new baby?

[Melissa]

hey all,

i am thinking about getting a new addition to the home flock. my boyfriend and i were out at the bird store we bought max at and they had a bird i had never seen before - a rainbow lori. after the research i have done it seems these birds are nbative to austrailia where most of you live! do any of you have experience with this beautiful bird? my only concern is some of the information i have been reading suggests that these birds are more aggressive towards other species. i know all birds are individuals and there are no guarantees about these sort of things.... but any info would be greatly appreciated.

just one more note: we were pretty set on getting an eclectus hen until we saw the lori! info on ectectus would be great too!

thank you (sorry for the book!)

[swanwillow]

well, as an owner as one...

I'd never get a smaller bird and allow her around it. Her playing with the ringnecks consists of.. well, you ever watch winnie the poo? you know, tigger, how he bounces everyone?

thats what she does. Cept the ringnecks don't like it much

VERY VERY hyper, sweet, shes 7 months old, and quite the chatterbox, picks up words fairly easily but doesn't say them clearly for a few months. She says Matthew and Step VERY well, come here, S#@t, and various other stuff that we can't QUITE understand yet.

But, as every other lorikeet owner I have ever heard from that can put up with a mess and a hyper three year old for 20+ years

I will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER NOT have another lorikeet! I'm actually thinking about breeding them along with my ringnecks. Very different personalities, shes just a doll!

[swanwillow]

oh, heres a PS:

VERY specific diet. Fruits, veggies, nectar and powder mixes. Runny poop. Can get nippy. They don't have the bite POWER that our run of the mill seed eating hookbills do, but they can do ripping damage with the beak. IOW; can't break bone, but if your getting 5 stitches, it feels about the same
Mature at around 18 months.

Doing LOTS of research helps. I had only seen them in books before I got my darling, so she was the first one I had ever seen. I tried many cages with her, until getting a cheapo prevue hendryx I want a bigger one, but like the 'seed trap' that it has, since it helps contain the flying shooting liquidy poos that tend to happen.

shes missing tail feathers! YES! they are THAT rough and tumble! VERY playful, have to watch her when the dogs are wrestling on the floor cause shes NOT afraid to join in on the fun!

[kyria]

swanwillow knows more about them than i do being an owner of one. but my girlfriend has a male called bundy, he is full on playful exciteable, such a little character, the runny poo that they can shoot in all directions can be a problem, so you will probably need a poop top.

Lisa takes bundy everywhere with her, he hangs off her like an ornament. he can be rather noisey if left alone for long periods, and he has bitten my husband a few times on the nose, just doesn't like him for some reason.

They love to investigate with that nectar eating tongue of theirs, up your nose in your ear, and they just have to bite of every little scab or spot on your skin. I love the way they play, bouncing like tiger is a great discription. Bundy runs along with his head low, bobbing it up and down then suddenly begins to leap all over his toys and roll around like a nutscase.

All in all, great fun, wonderful little cuddlers !! but at times a little over playful and the runny poo i couldn't handle.

All I know of the ecclectus is how passive and slow moving they are. I have always wanted one, but my birds keep me busy now and I couldn't really fit one in. They are highly intelligent, closest thing to a grey, males are more passive and friendly than females and are real cuddlers. This is only going by the three I have met so far. I play with one called patty when I go to see my breeder friend, she is amazing. Their eyes get me, its like they are watching your every move and soak in everything thats going on.

[swanwillow]

so THATS what ecletuses are about. Huh, I never knew. Theres one for sale near me right now.. least, it was in the paper.

Kyria added everything that I left out about lories... I love mine

[Melissa]

you guys are the best! that's exactly what i needed to hear a realistic idea of owning them! watery attack poos? hmmmm

by the way your bird is INCREDIBLEY BEAUTIFUL! yes well fred is usually the butt of max's jokes so i would think it would be that way with a another bird of that particular feather! but i think max would love a playmate - just hope he's not too jealous!

well its at least a few paychecks away so this info is great to have! thanks you knowledgeable birdy lovers!

btw nectar? as in fresh flowers or like a hummingbird mix? im sure you would be able to buy it in the store.....

my only other concern is that after the initial quarantine (and hopefully abundance weaning! i love the bond max and i have as a result of him being MY baby!) i would prefer to house them all together. our cage is VERY large... not too sure about dimensions about 5 feet tall by 3 feet deep and at least 4 feet accross - got a great deal on it when i was looking to get a cockatoo - thats before i saw the price tag on one!!! guess thats a wait and see although the research ive done so far seems to suggest they can be more terratorial than most other birds....

