Treats for lorikeets

[Inverse]

Considering they are nectar and pollen eaters, does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can try as small treats for when I start clicker training next week?

 

[Inverse]

No one has any ideas?

 

[Thingamagigs]

Oh no one responded! LOL I didnt bother checking because I thought someone else would

Lorikeets in the wild aren't strictly nectar eaters. Regardless of what ALL the texts etc say. For treats, I used to use banana covered in honey or even rolled in dry lory mix. Raspberries occasionally. Apple as well. It depends on what your particular bird likes. A lot of lorikeets will also eat seed but if you were to do that I would take the husk off, just in case. Lorikeets at bird parks eat the seed visitors hand out and if you put seed out on a feeder they will happily eat the seed. Soooo given these are wild creatures I would bet that on the whole, lorikeets are not 100% strictly nectar feeders. They also happily eat fruits in the wild, if they come upon them. I would say they are more opportunistic than people realise yet nectar is still their favourite/primary source of nutrition.

Wild lorikeets eating seed...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMhQgm6xYLw]rainbow lorikeets eating a seed bell.MOV - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2FUeTwh0K8]Lorikeets eating on back deck - YouTube[/ame]

etc etc... there are bunches of youtube video of wild lorikeets eating seed.

Wild lorikeets eating fruit...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FATmtfwCbCQ]Rainbow Lorikeets, colored parrots, eating plums, East Adelaide, South Australia - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Thingamagigs]

This is a brief article about their nutrition. But very common sense and intelligent (not rumour based). My lorikeets would chase bugs more enthusiastically than any of my other birds. And like the galah, would not just play with them but devour them! lol

Rainbow Lorikeet- by Samantha Runde

 

[Thingamagigs]

The wiki is also a balanced view on their diet...

Rainbow Lorikeet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Inverse]

Thank you very much.
Very informative indeed.

 

[Inverse]

Still having issues finding things that she LOVES to eat, other than red wattle that is now going out of season

 

[IcyWolf]

First, I am going to say right up front that I have never had lorikeets and really don't know much about them but I had an idea and then I got curious and had to ask... we add bee pollen to our green rumps' diet, it comes in small hardened balls of bee pollen, is this something that could maybe be used as a lorikeet treat?

 

[Inverse]

Quite possibly, I'll try and find some, thank you

 

[MotherlodeParrot]

Great Lorikeets and great video's! Thanks for posting.

 

[Inverse]

Is it possible that at 13 weeks she is still too young and newly weaned to appreciate treats and other foods?
She never really seems to wolf things down with gusto (other than her wet mix) but I've noticed lately she's enjoying apple, pear and egg*.
I've also noted she never touches her dry mix.
Perhaps I'm starting clicker training too early and need to lay off for a bit until she gets a bit older.

* Does anyone else find it bizarre and a bit disturbing feeding egg to a bird?

 

[MonicaMc]

It may sound odd to feed eggs to birds, but if an egg breaks in the nest, they'll probably eat it! No point in wasting all that protein and calcium!

Perhaps she's not interested in the dry mix because the wet mix is 'already prepared'? And she may treat everything the same, not yet figuring out what she really likes and what she doesn't, but you don't need treats (or a clicker) to train the basics of clicker training! It's all based on positive interactions with our birds and conveying to them the behaviors we enjoy seeing them perform or do.

 

[Inverse]

First, I am going to say right up front that I have never had lorikeets and really don't know much about them but I had an idea and then I got curious and had to ask... we add bee pollen to our green rumps' diet, it comes in small hardened balls of bee pollen, is this something that could maybe be used as a lorikeet treat?

I think you are possibly my favourite person right now.
Works like a charm.