New lorikeet Oscar

[BanjoOscar]

I adopted Oscar a few days ago. She's a hand raised scaly breasted x musk lorikeet. Her previous owner had her for 3 years. Due to the previous owner starting a new job, Oscar hasn't been handled for 3 or 4 months. The first thing Oscar did when I went to collect her, was jump onto my hand, bite me really hard between my thumb and first finger, drawing blood, then hopped onto my shoulder and bit me really hard on the chin, again, drawing blood. Her previous owner immediately took her off my shoulder so I could stop the bleeding. She's also bitten me a few times on the hands since I've had her home, drawing blood a couple of times. She also has a bad habit of climbing in my hair and hanging on tight. I had to get the fiance to help me get her out. I've now resorted to wearing gardening gloves when I handle her and no longer let her on my shoulder. She seems to attack for no reason. I now watch her eyes for pinning and when I see her do it, I immediately back away. I need help, she's such a beautiful girl and she's so intelligent. I want to be able to have her out with me so she isnt stuck in her cage all the time.

[FoxersArtist]

It sounds like perhaps you may not have gotten off on the right foot with your new lory, and if you had been describing another species of parrot, I might tell you that perhaps the bird is simply trying to tell you that it would prefer not to be with you - but!!! Lories are so amazingly complicated and I have learned that MANY times, what you see is not what you get! (Gosh, couldn't they just be simple like an amazon who fans his tail when he wants to scare you away?!)

Something that I have learned with my own lories as well as other lories who have not been handled regularly is that they self distruct and land themselves in perpetual attack mode no matter who you are or what you have done. My own feelings about my lories have been (as the bird hops onto my shoulder and quickly latches onto my face) "I love you, I hate you, how could you?!?" They have to get close enough and act friendly enough to get close enough to pulverize their victims, bite after countless bite all in a few seconds.

Here is something that might make you feel a little less alone:


(Please note that those bleeding dots are in fact NOT pimples! That was the fine work of our wonderful red lory, Mars.)

Getting side tracked here...
I think that it is very important for you to keep talking yourself into your ability to care for and win over this bird who has really been neglected quite a bit in the last 3-4 months while doing what you can to be careful to avoid a bite. Lories are sooo hard to keep off shoulders because their feet are so springy and they can bounce from here to there in an instant.

For the past several years, and up until about 30 days ago, our red lory Mars had turned on me and absolutely stalked me every time I came near her. She was feeling very hurt and ignored because, well, she mauled me every time I tried to take her out and my husband (the chosen one) was not home enough to provide for her needs. I still tried to take her out (which involved toweling her in her cage and setting her free on our kitchen table with foot toys. I became discouraged after doing this with her for months and seeing her stalk me as I sat far enough away from her so that she could not hop onto me, but close enough for her to feel like I was there. She would come up to the edge of the table and I would just watch her eyes pin at me! But I kept it up and we finally had a breakthrough - and it was sudden! One day she leapt out of her cage at me, purred and rubbed her face all over mine. I was stunned, but very excited.

It seems like the on switch was flipped just as quickly as the off switch had been. What I am trying to say is that it seems like lories just need some time to be angry about whatever had hurt them but if you show them lots of patience, understanding and love, many of them come around.

If you can, open up your birds cage and let him come out on his own. sit on the floor a safe distance from his cage and have available anything that seems to interest him - treats, toys, (my lories love small stuffed animals that make noises, tin cans filled with raw beans, or rocks, or whatever will shake, jingle balls (cat toys), or anything else that makes noise. They also love dried papaya for treats. Do be careful as your lory may look interested in the toy and suddenly rush to take out his aggression on the toy and you! Let him come out on his own time but try to show him how much fun you are having without him! Try to keep activites hands off for now which will avoid a bite, but by all means, do not allow him to be locked up in his cage with little attention because he will just continue the resentful cycle.

If you have other birds in the same room as your lory, I would try moving him to his own quiet room if possible. This will really help to calm and soothe his nerves and will provide less stimulation when you attempt to work with him. Another good place to work with him is in the bathroom. When we first got our other (very aggressive at the time) lory, I found that even though he was nervious and biting, he totally came out of his shell whenever we showed him a mirror. So we spent a lot of hours standing in the bathroom in front of the mirror and layer by layer, my little Orbit let go of his resentment. Show him new things at a distance and he will eventually speak up about what he likes and doesn't.

I think you are doing a fantastic job by hanging in there with your bird, who has seemed to do nothing but collect DNA samples since his arrival. Try not to worry that he may not like you and just try to focus on his needs right now. He needs to be angry and that's ok. If you show him love and patience, he's bound to crack at some point.
-Anna

[FoxersArtist]

And just a few more things - whenever possible try to take him away from his cage into another room. This may not be possible right away if you cannot step him up without a bite, but in the future it is always best to play with parrots away from their "nesting site."

Also, if your lory talks at all, I have noticed that both of mine talk really rapidly when they are ticked off, as opposed to a much more organized, collected vocabulary when they are feeling happy and playful. Hopefully at least some of this is helpful.
-Anna

[BanjoOscar]

I'm slowly making progress with Oscar. She loves having a scratch through the cage. I've actually just had her out for awhile and she was playing pretty nice She got in my hair, but didnt fight when i got her out. She was even rolling around on her back on my legs and only gave a few little nibbles, which hurt a little, but she didnt draw blood, so I see that as a good thing I only that things keep getting better, cause she's such a gorgeous, intelligent girl.

[FoxersArtist]

Congrats!
Sounds like you are on the right track with her! Good for you!
-Anna

Originally Posted by BanjoOscar

I'm slowly making progress with Oscar. She loves having a scratch through the cage. I've actually just had her out for awhile and she was playing pretty nice She got in my hair, but didnt fight when i got her out. She was even rolling around on her back on my legs and only gave a few little nibbles, which hurt a little, but she didnt draw blood, so I see that as a good thing I only that things keep getting better, cause she's such a gorgeous, intelligent girl.

[BanjoOscar]

I've had Oscar for a few weeks now and things are going really well. She loves coming out of the cage and using me as a playgym She's not biting anywhere near as much and if she does, its a tiny nip. She's so fun to play with now as I dont have to fear been bitten. She loves saying her name and I think she's trying to say hello. She also copies my sneezes and coughs She's definitely a character.

[Ashling]

Glad you're going well with her! Lol my lorikeet talks really fast when she's angry too! She goes "Whatsthispissoffrarararar!"