Despite this condition, however, for many years it was illegal to export them from these places. The Lory diet in the wild consists of flower nectar, pollen, insects, and fruit. In captivity, a powder pre-made lory diet can be bought in most specialized pet stores as a protein source. However, fresh fruit should also be provided every day. Lories do not have the muscular gizzard needed to digest seeds.
Lories require somewhat more care for a variety of reasons.
They require fresh food prepared for them daily. Another reason is that because their diet is mostly liquid, their droppings are quite messy. Their cage must be cleaned more frequently to prevent the buildup of bacteria which could result in the death of the bird. Lories should be kept in their own cages. It has often been observed that no matter how sweet the Lory may be to it's owner, it will slaughter other parrots in the same cage even larger ones.