Young lorikeet won't stop crying?

[WasabiTheLorikeet]

Hi everyone! First time poster, apologies if this gets long. A week ago I became the owner of a 9 week old rainbow lorikeet. Although she was (apparently) fully-weaned when I bought her, she seems to have regressed a little... so I've been hand-feeding her wet lorikeet food (as well as offering her dry lori food and fruit/veg that she's beginning to nibble at) and she has been eating well.

She is energetic, friendly and otherwise quiet when she's by herself. The only problem is, whenever I'm holding or talking to her, she cries NON-STOP.

I know they're noisy birds... but sometimes the crying will go on for hours (or until I set her back on her perch). I thought it was a begging cry, but she'll eat until she refuses any more food from me and I've been keeping an eye on her crop, so I doubt she's hungry.

Do you think she just doesn't know that she's full? Or is this just a "MUM, MUUUUUUM" baby bird cry that she'll likely grow out of? While crying, she will also vibrate her beak against my fingers, fluff up her feathers and lift her wings, if that offers any more clues.

Just want to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong.

 

[LordTriggs]

bring her back to the breeder to finish weaning

9 weeks is very young for a bird to be fully weaned. a quick google search revealed 3 months is when weaning should begin take them back and wait until the breeder has observed eating solid foods for a solid week

Edit: just to add depending on where you are on the planet selling a bird unweaned is illegal and so is not taking them back to finish if they regress. Have a check on the laws surrounding birds in your country

 

[WasabiTheLorikeet]

bring her back to the breeder to finish weaning

9 weeks is very young for a bird to be fully weaned. a quick google search revealed 3 months is when weaning should begin take them back and wait until the breeder has observed eating solid foods for a solid week

Edit: just to add depending on where you are on the planet selling a bird unweaned is illegal and so is not taking them back to finish if they regress. Have a check on the laws surrounding birds in your country

Thanks for the advice. From what google can tell me, I can't see anything illegal about it here in Australia but I'll ring my city council in the morning to be sure. I've tried contacting the breeder to get their thoughts on this but haven't heard anything yet. I'd like to continue weaning the lorikeet myself if I can (as I said, she has been eating 'n' pooping like a champ and I'm confident that she's not going hungry), but ofc if the breeder can offer something I can't I won't sacrifice the bird's well-being by not returning her for a while.

 

[LordTriggs]

bring her back to the breeder to finish weaning

9 weeks is very young for a bird to be fully weaned. a quick google search revealed 3 months is when weaning should begin take them back and wait until the breeder has observed eating solid foods for a solid week

Edit: just to add depending on where you are on the planet selling a bird unweaned is illegal and so is not taking them back to finish if they regress. Have a check on the laws surrounding birds in your country

Thanks for the advice. From what google can tell me, I can't see anything illegal about it here in Australia but I'll ring my city council in the morning to be sure. I've tried contacting the breeder to get their thoughts on this but haven't heard anything yet. I'd like to continue weaning the lorikeet myself if I can (as I said, she has been eating 'n' pooping like a champ and I'm confident that she's not going hungry), but ofc if the breeder can offer something I can't I won't sacrifice the bird's well-being by not returning her for a while.

I don't think it's illegal in australia UK myself so of course things are different but hand-feeding unless you've been really trained is very risky and can end up racking up a lot in vet bills if anything goes wrong. It's why a lot of less reputable breeders try to sell unweaned birds to people under the guidance of it creating a better bond

 

[WasabiTheLorikeet]

bring her back to the breeder to finish weaning

9 weeks is very young for a bird to be fully weaned. a quick google search revealed 3 months is when weaning should begin take them back and wait until the breeder has observed eating solid foods for a solid week

Edit: just to add depending on where you are on the planet selling a bird unweaned is illegal and so is not taking them back to finish if they regress. Have a check on the laws surrounding birds in your country

Thanks for the advice. From what google can tell me, I can't see anything illegal about it here in Australia but I'll ring my city council in the morning to be sure. I've tried contacting the breeder to get their thoughts on this but haven't heard anything yet. I'd like to continue weaning the lorikeet myself if I can (as I said, she has been eating 'n' pooping like a champ and I'm confident that she's not going hungry), but ofc if the breeder can offer something I can't I won't sacrifice the bird's well-being by not returning her for a while.

I don't think it's illegal in australia UK myself so of course things are different but hand-feeding unless you've been really trained is very risky and can end up racking up a lot in vet bills if anything goes wrong. It's why a lot of less reputable breeders try to sell unweaned birds to people under the guidance of it creating a better bond

Yeah... hindsight is 20/20, but I should've been suspicious of a 9 week old lorikeet "eating on its own". I spent weeks googling weaning ages and talking to other breeders but I got a lot of mixed messages depending on the size of the bird, etc. If it were a matter of the lori (her name is Wasabi :04 requiring syringe feedings I wouldn't even think about weaning her for the risk of asphyxiation if done incorrectly. I'm just on the fence because she's actively gobbling the food up by herself (all I have to do is hold the spoon out in front of her). She's getting more independent every day, so if she keeps progressing at the speed she has she looks like she'll be eating on her own within a week or so anyway. :smile049:

 

[LordTriggs]

true. Like you say she is eating solids

of course the crying could be a hold over from weaning, like she knows she gets attention when she cries not too different from a human baby. Sometimes the cry is just to get you fussing. It could even be a little fear from the new place she's in

I'm not a breeder myself nor do I ever want to be involved in weaning (dyspraxia) maybe ask the breeder if they know about it before rushing back. Keep offering spoon feeds of course

Unfortunately there isn't a set age much like with us humans. I know there was one person here not long ago with a ringneck who was still asking for feedings at 9 months old and of course many breeders force wean birds so they work to their timescale