Hi All ... newbie bird owner here :P

[BoBii]

Hey everyone that reads this Yes im totally new to owning a bird, always wanted one but never got around to it. I actually bred rats for a number of years and sold them as pets (NEVER as food). i stopped breeding them a few yrs back. before Thursday just gone i owned 1 female rat -Flower, 1 male Guinea Pig - Biscuit, 1 male rabbit - Max, and one female rabbit - Poppy.
On Thursday as i was heading toward the shopping centre i almost ran over a bird sitting in the middle of the road. I was freaking out that in the seconds id stopped my car to save it that someone might splatter it before i got to it. Luckily i got there first. i was able to walk right up to it and just pick it up without any resistance. He was in shock. No visible injuries. Someone else had stopped and came up to my car and was going on about how amazing it was that no one had hit him, then he started on about how beautiful the bird was and that it would be worth money :/ .. I quickly got in my car, wrapped the bird firmly but not too tight in an extra top i had, covered his head then sat him in my bag and drove home; stopping along the way to buy a cage. I was unfirmiliar with breeds so the first thing i did was google the type of bird he is .... a Lorikeet. Next thing i did was call the rspca and a local pet store. Both places said it is ok that i keep him, so yay i kept him. I googled the types of things they eat then went to the pet store and the grocery store. Now stocked with a million kinds of fruits, honey and pet store mixes plus there are plenty of native flowers locally that i can give him. I guess i can now call myself an accidental bird owner. Ive been monitoring him and he is alert and active, is eating, drinking and pooping. I guess i feel bad as he is a wild bird but now he is in jail. I dont know what led him to be standing in the middle of the road, but i do have this fear of what if there is some unseen damage somewhere, and if i let him go he might fall out of the sky or something.. i dont know... also there is the selfish side of me that just wants to keep him coz he is so gorgeous and ive always wanted a bird. Kinda feels like he fell out of the sky to come to my family. weird?
well im gonna have to live with the guilt because im keeping him. im sorry if i sound like a bad person :S He is in a cage but i hope over time i can train him and he will be able to fly around my home. I currently have him in a small cage - 60cm by 40cm but after christmas i will buy him a much larger one.
Anyway that my story on how i have become a bird owner. I joined this forum so i can get advice and see how other people relate with their birds. i want to be a good owner and learn as much as i can.
And yes i know i dont actually know the sex of the bird, but he does seem to like the name Steve

Im happy to receive comments, good and bad :/ afterall everyone is entitled to their opinions. Did i do the right thing keeping him? i guess time will tell.

[captwest]

Hey Bobii, don't worry about doing the right thing, he would not have lasted long in the road or in the wild if you were able to pick him up, sounds as if your doing all the right things, i'm sure some of the other lorikeet owners can give you good advice on care and feeding.

[michellet]

Hi and welcome BoBii

well done for stopping and rescuing "Steve"....so many others wouldn't have. And i wouldn't be too worried about him being a "wild bird in jail"....it sounds as if you had no trouble picking him up (you didnt mention getting bitten) and he appears at ease in your photos, so maybe he is an unwanted or escaped pet? If you suspect he might be lost, and you want to, you could try finding his previous owner/s...check local lost & found advertisments, parrotalert.com, local vets etc. But it sounds like you and him/her are quite happy about him joining your family...and it sounds as if you're doing all the right things I've never owned a lorikeet so dont know much about their care...but like captwest mentined there are many lovely lori owners on this forum that will be able to help.

When it comes to getting a larger cage, a second hand one is a cheaper and more than adequate alternative...just be sure to give it a good clean with a bleach/water solution.

Good luck, and welcome to the flock

Michelle

[zazanomore]

Are you sure he's wild? Where about do you live? They are native to Australia and New Zealand, and you said that someone said that you could sell the bird for a lot of money. In these regions, rainbow lorikeets can be sold for about 100-200$ (or so I`ve heard) and are very common.

But either way, I think you should take the little guy to a vet, just to make sure everything is okay.

He looks like a very beautiful bird, and it sounds like you've done everything right so far.

