New Bundle of pink fluffy joy

[johnmw1]

Hi everyone,

First time post and as the heading suggests we are the soon to be new parents of a not quite fully feathered baby galah.

Not sure how old that makes it, the wife is saying six weeks or twelve weeks she cannot remember. Also don't know what sex it will be either, whether that makes any difference to anything?

Have never owned a galah or any parrot ever before for that matter so I'm trying to prepare for our new arrival.

This has all come a bit out of the blue as someone is selling some galah's at my wifes work, and of course she could not resist saying yes we would love to have one.

Anyway I'm now trying to find a suitable cage for its new home. I did read this thread which discussed similar questions to mine aussiebirds.proboards.com/index.c....ad=10020&page=1 , and after visiting a few of the local bird vendors here in Adelaide, I have to agree and say the local vendor prices seem to be hugely over inflated. Still I suppose they have to make a living just like anyone else but it won't be at my expense.

I have looked at GT Mall as suggested from the topic discussion www.gtmall.com.au/pet-supply/bird-cage.html and kind of like the JK21 near the top of the page. Am I headed in the right direction with choice, or are there better ones to choose from?
There are others I like but some are out of stock while others are just too big and become a piece of extra furniture in their own right.

Are there other things we should be looking at getting in preparation for our new bundle of joy?

Cheers,
John

[avinet]

The first thing to sort out is whether the baby is being hand raised currently - and if so will you be doing any of the hand rearing? If it is being hand reared I strongly suggest you leave it with the breeder until it is weaned - hand raising and weaning a galah never having had parrot keeping experience is not something I ever recommend. if you will be continuing the hand rearing form the breeder make sure you get plenty of advice beforehand from that breeder.

Secondly the cage - the one you suggest from GT Mall is at the absolute minimum in size and is really too small to recommend. It is the sort of size (64 x 54cm) that was used for galahs 20 years ago and keeping birds has moved on from those days. It is the size I would recommend for a single Ringneck. Minimum size I recommend is 90 cm wide by 50 cm deep, and height not that important. That would allow room to move around, plenty of space for toys and perches, and room for the bird to have a good wing flap - galahs love to have a silly moment accompanied by vigorous wing flapping and plenty of happy screeching!
Probably the smallest I would recommend is the one at www.gtmall.com.au/grande-parrot-bird-cage-small.html - and that is really the minimum for a galah. Unfortunately that is currently out of stock - might be worth seeing when they expect it back in stock.

Sex doesn't really matter - both sexes can talk, although galahs are not generally very good talkers, but there is a tendency for them to bond with the person of the opposite gender to them. So if it is a male then it is more likely to bond with your wife - but this is only a tendency not a caste iron rule. Also by proper interaction you can avoid them becoming strongly bonded to just one person.

Diet - well start out with what it is getting from the breeder, and gradually change it to what suites you. One thing to watch out for is galahs can become fat and end up developing fatty tumours later in life. so a low fat diet is important. The photo below shows the end result of a galah getting too much fat in the diet.



Have a look around the feeding topic of the board - there is lots of good stuff there, and don't forget to ask away if questions occur.

Finally in defence of pet shops - I owned a pet shop for 20 years that specialised in birds until it went into liquidation last year for a variety of reasons including the likes of GT Mall. That cage you fancied for $129 was one we sold - our purchase price from the importer was $135 after freight, and we had to sell it with our markup on top of that to pay wages and rent etc. They are selling at wholseale price, but they don't have to maintain a shop front, be open 7 days a week, and answer all the many questions the public threw at us about their birds - with answers provided at no charge, and often not involving any purchase. So whenever you can support your local pet shops - they are a valuable resource.

Galahs are great birds, happy cheerful playful fun birds, that will provide hours and day and years of entertainment and companionship - and once you have a parrot you will never look back, they become a disease

cheers,

Mike

[johnmw1]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the prompt and very thorough reply.

Mar 22, 2011 20:19:14 GMT 10 avinet said:

The first thing to sort out is whether the baby is being hand raised currently - and if so will you be doing any of the hand rearing?

At the moment things are a little sketchy as to whether the baby is being hand raised or has been weaned already. I'm only getting snippets of info, but now you have raised the point I can ask more questions.

