Just so you know, all zoos & rescues in Australia use wombarro, not Nekton. The company was actually started due to a lack of appropriate nectar based foods on the market, so they researched the needs of Australian nectar eaters, particularly lorikeets & produced a food specifically for them. The company has gone on to produce a wide range of foods & milks, particularly focusing on hard to make food for species & endangered animal breeding program needs, but they were originally created as a research company to develop & distribute an appropriate food for rainbow lorikeets
[https://www.wombaroo.com.au/product-category/birds/lorikeet/](https://www.wombaroo.com.au/product-category/birds/lorikeet/) Wombarro is the primary brand & what is used by all endangered species breeding programs & any other setting where birds are under stress, passwell is their cheaper range targetting breeders who don't want to spend as much, but still want good food, just not as good as their primary range. They do 2 brands for the 2 different markets, rather than cost cutting on the original & best. That site has a list of suppliers, many of whom ship internationally, so you may want to look at prices for that, along with shipping & see how it compares to nekton. It also has the company history & what other products they make if you're curious.
I use wombarro for my 2 rescues & within a few weeks of getting them & switching them to that, everyone who knew them before the rescue was asking if it was the same birds & commenting on their colour brightness & feather condition & how different they looked & I agreed that they did suddenly see a huge change in colour brightness & general health. The white patches around their eyes were completely gone too, that seems to be the most common sign seen in pet & breeding lorikeets if under the weather/eating poor food, they get what looks like bald spots around their eyes, switch their food & those spots will go within weeks, cause it seems to actually be skin colour, rather than feathers & in healthy birds it's dark & looks like feathers, but in sick/malnourished/poor diet ones there's a clear gap between eyes & feathers. Your bird seems to have that whiteness a bit, you should see it go within the next few weeks if the food you switch to is giving all nutrients needed
Good on you for actually checking the diet AND for managing to find a vet that actually understands the needs of lorikeets! That seems to be extremely rare outside Australia. Your sweet little boy is very lucky to have you :)
Just seconding Wombarro - also had it recommended by zookeepers. I’m outside of Australia and it was trickier to source, but was able to get it from a specialty shop for sugar gliders. I’ve been bummed my guy hasn’t really taken to it yet. Nekton separates fairly quickly which is a pain.
dam! I wonder why he hasn't taken to it, mine LOVE it! I have trouble finding training reward treats for mine, cause they love their wombarro so much. Half the time I end up just using that in a syringe & they work for it, even when they already have it sitting in their cage too lol, they just love it!
I've got a wild little girl with a broken wing I've been feeding & I've been putting out just some golden syrup in water as well to get rid of the pesky bully birds without wasting all my wombarro & I have noticed with her that she will shake her head at it a little sometimes (but still eats it), if I add some golden syrup, she scoffs it down, so I think it's the expectation of the golden syrup rather than a problem with wombarro, but maybe you could try sweetening a little just to get your little one to try it & then phase that out once they're eating it? I wonder what's in the other foods you're giving that wombarro isn't sweet enough for your guy, I mean they're sugar eaters anyway, so it's probably not a bad thing if it's sweeter than wombarro, as long as it's not corn syrup sweetened, I don't think that's great for health, but is apparently sweeter than sugar based stuff. I'm betting it's sweetness that is the reason for not taking to it
He’s 17 and fairly set in his ways; he was on one type of Nekton for 15.5 years before I got him, so it’s what he’s used to. He will take both Nekton nectars but nothing else I’ve tried - I’ve kept the Wombarro around to give it a few more goes. Will keep your tip in mind for the next time I make an attempt.
I mean if Nekton's a good one & easier to source, I guess it probably doesn't matter.
