3 1/2 month old rainbow lorikeet wont eat fruit

[satah]

hi i'm new to this site and i'm not sure which topic to put a rainbow lorikeet under.
well, yesterday i bought a 3 1/2 month old hand reared rainbow lorikeet, his name is Geoffry and he is gorgeous and so friendly.
the thing that worries me is that he won't eat the fruit i offer him, he will only eat dry lori mix. I've offered him fresh squeezed orange juice, apple cut up into tiny cubes, apple cut up into slithers, a wedge of apple, he will lick it then drop it on the ground and go do something else. i've tried banana cut up, kiwi fruit. i mashed up some banana apple and kiwi fruit together in fresh squeezed orange juice. he will only eat dry lori mix, i've even tried sprinkling the dry lori mix on the apple slithers...
i put honey all over some apple bananas a celery cut up small and put it on top of his dry mix but he just avoids it.. i offered him some honey covered fruit but he just lick the fruit for a couple of seconds then licks the rest of the honey off my fingers or tries to step up then gets then honey all over his feeties.
another thing that worries me is that i haven't seen him drink water without me offering it by putting it in front of his face.
i want to start toilet training, but i dont think it would work very well without treats.
maybe he is too young for fruit? i dont know.. i just need some help or reassurance... has anyone else had this problem or know how to help me? i just want to get rid of this problem before it escalates to geoffry getting sick because of lack of vitamins =[
please halp =[

 

[Von1983]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

I'm sorry you're distressed. I don't know too much about RL but I know they have a very "water based" diet and are very fond of berries. Have you tried those? rasperries, blackberries, strawberries?

Also, he may just be sucking the juice out of the fruit - my sun conure does this with berries and grapes especially.

This might sound silly, but if the pellets taste "savoury" (I know not lol) then "sweet" is new to him! Keep on at it as it could take a little while. Try the mushier, juicy fruits of grape, berries, kiwi, melon etc and don't try too much at once. If you worry about it, he'll sense you're worry! Put it in there and walk away!

Cal for example, likes tangerines but not big oranges lol. Strange girl! She likes dried banana but fresh mushes up in her feet and she wipes it on me with an EWWW look on her face lol. Try EVERYTHING! Try dried - it may be texture like Cal.

Dried stuff is easy to come by. Banana, apricot, cranberries, mango, berry mixes, pineapple, papaya.....all worth a shot - he's used to "solid" after all.

Have you tried any veg also?

There are many ways to get vits into fids (feathered kids) so try one thing at a time and don't panic. They're just like children and you must plod along until you hit the jackpot!

Hope that helps.

 

[satah]

hi thanks for the reassurance,
i did get him some grapes and pears and he likes those. that makes me feel better, but he does eat alot of dry mix still, like i half filled his food thing in the morning and when i got home from work (4 hr shift) it was nearly all gone!

 

[Von1983]

Good!

All takes time, just to see what it is he likes. Am glad that he's eating a wider variety!

Eeeek! Thanks to Ant in another thread for reminding me!!!!

With regards to dry fruit - it has to be sulpher dioxide free! It's a chemical used to preserve fruit and is harmful.

I forget because you can buy it over here rather easily made in the traditional way with honey and the such like from a health food shop! Many apologies!

 

[Pheonix Rising]

Does he have any Lorri wet mix ? This is very important for them
if they are on the nectar diet they need both varieties of it for the full nutrition
Pm me if you want more details on that
try purred baby food veges as well as fruit I started my boy this way as it's similar to the consistancy of the wet mix and he accepted it alot better I slowly added in
little chunks of the fruit or vege and as he got used to that gave less of the puree and more chunks until it was eliminated completely

Toilet training a Lorri is alot harder than a normal bird due to their diet but not impossible

 

[Pheonix Rising]

Rest of message sorry !

There are also spe******ed Lorri pellets available Now
these have the nutrition of both the wet and dry mix foods ( so only 1 cost always a bonus )
bonus 2 is alot less mess and preperation
no mixing food , removal after 2-4hrs and flicked everywhere within the cage
bonus 3 because of it's make up it is slower to be digested by the body meaning a:less poo and b: a more solid poo
bonus 4 it makes them alot easier to toilet train

Personaly I have had no experiance with the pellets as they weren't available at the time of my lorries but I have friends who swear by them for their lorries

Best of luck
welcome to the forum and congrats in the new bundle of trouble and wonder

 

[Bobby34231]

Hi and welcome to the forum, I would strongly suggest staying away from a pelleted diet (and definatly no seeds), for the very reason stated in another post, it slows down the digestive process, lory's have a very high metabolism comapared to most other birds, they also have a very sensitive and highly specialized tongue much like hummingbirds and bees for eating nector that be damaged by eating hard food such as pellets, many of the powered diets today are formulated with the essential vitimins, minirals and trace elements needed to keep pet lory's healthy, fresh fruits should be offered as you have been for a supplemental fuel source, he's still very young yet and it may be that the breeder didn't offer fruits in the weaning process, so your little guy just may not be used to the flavor and texture yet, if you keep offereing a wide variety I'm sure you'll find what he likes sooner or later, though you said you haven't seen him drinking much water, keeping a supply of clean drinking water is very important, you may have to change it out a number of times a day as many lory's do not favor even the slightest contaminated drinking source.........so in short, if your using a good quality powdered diet( I've used necton brand for years) or nector mix, don't worry that he's not getting the proper nurtition

 

[satah]

yeah i change his water everyday sometimes 3x a day, when i see him poo in it and when theres floaties or sinkers. when i offer his water bowl to him, he just looks like he tastes it rather than arching his neck back like a budgie.
i read about the pellet foods and i am going to stay away form them, tomorrow when i get paid i will get some wet mix, see how he likes it. before i bought him i did do a weeks research on rainbow lorikeets.
but i am relieved to say that he LOVESSSSSS the brown skinned pears and i caught him tasting bananas and kiwi fruit i put in there too!
problem solved!

 

[Pheonix Rising]

Awesome that's great news
well done
don't forget the veges to
he needs all kinds of variety for full nutrition

 

[Bobby34231]

yeah i change his water everyday sometimes 3x a day, when i see him poo in it and when theres floaties or sinkers. when i offer his water bowl to him, he just looks like he tastes it rather than arching his neck back like a budgie.

exactly so, lory's dont drink like other parrots where they dip down and cup water in their lower jaw and then tilt their head back to swallow, lory's use that specialized tongue that I mentioned before, to lap the food or liquid directly into their mouths, thats why its so important they don't damage their tongues