Secondly the cage - the one you suggest from GT Mall is at the absolute minimum in size and is really too small to recommend. It is the sort of size (64 x 54cm) that was used for galahs 20 years ago and keeping birds has moved on from those days. It is the size I would recommend for a single Ringneck. Minimum size I recommend is 90 cm wide by 50 cm deep, and height not that important. That would allow room to move around, plenty of space for toys and perches, and room for the bird to have a good wing flap - galahs love to have a silly moment accompanied by vigorous wing flapping and plenty of happy screeching!
Probably the smallest I would recommend is the one at www.gtmall.com.au/grande-parrot-bird-cage-small.html - and that is really the minimum for a galah. Unfortunately that is currently out of stock - might be worth seeing when they expect it back in stock.

I was not aware about cages sizes, so yes thanks for enlightening me on that point. I have contacted GT Mall via email but don't hold out much hope of getting any type of answer in the near future if I can go by some of the other members comments.

Are there other suppliers around with similar type cages?

Sex doesn't really matter - both sexes can talk, although galahs are not generally very good talkers, but there is a tendency for them to bond with the person of the opposite gender to them.

I'll remind the wife of that when the time comes. I am out numbered in this house 2-1 gender wise.

Have a look around the feeding topic of the board - there is lots of good stuff there, and don't forget to ask away if questions occur.

Yes I will be doing lots more reading and no doubt asking a whole lot more questions.

One question I do have just off the top of my head is that about three months ago we found a near dead baby spotted turtle-dove which was covered in ants and not long for this world. Mother had obviously tipped it straight out of the nest after hatching. Anyway three months later and a lot of hand feeding we still have this dove and it has grown into a lovely bird. It loves company and will cooh and sit on your shoulder as often as it can.

The question is I would love to let this dove have the freedom it deserves but now don't think it would survive in the wild if we let it go. If this is the case would the dove and galah get on together, or would the galah take over? But on the other hand I don't want galah having dove as its best friend and when it's not around for whatever reason then getting depressed?

Finally in defence of pet shops - I owned a pet shop for 20 years that specialised in birds until it went into liquidation last year for a variety of reasons including the likes of GT Mall. That cage you fancied for $129 was one we sold - our purchase price from the importer was $135 after freight, and we had to sell it with our markup on top of that to pay wages and rent etc. They are selling at wholseale price, but they don't have to maintain a shop front, be open 7 days a week, and answer all the many questions the public threw at us about their birds - with answers provided at no charge, and often not involving any purchase. So whenever you can support your local pet shops - they are a valuable resource.

Sorry Mike, no disrespect was meant, and yes pet shop owners do need to cover their overheads. Unfortunately in this electronic age that we are all now living in it is hard not to compare online to in-shop prices. Me personally have all my dog food made and mixed by the local butcher (BARF) to better feed my four-legged friend.

Galahs are great birds, happy cheerful playful fun birds, that will provide hours and day and years of entertainment and companionship - and once you have a parrot you will never look back, they become a disease

We are actually looking forward to our new family member, even though we have not told our 12-year-old daughter just yet. If we told her too soon we would never hear the end of it, she would be just so excited. As it is she burst into tears yesterday when mom was playing a prank on her and said that we had set the dove free, she just so loves all her pets.

Cheers,
John

[avinet]

Hi John,

Just a quick reply to your questions

I don't personally know of other web suppliers but I guess a Google might turn up some places, and Ebay of course.

I've raised a few Spotted Doves myself - they don't get pushed out, they just fall out. They only lay 2 eggs, but the nests can be very basic, and a chick can easily fall out especially in windy weather. They do actually make great pets, we kept one for a while and he co-existed in the house with all our other birds - we had around 25 pet birds in our family room at the time, from budgies to King Parrot. Most of the birds were flying and we never had a problem but always kept it in a separate cage. The only problem was he would land on my shoulder, and if I wasn't paying him attention would vigorously jab the side of my head with his beak until I did talk to him. It hurt! Eventually we found someone with a lonely female and eventually he realised he was a dove and not a cockatiel - he was hand raised with tiels. We had another one that we tried to release into a park back of our garden, where there was a sizable flock but after 3 days we heard a banging on the front door and it was the dove wanting to came back in! Eventually we did get it used to the idea and it joined the wild flock.

In your case I don't see why you can't keep both the dove and galah - they won't be friends but they should co-exist OK - just watch the body language in case it doesn't work out. Releasing the bird will be difficult and it would have a low chance of surviving in the wild.

cheers,

Mike

[johnmw1]

Hi Mike,

Again thanks for the timely response.

