Abstract
During the latter part of 1986, several shipments of Musschenbroek's Lorikeet were imported into the United States. I purchased ten surgically sexed pairs from Three Star Enterprises in California and they arrived in Seattle during January 1987. The birds looked to be in good shape, however, as I do with all new birds, I medicated them with Bactrum for seven days. In addition, they were given Nystatin for ten days as well as Orlac. Because they looked to be in perfect shape and no worm segments were seen in the water, I broke my own cardinal rule and did not worm them.
After treatment, the females were kept in one cage and the males in another. They did very well on the nectar I provided and fresh cut apples every day. I was aware from reading accounts of maintaining these lories that they would require some seed.
Over the next 30 days, I added my parrot mixture to their diet. At the end of this period, they were eating only the seed mixture and drinking no more than a tablespoonful of the nectar per day. They still received fresh apple every day.
In May I noticed when the weather turned warm that several of the birds were gaping very noticeably. Knowing this as a symptom for worm infestation, I at once gave all the birds worm medicine. I use Ivomec for cattle at a ratio of 1 part Ivomec to 30 parts propylene glycol. The six birds that were gaping, three males and three females, were placed under heat lamps and given medicine but the infestation was so heavy that all six birds died. The remaining 14 birds survived without any problems.
In December 1987, I paired up the remaining birds, seven pairs, and placed them in breeding cages 2 ft. wide x 4 ft. long x 2 ft. high with an attached "L" shaped nest box on one end. The nest box tube is four inches square.
The nectar formula I use is made of the following ingredients: Purina Trout Chow #1, Purina Game Bird Starter, sugar, Soylac, BVMO, Gerber's Sweet Potato, fresh papaya, banana, carrots and apples. My parrot mixture consists of three parts Purina Hi-Pro Dog Chow, three parts cooked beans and pigeon grains, plus fresh pears, apples, banana, celery, cucumber, red pepper, zucchini, and kiwi. The fruit and vegetables make up five parts and also includes two parts seed mixture.
Pair #1 laid their first egg on January 24, 1988 and the second a day later. The first egg hatched on February 18th and the second egg a day later. Both young were fed by the parents but after ten days one of the chicks died. It had not...