Dirty lorikeet

[jippjipp13]

helo


I have a lorikeet and it loves to role around on its back at the bottem of tne cage but the problem is that it roles around in its poo and when it is finished it is then covered in it. I change his paper everyday and yell at him when he is doing it and all he does is squark at me and keeps rolling around. also his tail is all hard and messed up i was just wondering if there is anyway you can get rid of it and make him look beautiful like he should and to stop this behavior

:( mike

[Von L]

Dear Mike,

I don't have a Lori, but I've been doing a lot of research on birds in general because I haven't been able to find much specific to my new Mustached Parakeet. From what I've found, this clownish, acrobatic behavior is fairly standard for this type of bird, and one of the things that many people love about them, so I don't think you would have much luck getting him to stop. I think your best option would be to put a grate in the bottom of the cage to lift the floor of the cage above the paper. Also make sure he gets a bath every day, at least while he has fecal matter stuck to his feathers. Some birds like showers or being misted, and some like a dish they can roll around in. I'm betting your Lori will like a dish. :p Either way, just experiment and find out what he likes, and then when he is clean and beautiful again, make sure he gets a bath at least 3-4 times a week to stay that way.

BTW-If you yell at him, he's just going to yell back. He is always going to try to be at least as loud as the loudest member of his "flock" (thats you :) ). You might try talking to him pretty much non-stop in a soft voice when he is being loud, or playing soft music. This works with my Mustached. He wants to hear what I'm saying, so he lowers his volumn too. This might not work if you have other birds though. They would probably be competing with each other, not you.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

Yvonne

[jippjipp13]

just wanted to tell you that i have put a bwol at the bottem with water and he does bath but still insists to roll around the bottem after he has bathed. also i may try to have something above the bottem so that he dosent role in his droppings thanx
:)

[Von L]

I hope it solves your problem. Once you have a grate in the bottom of the cage you might try putting a couple of toys like small balls in the bottom of the cage too. I bet it would be hilarious watching him roll around playing with them! :D

Yvonne

[dlaura]

Hi Mike,
Well I can't add much to the wonderful advice that Yvonne has already given you. It shows that you have really been doing your research Yvonne! Good for you. The only other suggestion I have is that you also hang some appropriate toys from the top of your lorikeets cage so there are other things for it to play with besided just rolling around on the bottom. Do you have perches scattered throughout the cage for it to hang out on?

[SweetPea]

Ewww lorie's pooh......lol

[jippjipp13]

thanx heaps guys and yeah i have perches scattered around the cage and hopefully it will work
:D

[Von L]

Mike,

I was just curious about how it's going with your "dirty Lori". Is he clean yet? ;) Maybe you can post a picture sometime. Lori's are so beautiful!

Yvonne

[jippjipp13]

hey sorry about replying soo late but yes he is much better now, molstley because of his own grooming but yes he looks so much better thanx for your help:D

[Von L]

That's wonderful! Do you have any pictures of him? I'd love to see him! :)