rainbow lorikeet attacking new friend

[sb1992]

Hi there I am new to this forum
Just wanting to get some advice from some more experienced lorikeet owners. We had one hand reared lorikeet (hand raised myself from 3 weeks, 1.5 years old nos) he( unsure of sex) has started bitting alot more. Hell be fine and cuddly and playing ect then turn savage.
Also if it gets dark outside he does the same thing.
Any suggestions of what we could do to stop this?
( this was happening before we got him a friend)

we also Recently bought a friend a baby hand reared lorikeet (hasnt got red eyes yet) they started off ohk he was gentle with. But now hes allways after her trying to attack.They are in two seprate cages and are supervised at play time so she never gets hurt. me and my girlfriend are not sure what to do.
Will they end up getting on?
Is there anything we can do to help them bond?
Any advice would be much appreciated
Thanks
Shamus

[Wolf]

I don't have any lorikeets and actually have no experience with them. This does not mean that I can't help to some degree, hopefully someone with these birds will join in to help with your questions.
It sounds like your older bird has reached the point of puberty. This can be a very stressful time for both bird and human as their sexual hormones have kicked in. with most species of parrots this means that they lose their parent/ child bond with their human and try to locate another suitable bird or human to establish a mate bond with. This also means in many cases a change in personality as they are no longer dependent on their parent. Captive birds will exhibit the same behavior even though they are dependent on us for food and water, time out of their cage etc..
The bird knows that it should be fast asleep by the time that it is dark and it is tired and sleepy. This makes all of us more cranky and the bird has probably been trying to tell you that it was ready to go to its cage to sleep, but you missed its body language. I suggest that you take the time to do some research on their body language and learn to read it as it will prevent many bites in the future.
I am glad to hear that you have the two birds in separate cages and that all interaction is closely monitored and supervised as it could mean the difference between two healthy birds and one bird. I don't have enough information to answer the question of weather they will ever be friends or mates. Although they are sexually dimorphic the signs are not readily discernible to the inexperienced as they have to do with the shape of the head, the variation in feather coloration and behavior. These are subtle differences.
At this point in time, if the older one is going into puberty, then it has little use for the younger juvenile bird as he is looking for a mate and the younger bird is not suitable for this. Also if they turn out to be of the same sex then it is more likely that they will always have to have separate cages as they are less apt to mate bond. I would talk to my avian vet about DNA sex testing of both of these birds.

[Pajarita]

Yep, what Wolf said. The bird is biting you because he needs to go to sleep with the sunset so, if it's dark outside and you have him out interacting with you (the only way he can bite you), he is not been kept at a solar schedule which is the only way to keep their endocrine system healthy (also prevents aggression). Please, do research on photoperiodism or ask us if you don't know what this is.

Lories are actually aviary birds that are now been sold as companion birds by irresponsible breeders. They are fine when babies but, when they reach the age of sexual development (puberty), they want what nature decreed makes them happy and fulfilled: a bird mate (not humans) because they belong to one of those species where imprinting does not work as deeply as one would want it to. This does not mean that the bird will be always aggressive to you, mind you! What it means is that, even if you keep him to a solar schedule and aggression is non-existent, he will be more on the aloof side than the affectionate and will pine for a mate/flock no matter what you do.

Getting two birds to bond is never a given, even when they are of the same species and opposite genders, but it NEVER happens when you have a sexually mature bird and a baby. It would have been much easier on everybody if you had adopted a mature female but what's done is done and now you will have to keep them in separate cages and monitored when out of them for the next year or so and hope that, once the baby matures, they will bond - something which, if you do things right and taking into consideration the species, it's very likely to happen.