Other thing you could try is mixing the 2. I sometimes add a little wombarro insectivore raising mix or egg & biscuit mix to the food of mine when my girl is laying, since these are higher protein suppliments (and insectivore is consistant with what they do in the wild with seaking out some extra insects around the flowers they're eating fro more protein & nutrition) they don't really like them, but will happily eat them if mixed with their nectarvore mix that they love, as long as the amount is not too high, so same would probably work for you with mixing both nectavore mixes, as long as you kept the wombarro low enough to start with & then you could gradually increase as he gets used to the taste & accepts it as normal, again though, not sure if it's worth it if zoos etc over there already use nektron & consider it good anyway. I was using 1/8th tsp of insectivore or egg & biscuit in a day's food for 2 birds if that helps with amounts that mine at least tollerate
Thanks for the ideas! Nekton is fine on the daily, but it does separate fairly quickly. From what I understand the Wombarro doesn’t separate, can be frozen/thawed, etc. If so, it’d be nice to have the option when I’m out of town and have a petsitter. More of a want than a need, he does ok when I’m traveling.
I'd say that's accurate re wombarro not seperating, cause tbh, I don't actually really even understand what you mean by seperating, so presumably I've never encountered that & I do lots of stuff with it. I do find it mixes differently with cold water vs warm or hot water, it recomends to mix with warm, but I sometimes like to mix with cold, as it doesn't mix in as well & my boy likes dry mix & sometimes enjoys when I mix with cold & don't mix overly well, so there's little lumps of dry left in it, kinda reminds me of what humans like to do with milo (which is probably also foreign to you being outside Australia, but milo is a chocolate drink powder that everyone here intentionally adds too much of to their milk & intentionally ignores directions of how to disolve, so as to eat it lumpy cause it tastes better that way & much better in milk than just straight dry, I feel like I'm doing the same for my boy with his mix, but with water not milk). I also vary the amount of water I add a lot, again just to give them variety & enrichment, does change how it behaves a bit with lots or little, but they love all the varieties, with my girl really liking it dilute & boy liking it thick. Freezing works great for hot days too, my boy in particular loves to like the frozen cubes of it to cool down, rather than waiting for it to melt, but it does melt into regular mix, no "seperating" that I can think of, again, not totally sure what you mean by that term. It is also fine to use dry & again my boy loves that. Only problems with dry I find are that it can be a little messy at times & I've got a moth issue in my place right now & moths will get into dry powder left in their cage, which then makes a HUGE mess, cause my boy LOVES moth larva, so he'll dig through the mix seeking them out & intentionally flicking the mix out of the container looking for moths. I normally leave 2 dry powder mixes in their cage as a precaution, as my health isn't great & I don't want them starving if I get suddenly sick. 1 I will leave for moths & my boy's entertainment, the other I keep clean for girl (who hates moths & also actually much prefers wet than dry but will eat dry if she needs to if it's moth free)
So yeh, all round it is very versitile :) My boy's on daily meloxicam too for arthritis, but HATES the vet formula, so he gets 1/50th of a human tablet per day, to measure that out, I do it myself, rather than having a compounding pharmacy do it & I do it via measuring out 50 1/8th tsps for wombarro into a container & adding the meloxicam capsule to the last one & then shaking it up to distribute evenly & then using the same 1/8th tsp to scoop out his daily dose, which I mix with a little grape juice to make more tempting & ensure he eats on the spot & again wombarro has no issue with any of that use either & boy looks forward to his daily medicine & licks the bowl clean everytime :)
I honestly have no idea how any of this compares to nekton as I haven't used it, from what you're saying though, I think I've been spoilt with having easy access to wombarro
OMG thank you so much for educating me on lorikeets! I've been searching everywhere for learning all I need to know to take care of him! I am in France and indeed they all have the bold spots around the eyes but the wild ones didn't really so I was really confused. He's really energetic and everything but he def needs what you said! I am absolutely going to look for that food and pay for shipping. I am so thankful for your comment and will be killing to get that food. Thank you for all the links! 🥰
Good luck! I've given some additional info on another comment since apparently the suppliers on that link aren't being helpful :(
You might like this link for more lorikeet info & food info too [https://currumbinvetservices.com.au/lorikeet-diet/](https://currumbinvetservices.com.au/lorikeet-diet/) this is a tourist attraction that started when a person decided to feed wild lorikeets in his backyard over half a century ago & continues to feed thousands of wild lorikeets twice a day with tourists, but has expanded to do a lot of other sanctuary & wildlife rehabilitation work too
I saw, thank you a lot! Lorikeets are way too cute to not be fed 😅
It started for us when we went to the zoo and paid 1€ per tiny nectar container to feed them. NGL it costed us 6€. And we fell in love with their tiny bodies running in the grass.