[julie]

Dont house them together, lories are very full on and love to be where the others are all the time, most other birds dont like to be so close to lories all the time.
My boy cookie who is a rainbow doesnt have runny shooting out poo, I make his mix up so it is like cookie dough and his poo is like a normal birds. I know when to check the answering machine, if cookie rings when we walk in the door chances are someone has rang. One thing that does bug me is how quickly he picks things up, like the hiccups that he only heard a couple of times. I will post some vids of cookie if you like.

[Melissa]

pretty please!

im sitting in my office giggling to myself like a wack-a-doo at cookie ringing

heehee

[kyria]

Yep you can get the lori food anywhere really, pet stores even your local supermarket

Julie might be onto something then with the mix being made thicker. All I know is that bundy gets a bowl of the dried powder and a bowl of water and they dip from the nectar into the water, so a secondary bowl of clean water is also necessary for drinking and lori's love sweet fruits like apple and mandarin.

Julie you have to get vid of your cookie ringing that sounds adorable. Jordan just does a door creaking when he hears you come in, we noticed this since we lubricated the hinges and the door kept doing it when we knew we had fixed it. I hope him doing it doesn't mean someone had come in while we were away

Another lovely bird to own is a quaker , omg what fun they are, they are real little characters, cuddlers, playful, and they don't really sound like other birds, they have more of a growl, purr, husky voice (unless you have a pair and its breeding season boy can they go off protecting their nest and when they mate they sound like they are killing each other..lol). Small like a lori but no runny poop. I call them pocket parrots, coz you can carry them around in your pocket and they are as happy as can be. Some places don't allow them though (in the US) due to what they consider a wild pest problem.

Check out my favorite vid of a quaker singing a song;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsuF4RUieuI

[Bird crazy]

Thank has got to be the funniest I've seen in a long time. Loved it.

Just wanted to put my two cents in for an Eclectus. I have a male Rowdy.
Great web site Landofvos.com. Will give you a good idea of what caring for an eclectus is like. My Rowdy is a gently fellow and loves to be held. A good talker, very clear, no one ever says "What did he say" like they do with the ringnecks. The are quiet laid back birds. He rarely bites, just takes his beak and pushes your hand away when he doesn't want to be messed with. The females are a little different so you would want to check it out before you decide.

I just got my Rowdy back after f4 years and he's adjusting nicely and taking the move all in stride. You can PM me if you have any specific questions. I have a good friend how has a female Eclectus and she may be able to answer specifics about the females. I really do love all birds and I love my IRN, so if you're looking for another bird why not another ringneck? They are fun to watch interact with one another. Both of mine are about 18 mos old and one male and one female and they are funny as can be together. I have them housed together but keep a pretty close eye on them. They've been together a year now.

[Melissa]

as much as i love fred i dont know that i want another ringneck he's such an individual and SO INDEPENDENT that i think he might mind another ringneck more than he does max maybe that sounds silly


as sept approaches i realise i may barely have enough time for my two now and have been considering putting off getting another bird until i grad in may 08 when i know for sure that ill have time to spend with all three of them.... just a tought i hate the idea of getting a new baby then being gone all day and night the boys hate when im in school as it is - freds usually so mad at me he wont look at me until saturday!

[Klaatu]

How funny! I had a blue streaked lorie 30 years ago and she talked up a storm. All she would say was s#&t, Oh s*@t, s*%t . She didn't learn it from me, it just came with the package. Funny considering the runny poo squirts, projectiles actually.

[alana8819]

be prepared for a very highpitched noise my mum has one and i cant stand the noise it makes i would prefer to sit in a cage full of cockatoos the noise they make drills my ears so i would advise you to have a really good listen as they can be very quiet and make pretty noises. also because they are nectar birds they have extremely runny poo that squirts everywhere good luck

[julie]

sorry I have been experiencing technical difficulties so havent been able to post the vids yet.