Advice needed-please help if you can

[Chazza]

I have several questions re. the care/health/enrichment for parrots. I work in a pet store and I am responsible for Amazons, Conures, Lorikeets, Budgies, Cockatiels, Finches, and Quails, among other animals. I want to provide the best possible care for the birds given the circumstances. Some of the birds have been in the store for years and years. In no particular order:
1- Should loris be housed alone? If not, how many per cage?
2- What would the minimal cage contents be? (I'm thinking several types of perches, at least one shreddable toy, and at least one wooden toy for beak health)
3- What type of wood is safe? Maple? Balsa?
4- How much nectar should the loris be fed per day? Currently they get one small bowlful.
5- Is Clay Cal recommended? For all birds? Can it be left in a dish so that the birds can ingest it when they want too? Or should it be sprinkled on food?
6- Thoughts on grit?
I am new to this job and I want to ensure the health and enrichment of the birds to the best of my ability. Given that I do not have unlimited access to resources (toys/perches) and I have many birds and other animals to take care of in the run of a day, I would greatly appreciate any and all advice.

[liz]

First of all I greatly appreciate your asking.

I know a little and others will also respond. They don't need grit. If you can give them RoudyBush or another high quality pellet they will be much healthier. They are not healthy on seed alone. Most birds like fresh food. The older ones have probably never had it and will be slow.

My Amazons love carrots, romain lettuce, green pepper, apples, grapes and etc.
My Cockatiels only eat carrot if it is softened but they go after everything else.
My Lovebirds are pickier and I never know what they will eat but I give it to them anyway.

If the pet shop does not want to pay for fresh food for them you could check with a produce man in your local grocery store. They throw away produce that is not pretty but is still good to eat. He will probably just give it to you when you tell him why.

They need access to a bath or misted everyday to control the dander. Most like misting but like I said the old ones probably have never been given that attention. A bath may be better for them.

Like I said - I don't know much but Amazons, Cockatiels and Lovebirds are flockers and like being together.

[Andromeda]

1- Should loris be housed alone? If not, how many per cage?
2- What would the minimal cage contents be? (I'm thinking several types of perches, at least one shreddable toy, and at least one wooden toy for beak health)
3- What type of wood is safe? Maple? Balsa?
4- How much nectar should the loris be fed per day? Currently they get one small bowlful.
5- Is Clay Cal recommended? For all birds? Can it be left in a dish so that the birds can ingest it when they want too? Or should it be sprinkled on food?
6- Thoughts on grit?

I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see this thread.

Liz has some great advice. I don't know the answer to some of your questions but I'll respond to some of them.

1. I've never owned Lories but whenever I've seen them in captivity they've been housed together. I've watched them cuddle and preen each other so they seem to really enjoy the company of other Lories. That being said, I don't know how many you can house per cage, and you have to make sure that birds "get along" before you try to put them in a cage together as members of the same species will sometimes be aggressive with each other.

2. Every bird should have a few different types of perches of different diameters, and preferably of different materials. There are wooden perches, rope perches, and "sandy" perches designed to help keep their nails trimmed. Both of my birds really love their "boing" perch (one of them sleeps on it) which has a bell on the bottom and looks like this:

It swings around so more playful birds will really love it.

As for toys, the material and size of the toy depends on the bird. Some birds love to chew, and some don't. One shreddable toy and one wooden toy is a good start. Birds also like bells. Consider rotating the toys on a weekly basis (and by that I mean each bird has a total of maybe 5 toys but each only has access to 2 or 3 at a time). The birds will be less likely to get bored with the toys.

Consider either a "Happy Hut" or "Birdy Buddy" which is a fuzzy toy that birds like to cuddle. My conure sleeps in his "Happy Hut" and when I was younger I had a Parrotlet who would sleep cuddled up to this "Birdy Buddy." I've seen many birds over the years in pet stores who are also cuddling those same toys. There are different sizes (and colors) for different birds.





3. Here is a website with a list of "bad wood" and "safe wood". There are several different types of maple and they are safe when the bark is removed. The bark can harbor dangerous fungus which is the reason why it's safer if the maple has no bark. Balsa is safe but depending on the bird it might be soft enough that they want to chew it instead of perch on it.

4. I don't know how much nectar Lories need per day but someone will probably stop by and answer that for you.

5. I'm unfamiliar with Clay-Cal but I do know that some birds in South America eat clay. I've never used it with my birds but they are on a high-quality pellet diet (Harrison's) and they get fresh fruit and vegetables every day as well so I'm not worried about supplementing minerals. However, for birds in a pet store whose diet might not be as varied it could be a good.

6. Most birds don't need grit.

[liz]

Yes they love bells. They really like making noise. Toys can be almost anything that is clean and untreated. Search with "toys" to see what has been hand made.

All of mine really like destroying cardboard and paper wads. I keep all plastic bottle lids, put them through the dishwasher. They will play with it before they destroy.

Key the type of bird in search. Almost all of your questions have been answered at one time or another.

[issy]

Hello I have a lorikeet so I can answer some questions

If you could get them a happy hut or container to sleep in that would be good. Lorikeets don't perch in the wild ( little burrowers ) so it's sad to see them perching while sleeping.

Depending on the cage size and if you get the lorikeets from the same clutch 2 or 3 would be Ok to house together temporarily. I'm assuming your getting them hand raised from breeders or are you talking about the current ones that are already there?

As for toys I would put a couple of hanging toys (as they love to swing off them, made from wood/paper) and foot toys are a must for lorikeets. All the ones I know will hang out at the bottom of their cage rather than the top, they love the jingle ball toys

I change my wood perches every couple of weeks because he uses them as chew toys. Also have a rubber perch in there, rope perch and calcium perch.

Don't use grit, Clay Cal or any other similar product for lorikeets as they don't need it.

As for feeding, I typically feed a wet mix (dry lory powder mixed with a little warm water) in the morning and dry food available throughout the day. They also need fruits and veggies, supplying them fresh flowers every day is a must for me. They love wattle, gum tree flowers, Grevillea flowers and bottle brush. I have many sources (you just have to ask the people if they use any pesticides on them) that I pick flowers from and you can find them in most places.

I grab cardboard boxes and put the in the bottom of the cage (without the glue) and he shreds it within the day.