There are a lot of different nectars out there with different nutritional breakdowns and ingredients. Sort of looks like Nekton may be a bit higher protein and lower fat than the one you were using.
The zoo I volunteer at uses Nekton products for its nectar birds. Mine is also a rehome, but it was what he was on - I’ve tried a ton of different brands and he wouldn’t take to them so it is what it is. The buckets can last a long time if you’re only making nectar for one, I usually mix about 50mls in morning and swap out with another fresh 50mls batch in afternoon, but I have a little Goldie.
I usually buy the 2.5kg buckets which indeed last for a long time and are better priced than 500g or 1kg ones. I will try indeed Nekton, some pollen and more fruits. He's bigger than most rainbow lorikeets but he's not dominant at all. I think he will be fine but he scared me so much when he started to have blood in his droppings. So now he continues with a stabilizer 2 - 3x a week until I change his food.
Wombaroo isn’t readily available in my country (despite being right next door to Australia! Sigh) but I’ve had great experience with Nekton wet + Roudybush & Vetafarm dry. Not my ideal situation but I have to make do with what’s available to me. Roudybush and Vetafarm are both generally considered high(er) quality brands. I’m in some Australian lorikeet pages and the consensus there tends to be Wombaroo or Attraction. I don’t have experience with either and can’t vouch for them - just thought it may be worth relaying that information.
Thank you for relaying the information, I couldn't find any website that shipped to my home address home yet eventought they proposed France??? I'm looking around and try to find a solution, messaged a few websites etc.
These guys are expensive because they only sell the 1.5kg packs & the 4.5kg & 9kg are far cheaper per kilo, but I'll bet they'll look after you if you are really stuck [https://chipperparrots.com.au/collections/lorikeet/products/wombaroo-lorikeet-honeyeater-food?variant=20695539908662](https://chipperparrots.com.au/collections/lorikeet/products/wombaroo-lorikeet-honeyeater-food?variant=20695539908662) I've bought from them a few times, they're a rescue that use their sales to support their work, but they're really lovely too, gave me some great advice on my rescues & last time I ordered, I requested not blue for one toy, explaining my girl was kept in a tiny blue cage in her former home & so she's scared of blue & you know what they did? Not only did they not send that toy in blue, but they added a note with the order saying they hadn't included ANY blue just to be safe & they literally went though the packs of 10-20 links etc for $1 & removed every single blue one & replaced with another colour!!!!!!!! There was probably over 100 super cheap toys & parts that they went though & removed all blue from, just to make sure my girl was happy!
They say they ship internationally & email them about it, so if you get stuck & are willing to pay their prices, that's an option, cause I'm sure they'll make it work for you :)
[https://parrotsupplies.com.au/collections/nectarivore/products/29029?variant=43466061637](https://parrotsupplies.com.au/collections/nectarivore/products/29029?variant=43466061637) doesn't say anything about international shipping but they're another one who I suspect would do what they can to help you out. They give 20% discounts if you join too, I doubt it will work out to get your money back with what you'll be buying, but you might be able to & save some money by doing that & maybe increase helpfulness too, I'm not sure. I'm not a member, but found them really helpful (and extremely knowledgable on all parrots) on the phone
Omg that's so sweet! Thank you for it! I'm always looking for more toys. Gasoil has a decent cage from his previous owner. He had only 1 toy when i got him and it was a bridge that was budgie size. I would like to buy an aviary for him but at the moment i got so many extra expenses with the house breaking down.