[BoBii]

I live in Melbourne Australia. When i went to the pet store to purchase the mix for him they had a lorikeet on sale. $400. I dont know the average price of birds, but to me that sounds pretty expencive. I guess i wont be buying him a friend any time soon.
I was thinking of getting his cage from ebay.
Once he came out of shock he carried on quite a bit, and did take a few nips at me so i kept his head covered till he was in the cage. It does make me a bit anxious thinking about moving him when i get a bigger cage. I was thinking i'll maybe cover his cage with a sheet, putting some wollen gloves on (to save me from his sharp beak ) and grabbing him then quickly move him for minimum amount of stress.
Please feel free to tell me if thats appropriate or not. I dont want to cause harm or stress to him.

[captwest]

Maybe you could put the cages side by side and lure him into the other one with food, or maybe "herd" him into the new one with something like a dowel. or maybe he'll be just fine where he's at til he becomes tamer, grabbing him would be a last resort and will set back any progress you might be making, have you found a special treat that he likes?

[BoBii]

Maybe you could put the cages side by side and lure him into the other one with food, or maybe "herd" him into the new one with something like a dowel. or maybe he'll be just fine where he's at til he becomes tamer, grabbing him would be a last resort and will set back any progress you might be making, have you found a special treat that he likes?

i totally thought of that idea today... a friend is giving me a larger cage tomorrow so i will try that way out...
i had a awesome breakthrough with Steve today ( well id like to think its a huge leap forward anyway). i started the day out with poking a piece of bread through the cage with a dash of honey on it.. he squaked and carried on at me for invading his 'zone' but after a few mins he came closer and licked the honey. When he was finished i went away, then came back each hr and did the same thing. Eventually he was coming directly to the side of the cage to lick the honey. I was going to wait till tomorrow to try something more but since he was standing right beside me in his cage i thought what the heck. I applied a small dash of honey on the bread and applied some along my index finger. Holding the bread so the bread is along side my index finger but the bread is slightly higher, i opened the cage door and stuck my hand just inside.. What a carry on that caused lol, but 30 seconds later he was standing on the perch above my hand and licking the bread. when he was finished on the bread i took my hand out and applied a tiny bit more honey to the bread, making sure there is more honey on my hand than on the bread, then i returned my hand into the cage (my whole hand was now inside the cage. It was very entertaining watching him climb all over the front of the cage avoiding my hand but staying close enough so from any angle he could reach me. He never stood on my hand but came very close. He licked all the honey from my finger. The next time i didnt use the bread at all.He didnt bite me at all. It was awesome
Question... Do birds bond with their human friends or is just getting the food, and are they able to tell the difference between the people around him?

[issy]

Since you found him in the middle of the road chances are he might have been hit by a car. I personally would not keep him because he is probably a wild bird and he probably has a family and mate out there. I would take him to a vet and get him checked out.

I'm only against keeping him because a similar thing happened to me, a lorikeet visited my backyard and it was very tame so I assumed it was a pet. I was going to keep her but she ended up flying to the tree next door, the next morning she came again with her three just weaned babies. If I had kept her, they probably would have died.

Also Bread and honey is very bad for lorikeets even though they love it XD

[javelin]

That's one fierce looking dude! Accidental bird owner here too.

[BoBii]

Since you found him in the middle of the road chances are he might have been hit by a car. I personally would not keep him because he is probably a wild bird and he probably has a family and mate out there. I would take him to a vet and get him checked out.

I'm only against keeping him because a similar thing happened to me, a lorikeet visited my backyard and it was very tame so I assumed it was a pet. I was going to keep her but she ended up flying to the tree next door, the next morning she came again with her three just weaned babies. If I had kept her, they probably would have died.

Also Bread and honey is very bad for lorikeets even though they love it XD

after reading your post i started feeling uber guilty, like id stolen something . it weighed on me all night. I discussed the bird with my older son today and I decided to let him go We took the cage outside and opened it and within seconds he was out and flew away.
Pretty sad about it but i guess its for the best.
Id like to get another bird. We'll see .....
Thank you to the kind people that replied to my post.