New Dad with no idea!

[Inverse]

So after falling in love with every bird I've ever seen in the last 36 years, I finally convinced my wife to let me have a bird.
After a lot of research I finally settled on a gorgeous little Rainbow Lorikeet who is now 11 weeks old, having been at home with us for 2 weeks.
But it doesn't matter how much research you do, nothing beats experience so I thought I would ask here as it seems to be the best place I can find for advice!
She was on the spoon when we brought her home but has taken readily to eating the nectar and pollen in her cage and loves fruit too.
When in her cage on her own she's nice and quiet or making parrot noises as she plays, but as soon as I get her out to have a play, all she wants to do is be on my shoulder and makes the constant "baby" noises of wanting to be fed and the shaking of her beak on me saying "give me food!".
It's the same whenever I touch her, looking for food.
If I offer her some food on the spoon she'll take some, but not a huge deal and then continues this behaviour. I don't think she's particularly hungry as I see her feeding regularly in the cage.
She'll also not stop making the "I'm hungry, Dad!" noises whenever she's sitting on my shoulder or whenever she can see me.
I can't even put her down or she'll just fly up onto my shoulder or climb up my shirt and it all starts again.
We also just received her "full size" cage that she's been in for a few days instead of the small cage I brought her home in (we live 1500km from the nearest city so she had to come on the plane in a smaller cage whilst the larger one was delivered).
Is this just normal weaning behaviour where she's feeling a loss of connection perhaps? Or the fact she's in a new cage?
At a loss, can anyone shed any light?
Thanks in advance.

Jim

 

[sonja]

Congrats on your new little one! I know some folks more experienced with babies than me will be along with advice, but I have to say I was blown away to read "1500 km from nearest city"!!! That must be something! I can't even imagine it.

Welcome to the forums!

 

[JerseyWendy]

Welcome to Parrot Forums

I'm not all that familiar with Rainbow Lorikeets, but from your description, she's just begging for food. It will take her a while to completely realize she's a "big" girl now.

For what it's worth, my almost 7 MONTH old Amazon STILL makes begging noises first thing in the morning.

Now that she's in her "big girl" cage, she may be a little overwhelmed and may need some extra reassuring that she's fine inside her cage.

Does she have plenty of toys to keep her occupied? I know they are quite active and playful birds. Best of luck with her

 

[henpecked]

Just a weaning baby!! LOL, it will get better. Probably already has.

 

[Inverse]

Cheers guys, I kind of figured this was the case, but I had to check.
Now I just need to stop her flying off the perch on the top of her cage whenever I put her there.
She's out and with me lots but she can't be on me all the time unfortunately, but this is what she want. As soon as I pop her up there she flies to me.
Or into the wall!
I'm sure this will change once she realises that it's either on top of the cage with the cage open or in the cage with it closed.

And if this forum is anything like any other forum I am on, here are the requisite and required pictures.

 

[Thingamagigs]

Lorikeets beg for food for ages, and most of the time wont accept food from you when you offer it anyway LOL thats why its best to get them already weaned and fledged from the breeder. It makes them a more independent bird as well. When you finish the feeding yourself, you make them more dependent on you. Some like it, but by the sounds of it you wanted a more independent bird

If it gets too much... get another bird I found having two conures was fantastic!

 

[Inverse]

Not that I want an independent bird at all, I just don't know what to expect from weaning.
I got her unweaned for a reason, this is my little mate, she's going to be a close and long term companion.
And on that note, why would I want to get rid of her? I have waited many, many years for this moment and to get a bird with the option to give it up is unthinkable to me.
This won't be my last bird, but I'll be her last person.

 

[Thingamagigs]

"If it gets too much... get another bird I found having two conures was fantastic!"

As in get another... as in get TWO birds. LOL Not give up your bird!!!!!! What the heck kind of person do you think I am? LMAO

OK, so you got her unweaned for a reason... but that reason is to have a closer bond then expect her to want to be on you all the time. You can't have it both ways Having an unweaned bird means she will be more needy and be more dependent... if she had been finished by the breeder she would be happier to sit on a playstand or spend time alone, its not like she wouldnt have wanted to have anything to do with you, she would just have been happier to leave you some time to yourself. I suggested another bird as well as her, if her wanting to be on you gets too much.

Its also become illegal in Australia to sell unweaned birds and it is illegal for a reason.

 

[Inverse]

Judging by your reply, I think I came to the right place

 

[Dharmawaits]

Oh my gaaa..........what a precious baby she is!! Don't you worry it won't last forever! Soon enough she'll want to show you who the boss is! I can't believe how heart stopping beautiful Lorikeets are.

And thingamigs I'm kind of laughing over here because I was wondering what in the world got in to you to tell a new owner to get rid of their bird!!

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

So adolrable that I want to run out and get one, but alas, Pritti wants a one-bird family.

I don't know much about lorikeets, but I'll be inerested to read along and hope that you will keep posting updates and photos of your beautiful little girl.

 

[Inverse]

And now she's started biting

 

[Pookamama]

Dawwww!!! baby lori!!!! <3
Don't take the biting personally. She's just a chick and everything is new to her! She has to learn all the ways to be. She will learn to use her beak gently but it will take a lot of teaching and time on your behalf. You will learn to read her body language and find out when to let her be. I'm sure others will chime in with more advise.