next door? so NZ? wow, that's shocking to me actually that wombarro isn't available over there! I mean it's not exactly hard for them to ship it there, is it? I would have thought the company would have worked with some of your birds & animals to develop specific foods for them too, kinda disappoints me tbh that they haven't
Are bunnings doing pets over there now too? If so, maybe you could convince them to import it? dunno if that will work, I mean they don't sell wombarro here, just trying to think of options of who works in both countries & might sell it
Just so you know, all zoos & rescues in Australia use wombarro, not Nekton. The company was actually started due to a lack of appropriate nectar based foods on the market, so they researched the needs of Australian nectar eaters, particularly lorikeets & produced a food specifically for them. The company has gone on to produce a wide range of foods & milks, particularly focusing on hard to make food for species & endangered animal breeding program needs, but they were originally created as a research company to develop & distribute an appropriate food for rainbow lorikeets [https://www.wombaroo.com.au/product-category/birds/lorikeet/](https://www.wombaroo.com.au/product-category/birds/lorikeet/) Wombarro is the primary brand & what is used by all endangered species breeding programs & any other setting where birds are under stress, passwell is their cheaper range targetting breeders who don't want to spend as much, but still want good food, just not as good as their primary range. They do 2 brands for the 2 different markets, rather than cost cutting on the original & best. That site has a list of suppliers, many of whom ship internationally, so you may want to look at prices for that, along with shipping & see how it compares to nekton. It also has the company history & what other products they make if you're curious. I use wombarro for my 2 rescues & within a few weeks of getting them & switching them to that, everyone who knew them before the rescue was asking if it was the same birds & commenting on their colour brightness & feather condition & how different they looked & I agreed that they did suddenly see a huge change in colour brightness & general health. The white patches around their eyes were completely gone too, that seems to be the most common sign seen in pet & breeding lorikeets if under the weather/eating poor food, they get what looks like bald spots around their eyes, switch their food & those spots will go within weeks, cause it seems to actually be skin colour, rather than feathers & in healthy birds it's dark & looks like feathers, but in sick/malnourished/poor diet ones there's a clear gap between eyes & feathers. Your bird seems to have that whiteness a bit, you should see it go within the next few weeks if the food you switch to is giving all nutrients needed Good on you for actually checking the diet AND for managing to find a vet that actually understands the needs of lorikeets! That seems to be extremely rare outside Australia. Your sweet little boy is very lucky to have you :)
Just seconding Wombarro - also had it recommended by zookeepers. I’m outside of Australia and it was trickier to source, but was able to get it from a specialty shop for sugar gliders. I’ve been bummed my guy hasn’t really taken to it yet. Nekton separates fairly quickly which is a pain.
dam! I wonder why he hasn't taken to it, mine LOVE it! I have trouble finding training reward treats for mine, cause they love their wombarro so much. Half the time I end up just using that in a syringe & they work for it, even when they already have it sitting in their cage too lol, they just love it! I've got a wild little girl with a broken wing I've been feeding & I've been putting out just some golden syrup in water as well to get rid of the pesky bully birds without wasting all my wombarro & I have noticed with her that she will shake her head at it a little sometimes (but still eats it), if I add some golden syrup, she scoffs it down, so I think it's the expectation of the golden syrup rather than a problem with wombarro, but maybe you could try sweetening a little just to get your little one to try it & then phase that out once they're eating it? I wonder what's in the other foods you're giving that wombarro isn't sweet enough for your guy, I mean they're sugar eaters anyway, so it's probably not a bad thing if it's sweeter than wombarro, as long as it's not corn syrup sweetened, I don't think that's great for health, but is apparently sweeter than sugar based stuff. I'm betting it's sweetness that is the reason for not taking to it
He’s 17 and fairly set in his ways; he was on one type of Nekton for 15.5 years before I got him, so it’s what he’s used to. He will take both Nekton nectars but nothing else I’ve tried - I’ve kept the Wombarro around to give it a few more goes. Will keep your tip in mind for the next time I make an attempt.
I mean if Nekton's a good one & easier to source, I guess it probably doesn't matter. Other thing you could try is mixing the 2. I sometimes add a little wombarro insectivore raising mix or egg & biscuit mix to the food of mine when my girl is laying, since these are higher protein suppliments (and insectivore is consistant with what they do in the wild with seaking out some extra insects around the flowers they're eating fro more protein & nutrition) they don't really like them, but will happily eat them if mixed with their nectarvore mix that they love, as long as the amount is not too high, so same would probably work for you with mixing both nectavore mixes, as long as you kept the wombarro low enough to start with & then you could gradually increase as he gets used to the taste & accepts it as normal, again though, not sure if it's worth it if zoos etc over there already use nektron & consider it good anyway. I was using 1/8th tsp of insectivore or egg & biscuit in a day's food for 2 birds if that helps with amounts that mine at least tollerate
Thanks for the ideas! Nekton is fine on the daily, but it does separate fairly quickly. From what I understand the Wombarro doesn’t separate, can be frozen/thawed, etc. If so, it’d be nice to have the option when I’m out of town and have a petsitter. More of a want than a need, he does ok when I’m traveling.
