Lorikeet Babies gone 😢

[Michelle123]

Hi all, we have a large aviary with 2 Lorikeets & a Crimson Rosella.
Approximately 5 weeks ago we had baby lorikeet chicks hatch in their nesting box.
mum and dad seemed to be doing a great job feeding their babies and all seemed to be going well.
This morning I suddenly realised that although the mum and dad have been coming and going from the nesting box as normal, I hadn't heard the babies in the last few days.
went in to check and the nesting box is empty!! No babies There is literally no sign of them. My husband and I checked through the whole aviary.
we discovered a bit of egg shell on the aviary floor and possibly some more feathers than normal on the floor.
Is it possible that the parents or the rosella ate the babies!??
They could not have escaped. Or could some other animal snake etc have gotten in and up to the nesting box and taken them?
Anyone have any ideas as to what might have happened. I know sometimes they can be rejected or pushed from the nest but there is NO sign of them whatsoever.
We feel so bad. These were our first babies. They were almost ready to leave the nest

 

[LaManuka]

Welcome to the forums, Michelle, but i am very sorry for the sad circumstances

I'm not an aviary keeper or breeder so I can't really say exactly what might have happened to your babies. Depending on where in the world you are located, a snake could very well have been the culprit, or even rats or mice who were responsible - unfortunately all of these are capable of squeezing into very small openings where you might not expect them to be able to. Not sure it was the rosella, I'm fairly sure that s/he would not have been so ruthlessly efficient as to have left so little trace behind.

Perhaps another of our members with more experience than me might be best placed to advise on how this may have happened, or how it might be prevented from happening again. In the meantime, please accept my sincere condolences, I am so very sorry for your loss

 

[Deleted member 42416]

I am so so sorry for your loss! This is absolutely heart breaking.

 

[Laurasea]

snakes like just about to fledged babies best....

I'm so sorry to hear of this...not fair.

 

[StormyPica]

Hi all, we have a large aviary with 2 Lorikeets & a Crimson Rosella.
Approximately 5 weeks ago we had baby lorikeet chicks hatch in their nesting box.
mum and dad seemed to be doing a great job feeding their babies and all seemed to be going well.
This morning I suddenly realised that although the mum and dad have been coming and going from the nesting box as normal, I hadn't heard the babies in the last few days.
went in to check and the nesting box is empty!! No babies There is literally no sign of them. My husband and I checked through the whole aviary.
we discovered a bit of egg shell on the aviary floor and possibly some more feathers than normal on the floor.
Is it possible that the parents or the rosella ate the babies!??
They could not have escaped. Or could some other animal snake etc have gotten in and up to the nesting box and taken them?
Anyone have any ideas as to what might have happened. I know sometimes they can be rejected or pushed from the nest but there is NO sign of them whatsoever.
We feel so bad. These were our first babies. They were almost ready to leave the nest

Very possible they were sick or died, and the parents ate them for extra nutrients