 

[Thingamagigs]

Judging by your reply, I think I came to the right place

Two parrots is always better than one! You can tell your wife all the forums said so lol blame us, we'll shoulder it.

And now she's started biting

Lorikeets are very conure like, very "beaky" like a puppy is "mouthy". The thing is, you have to show them they cant round you up and keep you inline by nipping. Now is the time to have a good pain tolerance
I find, if they are on you and flighted enough to be skilled enough to fly/come to a safe landing... simply turning your arm or otherwise destabilising them will be enough for them to learn biting does not get them what they want and has an unfavourable outcome. Colada learnt within a week this way. But you should know that lorikeets never grow out of it, they do become bossy and like to attempt to keep you in line with their beaks. But for now, just know that newly weaned/weaning lorikeets will test you by becoming nippy Dont smack, yell, cry out, flinch... take the bite while distabilising the bird and put the bird back in its cage if it keeps it up (I always go by three strikes and your out (in the cage) with babies, with older birds its one bite and your out). Raising a baby requires loads of patience and pain tolerance lol. There is a good chance she will scream when you put her back, you have to ignore that too No looking at her, no acknowledging her existence. Leave the room and close the door if you have to.

If you havent already... you might want to get some perspex to cover the sides of her cage Unless you fancy scrubbing poo off the walls and floors.
I've handreared a few lorikeets over the years. They are by far the fastest to wean in regards to food, but behaviour wise their begging and nipping seems to take a while to get better. Most of my lorikeets were ready for their new homes REALLY fast but I wouldnt have moved them on at that stage because their behaviour would have been too much for a new parront to bear lol

Oh my gaaa..........what a precious baby she is!! Don't you worry it won't last forever! Soon enough she'll want to show you who the boss is! I can't believe how heart stopping beautiful Lorikeets are.

And thingamigs I'm kind of laughing over here because I was wondering what in the world got in to you to tell a new owner to get rid of their bird!!

I was totally shocked lol I'm wondering how "get another bird" can be interpreted as get rid of the current one .... "another" doesn't mean "replacement" it means additional
I wouldnt recommend getting rid of a bird to just anyone... so many times people work through tough phases and come out the other side with a closer bond than ever I believe in sticking it out personally.

an·oth·er   [uh-nuhth-er]
adjective
1. being one more or more of the same; further; additional: another piece of cake.
2. different; distinct; of a different period, place, or kind: at another time; another man.
3. very similar to; of the same kind or category as: What we need today is another Thomas Jefferson.

I guess thats the english language. Common words are misinterpreted and then become a different common (but incorrect) meaning. Like when people say "I could of" instead of saying "I could have". "I could of" makes no sense what so ever, but it is incredibly common for people to say it without thinking about it and so it becomes common usage.

 

[Inverse]

I already have some Perspex on it' way from Perth for this very reason!
I'll try those tips, thanks guys. And yeah, I have a lot of time and patience for this little guy, I fully understand the gravity of adding her to my family and the responsibility of doing so.

 

[Inverse]

She's starting to get to be a lot of fun, today she's been out and on my desk most of the day, she's started hopping around and looking very inquisitively at things, she's started this a few days ago when I put a gum branch in her cage and she started mouthing her foot toys as well.
Just this minute noticed she has started using her feet to hold and manipulate things!
This is a blast!

 

[Inverse]

A few videos of my beautiful girl.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6j_EZX9jNI8"]Hollis - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3HlLJlWPE0"]Hollis and her new cage - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Thingamagigs]

WOW! She is beautiful, she has a lot more yellow on her than usual!

See what she did there... "No, this is my thing I'm chewing on, you cant have it" LOL
You walk away and she goes "Oh, what? You don't want it, neither do I, come back here! Lets play/snuggle" LOL
And as she gets older, you will see her watching you as you approach while still chewing on the thing she thinks you want to take from her... and then you'll notice the stubborn set in and she will chew harder and faster and turn her back to you and be a cheeky little devil. They are so funny, like naughty children! I used to try to pick skittles (my lorikeet) up while chewing on something and he would still be attached to it LOL then he would tell me off for interrupting him (give me a hard nip) then we would be friends and he'd want to play

 

[Inverse]

I know, she's lovely. Starting to get a really nice bond with her now. As I said, I've read all I can but I guess it's the same as anything, nothing beats experience.
I'm sure there will be much more learning experiences down the track!
I went and had a look at heaps of Rainbow pics just now and they all seem much more red fronted than this one.

 

[MonicaMc]

She's gorgeous!

I'm not a fan of open top cages, do to the potential danger of the perch falling or the bird opening up the cage from inside... it kind of scares me!

She would benefit from some natural wooden perches and rope! The wooden dowels really aren't good for her feet.

Generally speaking, it's not recommended to pet a parrot anywhere except the head region. Petting the back, wings and tail could be taken as either a sign of sexual intent, or an attack. She's too young at the moment, but I would suggest stopping now rather than later!


Beyond that, she looks to be doing very well! Can't wait to see more of her!