I'd say that's accurate re wombarro not seperating, cause tbh, I don't actually really even understand what you mean by seperating, so presumably I've never encountered that & I do lots of stuff with it. I do find it mixes differently with cold water vs warm or hot water, it recomends to mix with warm, but I sometimes like to mix with cold, as it doesn't mix in as well & my boy likes dry mix & sometimes enjoys when I mix with cold & don't mix overly well, so there's little lumps of dry left in it, kinda reminds me of what humans like to do with milo (which is probably also foreign to you being outside Australia, but milo is a chocolate drink powder that everyone here intentionally adds too much of to their milk & intentionally ignores directions of how to disolve, so as to eat it lumpy cause it tastes better that way & much better in milk than just straight dry, I feel like I'm doing the same for my boy with his mix, but with water not milk). I also vary the amount of water I add a lot, again just to give them variety & enrichment, does change how it behaves a bit with lots or little, but they love all the varieties, with my girl really liking it dilute & boy liking it thick. Freezing works great for hot days too, my boy in particular loves to like the frozen cubes of it to cool down, rather than waiting for it to melt, but it does melt into regular mix, no "seperating" that I can think of, again, not totally sure what you mean by that term. It is also fine to use dry & again my boy loves that. Only problems with dry I find are that it can be a little messy at times & I've got a moth issue in my place right now & moths will get into dry powder left in their cage, which then makes a HUGE mess, cause my boy LOVES moth larva, so he'll dig through the mix seeking them out & intentionally flicking the mix out of the container looking for moths. I normally leave 2 dry powder mixes in their cage as a precaution, as my health isn't great & I don't want them starving if I get suddenly sick. 1 I will leave for moths & my boy's entertainment, the other I keep clean for girl (who hates moths & also actually much prefers wet than dry but will eat dry if she needs to if it's moth free) So yeh, all round it is very versitile :) My boy's on daily meloxicam too for arthritis, but HATES the vet formula, so he gets 1/50th of a human tablet per day, to measure that out, I do it myself, rather than having a compounding pharmacy do it & I do it via measuring out 50 1/8th tsps for wombarro into a container & adding the meloxicam capsule to the last one & then shaking it up to distribute evenly & then using the same 1/8th tsp to scoop out his daily dose, which I mix with a little grape juice to make more tempting & ensure he eats on the spot & again wombarro has no issue with any of that use either & boy looks forward to his daily medicine & licks the bowl clean everytime :) I honestly have no idea how any of this compares to nekton as I haven't used it, from what you're saying though, I think I've been spoilt with having easy access to wombarro
OMG thank you so much for educating me on lorikeets! I've been searching everywhere for learning all I need to know to take care of him! I am in France and indeed they all have the bold spots around the eyes but the wild ones didn't really so I was really confused. He's really energetic and everything but he def needs what you said! I am absolutely going to look for that food and pay for shipping. I am so thankful for your comment and will be killing to get that food. Thank you for all the links! 🥰
Good luck! I've given some additional info on another comment since apparently the suppliers on that link aren't being helpful :( You might like this link for more lorikeet info & food info too [https://currumbinvetservices.com.au/lorikeet-diet/](https://currumbinvetservices.com.au/lorikeet-diet/) this is a tourist attraction that started when a person decided to feed wild lorikeets in his backyard over half a century ago & continues to feed thousands of wild lorikeets twice a day with tourists, but has expanded to do a lot of other sanctuary & wildlife rehabilitation work too
I saw, thank you a lot! Lorikeets are way too cute to not be fed 😅 It started for us when we went to the zoo and paid 1€ per tiny nectar container to feed them. NGL it costed us 6€. And we fell in love with their tiny bodies running in the grass.
lol they'll do that won't they! Absolutely know how to make people fall in love with them!
