Training Treats for Lorikeets and Other Difficult to Reward Birds

Rainbow Lorikeets enjoying some flowering gum.

It can be extraordinarily frustrating watching others successfully train their birds while you can’t even get your bird to look at the obvious types of treats available.  Not all of us have a bird that is happy to take a sunflower seed or something similar as a reward for training. I’ve seen many people give up on training for this reason.

Most birds will happily work for some sort of nut (favourites ...

 

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Using Touch Training to Solve a Problem With My Eclectus Parrot


Male eclectus parrot.

 

My male Eclectus Pepi, has been a flying nightmare lately. He has gone from being sweet, affectionate and talkative to being moody, unpredictable and often downright nasty. It happened overnight and hasn’t been accompanied by any of the usual signs of sickness.

 

Of all of my birds, it’s Pepi who seems to have the nastiest bite. He has this knack for getting a tiny bit of skin pinched in his beak. When something ...

 

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What Works For Some Birds Doesn’t For Others


Blue and Gold macaw, Fid.

One of the main problems that I have had with my Blue and Gold Macaw Fid, is getting him to settle at night. He cries when I put him to bed, he cries again when I turn off the light, he screams in fear if anything disturbs him and he often wakes up and starts making a heart wrenching, hiccupping sob noise for no obvious reason.

In my last post on Fid, I ...

 

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A Diagnosis of Psittacosis in a Blue and Gold Macaw


Fid enjoying some cotoneaster berries.

Ever heard the saying that if something seems too good to be true then it probably is? I think that’s what was bugging me about my Blue & Gold Macaw, Fid. I found myself with this beautifully good-natured creature that just seemed so perfect. I kept waiting for bad health news or for something to go wrong.

I put Fid through every screening test that my vet could think of; just to ...

 

 

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Keeping a Visual Health Bird Diary


Male eclectus parrot - right wing.

There have been a few questions on the BirdTricks Facebook wall lately, asking about health record keeping. The question is basically what information is useful? In terms of written records, the answer is: it helps to keep a notebook where you record the date, your bird’s weight (in grams) and note any obvious behavioural changes.

I thought I’d share a couple of extracts of another type of record that I ...

 

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The Lorikeet Diet


Rainbow Lorikeet eating Eucalyptus flowers.

 

People who work with lorikeets tend to regularly complain about their bird’s poo. It’s a runny, sticky, noxious substance, that I half-jokingly argue has the corrosive power to melt concrete. If that’s not bad enough – lorikeets happily shoot it on a 45-degree angle. None of this business of a nice clean drop straight through a grille at the base of a cage! Lorikeets are happiest if they can “paint” nearby walls.

 

That’s an ...

 

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