The dove is quite the attention seeker that's for sure, and I must say I'm very surprised at how far more intelligent it is than I have given them credit for in the past, especially when your driving and they are on the road and refuse to move.

Yes no doubt it has become part of the family, but I do have a large aviary outside with a couple of ducks in it at the moment, and I'm sure it will appreciate its new roomy accommodation perhaps.

I have done a google search and yes there are plenty on Ebay but it is hard to tell the quality of them apart from maybe reading buyer ratings.

Cheers,
John

[carlsandclan]

Well, Mike has covered everything nicely

Galahs are awesome - they can be a bit reserved with new people and new places though. They like to take it ALL in! You could well find that your doesn't talk for a long time, then out of the blue it starts! lol

Try to find a cage where you can take out the bottom grate and have the solid floor. Galahs love to forage around on the ground. I put all sorts of goodies down for my AJ and he will spend hours going through it. They love greens - grasses, milk thistle, lilly pilly, bottle brush, eucalypt - they love to chew!

With lots of things to do, they are really good at amusing themselves. Make sure you don't spend more time with your bird now than you will be able to later down the track - if you suddenly stop paying it so much attention, the psychological problems start.

Above all else, enjoy! They are awesome birds.

Carls

[johnmw1]

Hi Carls,

Thanks for the reply. I must admit that even I am getting excited about our new boy, and yes it has been confirmed by the breeder that he is a boy and that he has just been weaned which is a good thing. Will not be getting him now until Saturday sometime.

The cage at the moment is the most troublesome, mainly in finding a decent quality one. GT Mall did actually contact me and said most of their cages will be back in stock by mid April? There are so many brands to choose from but it's hard to know which are junk or not. I do wonder what the max bar width should be though, not sure if I have read it somewhere or not.

Thank you or your encouragement and extra bits of helpful information which you have supplied, I'm sure I will be coming back here for some time to come.

Cheers,
John

[johnmw1]

There is one cage on Ebay through GT Mall which could be OK @$249.


Dimensions:

External Dimension: 170(H)X115(L)X95(W)cm
Cage Itself: 88(H)x 92(L)x72(W)cm
Stand: about 50cm High
Skirt: 12cm
Play Top Centre: 32(H)x66.5(W)x89.5(L)cm
Bar Space: 2.3cmcm
Bar Thickness: 5mm
Door Size: 65(H)x35(W)cm

Or this Avi One which I kind of like but not sure of price?


Dimensions:

127L x 87 W x 179H cm but not sure of bar spacing?

What do you reckon?

Cheers,
John

[carlsandclan]

Both look pretty good for a galah home. I wouldn't personally bother with the seed skirts - my boy can throw food across the room! lol

I have a GTMall cage, and I find it great. Mines a dome top one. I don't use the perches that came with it - use natural branches. Height can be handy because it allows you to hang big, fresh branches for them to chew on. And having several secure bowls is a plus! You can have one bowl for pellets and dry seed, one for water, one for fresh food etc. And floor space is important because they will forage a lot.

Hope this helps!

Carls

[avinet]

Either cage is fine - I always liked the Avi One cage with the side play table since the bird was at a better height to interact with instead of being higher than you. I'm not a big believer in the height dominance theory but it is just more convenient to have him at a shoulder height. Also the door that opens out from the side of the cage onto the play area works well. But it isn't a big issue, so which ever is in your budget and is available will work OK.

I also agree with Carls that seed catchers are more trouble than they are worth - they save some mess but the cage takes up more room and I find I keep catching my leg on the sharp corners, so we never use them, and just resign ourselves to sweeping and vacuuming every day.

cheers,

Mike

[johnmw1]

Hi Carls & Mike,

We will have to make our minds up fairly soon that is for sure.

Are you both saying that the seed skirts don't necessarily need to be added to the cage when putting it together? What about a material type skirt, or are they more trouble than they are worth?

Again thanks to you both for your help, I shall keep you posted on the final choice and a picture of the boy.

Cheers,
John

[avinet]

Seed skirts in my opinion are more trouble than they are worth. However others find them useful and use them. They are entirely optional - they go on after the cage is put together, and play no part in the structure of the cage - just basically hang on the outside.