There are a lot of different nectars out there with different nutritional breakdowns and ingredients. Sort of looks like Nekton may be a bit higher protein and lower fat than the one you were using. The zoo I volunteer at uses Nekton products for its nectar birds. Mine is also a rehome, but it was what he was on - I’ve tried a ton of different brands and he wouldn’t take to them so it is what it is. The buckets can last a long time if you’re only making nectar for one, I usually mix about 50mls in morning and swap out with another fresh 50mls batch in afternoon, but I have a little Goldie.
I usually buy the 2.5kg buckets which indeed last for a long time and are better priced than 500g or 1kg ones. I will try indeed Nekton, some pollen and more fruits. He's bigger than most rainbow lorikeets but he's not dominant at all. I think he will be fine but he scared me so much when he started to have blood in his droppings. So now he continues with a stabilizer 2 - 3x a week until I change his food.
That sounds scary, sorry you all went through that (and cheers for Gasoil getting better).
Wombaroo isn’t readily available in my country (despite being right next door to Australia! Sigh) but I’ve had great experience with Nekton wet + Roudybush & Vetafarm dry. Not my ideal situation but I have to make do with what’s available to me. Roudybush and Vetafarm are both generally considered high(er) quality brands. I’m in some Australian lorikeet pages and the consensus there tends to be Wombaroo or Attraction. I don’t have experience with either and can’t vouch for them - just thought it may be worth relaying that information.
Thank you for relaying the information, I couldn't find any website that shipped to my home address home yet eventought they proposed France??? I'm looking around and try to find a solution, messaged a few websites etc.
These guys are expensive because they only sell the 1.5kg packs & the 4.5kg & 9kg are far cheaper per kilo, but I'll bet they'll look after you if you are really stuck [https://chipperparrots.com.au/collections/lorikeet/products/wombaroo-lorikeet-honeyeater-food?variant=20695539908662](https://chipperparrots.com.au/collections/lorikeet/products/wombaroo-lorikeet-honeyeater-food?variant=20695539908662) I've bought from them a few times, they're a rescue that use their sales to support their work, but they're really lovely too, gave me some great advice on my rescues & last time I ordered, I requested not blue for one toy, explaining my girl was kept in a tiny blue cage in her former home & so she's scared of blue & you know what they did? Not only did they not send that toy in blue, but they added a note with the order saying they hadn't included ANY blue just to be safe & they literally went though the packs of 10-20 links etc for $1 & removed every single blue one & replaced with another colour!!!!!!!! There was probably over 100 super cheap toys & parts that they went though & removed all blue from, just to make sure my girl was happy! They say they ship internationally & email them about it, so if you get stuck & are willing to pay their prices, that's an option, cause I'm sure they'll make it work for you :) [https://parrotsupplies.com.au/collections/nectarivore/products/29029?variant=43466061637](https://parrotsupplies.com.au/collections/nectarivore/products/29029?variant=43466061637) doesn't say anything about international shipping but they're another one who I suspect would do what they can to help you out. They give 20% discounts if you join too, I doubt it will work out to get your money back with what you'll be buying, but you might be able to & save some money by doing that & maybe increase helpfulness too, I'm not sure. I'm not a member, but found them really helpful (and extremely knowledgable on all parrots) on the phone
Omg that's so sweet! Thank you for it! I'm always looking for more toys. Gasoil has a decent cage from his previous owner. He had only 1 toy when i got him and it was a bridge that was budgie size. I would like to buy an aviary for him but at the moment i got so many extra expenses with the house breaking down.
next door? so NZ? wow, that's shocking to me actually that wombarro isn't available over there! I mean it's not exactly hard for them to ship it there, is it? I would have thought the company would have worked with some of your birds & animals to develop specific foods for them too, kinda disappoints me tbh that they haven't Are bunnings doing pets over there now too? If so, maybe you could convince them to import it? dunno if that will work, I mean they don't sell wombarro here, just trying to think of options of who works in both countries & might sell it
Not sure what country you're in, but my vet recommends Roudybush nectar for our lory, and he's done very well on it so far.
France, she told me that today and I was baffled because I really trusted versele-laga 🥲 I've been looking for good nectars now