Lorikeets love to play together in groups. They like to jump and roll around on the floor as well as lie on their back and play with things in their feet and beak.
They are very energetic with their toys, throwing them about, swinging from them, dangling upside down and banging them.
When it comes to chewing power lorikeets are in the featherweight division. Hardwood & plastic toys don’t tend to show much damage. Soft pine toys will likely see some nibbling action (and on occasion be chewed to splinters). But with cardboard, paper, wicker and similar materials its really just a matter of time before they’re cheerfully obliterated.
Some lorikeets like to put their toys in their food or water dishes and sometimes play with them there as well. Most are quite accomplished at undoing knots. Its also pretty common for lorikeets to find ways to combine two or more toys in a game.
Commonly favoured materials and toys
There’s no doubt about it - bells feature prominently as a favourite for lorikeets in our survey; bells, stainless steel, anything shiny or noisy really. Lorikeets are also keenly interested in shreddable materials such as wicker, soft wood, paper, cardboard and the palm leaf shredders. They also keenly like to preen and nibble at poly rope, especially poly rope with small beads knotted onto it.
Like most parrots they like to rip and shred bark. Lorikeets in particular seem to like the colour blue and they usually get on famously with balls, especially if it rattles with beads or a bell.
Lorikeets have a definite love for foot toys and other things they can throw about and play with whilst lying on their back. Several survey responders mentioned keeping foot toys in a bucket up high. Their lorikeets would throw them to the bottom of the cage and then go down and play with them.
Dangers
Several people mentioned having issues with cotton, whether it was their bird swallowing it or getting tangled in it. In two cases it resulted in death. One needs to be careful with cotton, especially polished cotton, which has been shown to cause crop-impaction and to tangle easily. It seems a particularly dangerous material for lorikeets in particular - probably because they are so adventurous and active with their toys.
Our “My Parrot” range of toys and toy parts use an unprocessed cotton which pulls away in little puffs like cotton-wool – this makes it more likely to pass through the crop safely and poses far less risk for entanglement – but the pros and cons should always be weighed up relative to your bird’s playing style and your personal safety values. Fortunately for owners of lorikeets the safer stringing materials of poly rope or vegetable tanned leather are often preferred by their bird’s anyway.
Watch out for Happy Huts or other snuggle tents, which many lorikeets enjoy, as they are common culprits for the dangerous loose threads that can be eaten or gotten stuck in. You must be super vigilant with tents. If your bird likes to snuggle up to things or hide consider alternatives such as jolly balls (coming soon by the way) or leafy foliage or a tunnel or tent built from solid materials.
Lorikeets seem to seek out dangerous activities and can be quite good at finding electric cords to chew or tight spots to get stuck in. All companion birds need to have their environment thoroughly vetted for dangers, but it does seem you need to be extra careful when you have a daredevil lorikeet!
“Lily loves to grab things and have Rook chase him around to get it.”
“He loves to wrestle with his suspended bells”
“She loves lying on her back and playing with a foot toy in her feet and a ball in her mouth too.”
“My bird enjoys playing with his toys most at bath time.”
“Marley and Lily love things they can tap on other things”
“The Fine Vine Swing is a big hit with one of my scalies, he is always playing on it and swings himself to another toy with a bell and has a great time.”
“He also like tiny soft toys to kick and roll around with.”
“Lorikeets love toys that look like lorikeets too!! like this :P ”
(pictured right)
“He loves to play with his loofa, attached to his shower perch”
“She loves to get inside paper bags and tear her way out.”
“If the cage door is open, she can watch and listen in delight as she throws [foot toys] to the floor, making a big noise.
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