The other thing you might need is a carrier - to use when you transport the bird anywhere in the car. We use cat carriers with a perch placed inside - the attached photo gives you the idea.

cheers,

Mike

[johnmw1]

Well we have our boy!

Got him yesterday afternoon and he was full of life and lots of fire. He, I say he but I'm still not so sure, time will tell.

He managed to draw blood from all of us yesterday first up, but by the end of the day he had already started bonding with the daughter and he was happy to perch on her and eat from her hand, and be stroked etc which was really good.

Today the bird could be an entirely different bird altogether. Very lifeless, we cannot get it to eat anything, and it has runny watery droppings in its cage.

Thought it may have been the trauma of it being separated from the rest of its siblings. Bought some hand rearing food but it just spits it out.

If it survives the night I will take it to an avian vet in the morning.

Is there anything else I can do for it in the meantime?

Cheers,
John

[carlsandclan]

Hi John. Keep him warm and quiet tonight. Green runny droppings could be stress related, food related....so you are right to take him to a vet. Try to keep him hydrated as much as possible - even if you have to syringe him. I hope he's ok!

[johnmw1]

Mar 27, 2011 20:12:38 GMT 10 carlsandclan said:

Hi John. Keep him warm and quiet tonight. Green runny droppings could be stress related, food related....so you are right to take him to a vet. Try to keep him hydrated as much as possible - even if you have to syringe him. I hope he's ok!

Hi Carls,

Thanks for that last night. He is still alive this morning but barely has the energy to even lift his head.

I have managed to get Jazz into the avian vet this morning and as soon as the vet saw Jazz he said that he is a very sick galah . Said that he was obviously sick when we got him as he could not lose condition that quickly.

Prognosis was not good and he essentially gave us two choices, put Jazz down now and stop the suffering or attempt intensive emergency therapy with still no guarantee to final outcome.

I chose the emergency therapy option just to give the bird one last chance, no doubt if Jazz survives he will grow into a fab bird, plus I still have my daughters last words ringing in my ears when I dropped her at school today, "Dad make sure you bring Jazz home from the vet's"

I'll keep you updated.

Cheers,
John

[avinet]

I'm really sorry to read of the problems so soon after bringing Jazz home! As the vet said, sounds like he has gone downhill too quickly to be something that he caught after you got him on Saturday.

Hopefully the vet can save him - will be looking for better news over the next few days

cheers,

Mike

[johnmw1]

Mar 28, 2011 11:56:11 GMT 10 avinet said:

I'm really sorry to read of the problems so soon after bringing Jazz home! As the vet said, sounds like he has gone downhill too quickly to be something that he caught after you got him on Saturday.

Hopefully the vet can save him - will be looking for better news over the next few days

cheers,

Mike

Yes thanks Mike.

We are all hoping this end. I have to phone the vet at 5.00pm to get an update on how he's faring, hopefully good news.

I contacted the breeder yesterday just to let him know what was happening and he seemed full of surprise and figured it was just separation anxiety. Seemed to think Jazz would soon bounce back.

So far todays hospitalization has cost $133, so lucky we have not bought that cage yet.

If worst comes to worst we shall have to start searching for another one, but my understanding is that they don't start to show up until around November time if the proper breeding cycle is observed?

Anyways fingers X.

Cheers,
John

[carlsandclan]

I really hope Jazz pulls through.

[johnmw1]

Mar 28, 2011 15:00:41 GMT 10 carlsandclan said:

I really hope Jazz pulls through.

Thank you Carls,

I have just picked up a very teary daughter from school and had to explain to her that with a little bit of luck Jazz may pull thru, but also to expect the worst, and if Jazz does survive he will be a beaut.

Cheers,
John

[johnmw1]

Sadly Jazz did not make it , he obviously was way beyond it when we got him. The vet says unfortunately this is a too common a scenario that happens time and time again.

I have one inconsolable daughter at the moment who heard the whole vet conversation to me as I was driving at the time. I could have put him off I suppose and got back to him but no I thought it might be better for Ashley hearing it direct from the vet.

The vet offered the usual services like cremation, autopsy, or us picking it up to say goodbye to it.

I chose the pickup option and have had our little burial in the front garden, now I'm commissioned to make a cross for it.

Anyway thank you to everyone for your support and endless questions that I asked, I would have been lost without you.

I have now sworn an oath to get Ashley another galah when or where ever that may be?

Cheers,
John