lories

Question
A pet store near me has a rainbow lory that is just the cutest thing.  It is very friendly and loves to play with its toys.  I'd love to buy it but the price tag is too high for me.  I know breeders charge less, but I'm wondering if all lories are as friendly and playful as this one is.  Also, is it true that they are very messy?  Do they need a special diet?

Answer
Yes, I'd say that all lories are as playful as the one you met!  This is a very typical trait of lories.  They're among the most active and playful of parrots.  Hand-fed lories are usually very friendly and outgoing with people--so long as you buy a bird that doesn't seem shy or nervous, you should do just fine.  Also, unlike many parrots, lories rarely become "one-person" birds.

Lories are messy, but not terribly so.  I don't find my lory to be so much messier than any of the other parrots in the house.  They do have wet droppings, which isn't so much of a problem except that they have a tendancy to squirt them out of the cage and onto the wall.  Some people use acrylic cages to solve this problem; personally, I just attach a clear shower curtain to the back and sides of the cage.  It needs cleaning once or twice a month, but it's still easier to deal with than the mess some of my larger parrots make.

And yes, lories do need a special diet, but it's not too difficult to provide.  Lories do NOT eat seed in the wild and so can't be fed seed, or pellets made for seed-eating birds.  Their diet should be based on a quality food made especially for lories.  I use Avico Lory Life diets which can be purchased at cuttleboneplus.com.  Another highly recommended lory diet is Nekton-Lori.  They're fairly expensive, but just one or two lories don't go through very much at all.  (I spend less than $40 per year on Lory Life.)  In addition to this basic diet, lories should get fresh fruits or vegetables daily.  They love fruits of all kinds, and other sweet foods.

Lories are some of my absolute favorite birds and I think it's a shame they're not more popular.  Many people dismiss them because they hear they're messy or difficult to feed, neither of which is entirely true.  And anyway, their personalities completely make up for any possible drawbacks!

- Lara
psitta@yahoo.com