore must be full of idiots, lories/lorikeets CANT be kept in the same cage as a bird that eats seeds as this can damage the lorie/lorikeets digestive system and cause it lots of pain when it tries to relieve him/her self. If you post a good picture of your baby i can give you a good guess on his/her age.