Caged together - Lory friends??

[marzipan]

Hello all. I'm newish to the forum and I have a quick question for the group:

I have a green-nape lory named Milo, DNA sexed male. He's 12 yrs old and in need of a friend. I have located a couple of potential buddies, but I have some concerns.

First of all, what do you guys think about caging non-mated birds together? I can't find a DNA sexed female green-nape, so I'm going to have to settle with some other species and it might be a male.
Right now my best option (easiest) is to get this Goldie's Lorikeet (male, 3yrs old). The Goldie was part of a breeding pair, but the female died due to an egg laying complication (not sure about details). The Goldie would be about half as big as my green-nape, and probably a little bit more timid.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to cage them together. Of course I'm worried that Milo might hurt the goldie since he's so much bigger, and I can't watch them 24/7 to make sure they are playing nice. I can certainly keep them in separate cages and just let them play in the common area together, and this is what I plan to do at first.

I've been looking into the double, side-by-side cages, but most of them are not very attractive. The nice looking ones are uber expensive ($600-700). I was thinking about just buying a large cage and trying to devise some kind of divider down the middle.

Thanks for any input you can offer!
Marz

[Berserka]

If Milo isn't an aggressive bird they should work out just fine.
Ideally in a perfect world you'd be better off housing the same species but as you've said you cannot find one.
Separate cages to start with is a must as Milo won't know how to act around another bird and could accidentally hurt him.
Supervised play is a wonderful idea. I supervise play time between my budgie and peachface but wouldn't house them together despite them being best friends as the peachface loves to bite feet (especially ours!).
Best of luck in whatever direction you decide to go.

[freswood]

I have two rainbow lorikeets. I got Yogie in July when he was 6 months old, and bought him a companion, Archie, in December who was 2 months old. They are both male, and although Yogie is much bigger than Archie, they get along perfectly. They are the best of friends and spend most of their time together play-wrestling and grooming each other.

I'm guessing that your birdie is relatively mellow, being 12 years old. It shouldn't be a problem. On the issue of cages, don't settle for a cheap cage. It's great that you're looking at $600 ones because the ones below about $300 are often made out of powder-coated or galvanised zinc. If the coating chips away and the zinc rusts, and then a bird comes along and licks it, it can get heavy metal poisoning. This will cause seizures and death. You'll need to check that the cage you're buying is made from coated steel.

Keep them in separate cages to begin with - I would recommend at least a fortnight until you can be sure that the new lory isn't sick. Don't throw them in a cage together, and take them out for supervised play a little bit at a time. This is what I did and it took about 2 weeks for them to get along and a month for Archie to fully settle in.

Good luck and let me know if you need any more help!

[marzipan]

Thanks for the replies.

Well, I didn't end up getting the Goldie from the breeder. There is a local rescue that had a Yellow-Streaked Lory (4yr old) that needed a home. We've named him "Marley" since his colors remind us of a rastafarian. He's actually a little BIGGER than my Green-nape (Milo).

I've decided to err on the side of safety. I bought a double, side-by-side flight cage that is quite substantial. Each bird will have about a cubic meter of space, and they will be able to "relate" through the divider in the middle of the cage. I plan on building a playground on top of the cage so they can have a nice common area.

I am amazed at how energetic and curious this new bird is. He doesn't hesitate to fly across the room just to see what is going on if something catches his eye. He plays with EVERYTHING, almost psychotically!! It's fun to have a young bird again. Milo is pretty set in his ways, and he doesn't go nuts for the toys anymore. He mainly cares about food and head-scratches.

If I can figure out how to host a photo, I'll try to post one.

cheers,
Marz

[Berserka]

Marley sounds like a great character. I reckon he'll make Milo feel young again.