Does anyone have any tips on dealing with ants that are attracted by the nectar, fruit, flowers etc that I give lorikeets I have in care? Ants everywhere, not sure if they bother the birds or not, but they bother me! And they bite!
I sit food containers in bowls of water but lorikeets are such messy eaters it's no time until the ants are swarming all over the spilled bits, then onto the main feeds.
Any advice gratefully received :)
Oh, dear, casscat. You might have trouble getting a response to your query from this site as most members are into birds in the bush rather than birds in the hand. Generally, it seems you need to change the lorikeets' diet to an anti-ant one. However, if I was a thinking lorikeet I'd be longing for a natural diet in a natural place.
These birds are with me short term (1 - 4 weeks) prior to being released into the wild. They have had various misadventures and need to be rehabilitated for a while. I give them as much of their natural diet of wild flowers as I can find, but still need to supplement that. Just thought someone might have some experience of ants in this situation.
Good for you casscat...well done on helping them out. Sorry ...don't know the answer to your query though
Sunshine Coast Queensland
The only suggestion I could think of , would be to only give them as much to eat as they can finish at the time, as not to leave any ant attracting sweet stuff in the cage. Maybe put some paper on the floor of the cage, so you can remove the leftovers after the birds have finished eating? Just an idea.
M-L
Can the birds fly? If so put a pedestal (such as a terracotta water pipe with a large saucer or even better an empty bird bath) with the base in much larger container such as a baby bath or plastic tub which you can fill with water. Then place the food container inside the saucer on the pedestal (or empty birdbath). Lorikeets are messy so this method should help keep the lori mix inside the container or in the water of the bird bath and off the floor and away from the ants. However, ants are resourceful and I can imagine them dropping down to a sweet food source from the roof of the aviary. Good luck being a wildlife carer needs lots of extra ingenuity.
Alison
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"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
Great idea Alison, never thought of that.... same principle as my cats ant proof dish
Sunshine Coast Queensland
thanks, some good ideas there. I do have their food bowls sitting in water and that does help for a while. Guess I'll keep doing that, and hosing down the mesh and food platforms. I'm not sure if the ants bite the birds (they bite me, but then so do the lories if they get a chance!), mind you it would have to be a very brave or stupid ant to bite a rainbow lorikeet!
I saw that you already had the bowls in water I was just suggesting using bowls within bowls and larger water containers to catch the fallout - I guess you will be limited by the space in your aviary to do much more than you already are. I know ants are needed in the environment but (along with blowflies) I dislike them a lot and if they are in the house I wipe the surfaces with eucalyptus oil to get rid of them which would not be practical or safe in your situation. I wish there was an easy fix for you.
Alison
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"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
Ah, hah! That fleshes out the picture, casscat. It seems that the lorikeets you're caring for are the sort who will be in the wild soon. I wonder if it would be worthwhile talking with a serious bird food supplier or manufacturer about a diet that wouldn't attract ants.
Woko, wombaroo (and most other manufacturers of) lorikeet mix (used for other honeyeater birds too) have the nutrition of the birds as the priority and nectar mixes for lorikeets are, by their nature, going to attract ants as these foods are sweet and are as close as they can get to the birds normal diet - not that it looks like it when you look at the ingredients
.
Alison
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"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
Ah, well, that shows how much I know about feeding birds in cages.
Hi Woko, I only know as I am a member of a wildlife rescue group and part of that is to feed rescued animals of all ages including birds the right diet to give the animal the best chance of survival when released. Natural food is best but not always available or practical for carers to source freshly, especially for baby animals so these mixes are the next best thing (sometimes better nutrition wise in terms of a quicker source of food) even if not initiating correct behaviour. Warmth, rehydration and correct food nutrition go a long way in helping animals to heal. Sorry it this sounds like a lecture because it isn't .. just thought you'd like to know the reasoning.
Alison
~~~~~~
"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
Hi Alison, my daughter used to work in an Animal Emergency Centre, they always used the Wombaroo products for any wildlife that came into their care.
M-L
Thanks heaps for the information, qyn. From the tone of your posting I thought you might have thought that I thought that you thought I was being a bit sarcastic. If that's what you thought then rest assured, my knowledge of feeding caged birds is extremely limited to food & water. In any case your information was most welcome. If that's not what you thought then your information was also most welcome.
Not at all Woko, this information is not widely known unless you have a need to know. I have not found any of your comments on this forum to be of that vein at all. I am aware that sometimes just imparting some information may appear to be a "lecture" and I think my posts might read that way sometimes but it is unintentional!
Sorry to the OP for hijacking your thread. Hope the ants are a little more under control.
Alison
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"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
Well, 2 aviaries housing rainbow lorikeets, and 1 with six scaly breasted lorikeets keeping me busy! I have 6 juvenile rainbows in one, and 2 adults, which are short term stays, in the other. Releasing the adults this weekend, the others will be with me for a while :) THE NOISE, lol! Saucers of water under feeding bowls seem to be limiting the ants quite well, tho I check need to them several times a day.
I am constantly adding to the 'family' groups of juveniles as they come in, lorikeets are great like that. None of that territorial stuff, just "allo! who are you? the foods down here ...". I do not choose my birds, they come to me from an extremely experienced wildlife carer who has a goshawk that has moved into her area, and she can't release young birds any more. She does the raising, nursing, etc and they come to me for a while to meet the local lories and get 'aclimatised'. Gorgeous birds, all of them (including my chooks, jap quails, king quails, wild magpies with babies, crows with babies, everythings got babies! :)
Casscat, you have a cacophony of calls as well as an array of ants to deal with! Great to hear that the saucers of water are managing the ants.