7 week old baby galah

[germaine]

Hey hey!

I just got a 7 week old baby galah yesterday. I named him Germaine

The breeders I got him from said he was still eating egg and biscuit mix, but it starting to crack seed.

I fed him for the first time this morning and I have a few questions...

1. Is it normal for them to start making this low pitched screeching noise? I just figured it was his way of saying "I'm hungry, feed me!"

2. I've read that if you don't feed them properly, their lungs can fill up with the food and die. Is this true? If it is, how do I know if I have fed him properly?
I made the mix pretty watery, like yoghurt consistency almost and fed him with a spoon with a funnel end. I tried feeding him with his head tilted backwards (as I read it was the way to do it), but he usually started taking it before I even had the chance to tilt the spoon!

3. When I assume he is sleeping (he is in a box with a towel covering it), I can hear him make little sounds...is that just him 'dreaming'?
I get worried that I haven't fed him right and he is drowning from his food!


I admit, I didn't research as much as I should have about looking after a baby galah, although I have looked after baby cockatiels in the past (although it was about 10 years ago!).

So, I'm not a bad bird owner...just a little rusty

[avinet]

Taking on a baby Galah without having relevant experience has great potential for disaster!!

First thing is to get some proper hand rearing mix from a pet shop that has expertise in birds. Feeding egg and biscuit to a baby galah will usually lead to malnutrition through lack of many essential vitamins and proteins. Get the right hand rearing mix asap and follow the mixing instructions. Vetafarm Neocare is a mix that is commonly available, while mixes by Hagen, Kaytee or Roudybush are better but harder to find.

Also make sure you feed at the correct temperature - about 40-42°C is best for a Galah. Too warm and you might burn the crop while too cold and the food might not digest properly leading to sour crop. There is virtually no danger of the bird ingesting food into the lungs when spoon feeding so don't worry about that - it is only a risk with tube feeding.

With a 7 week old bird there is no need to hold the head when feeding - just present the spoon straight to the beak and the baby will do the rest.

By 7 weeks he is going to be pretty well feathered and can be in a cage and not a box - have a low perch in the cage as well as small parrot seed or preferably pellets, and some chopped up fruit and vegies. He is at the age when he will start to wean, but it is usually around 12 weeks before he will be fully weaned.

Have a look at the information I wrote about about hand rearing at scas.org.au/html/hand_rearing_part_1.html and scas.org.au/html/hand_rearing_part_2.html as well as the pet bird care sheet at scas.org.au/html/pet_parrot_care.html

The sounds he is making would appear to be normal baby Galah sounds.

cheers,

Mike

[germaine]

Thanks Mike!

That information you have written is great stuff! Thanks for sharing!

As for the egg and biscuit mix, it is what the breeder gave me as it is what she was feeding him. The brand is Passwell 'Egg and Biscuit" Superior Formula. It seems to list a lot of nutritional things in there like Vitamin A, B B2, B12, C, D3, E and K. Also folic acid, choline, calcium, inositol, potassium, zinc, sodium, iron etc...

I also went to the shops yesterday to buy some fruit, veges and seed for him. I have been offering him fresh corn kernals and peices of pink lady apples. He has a taste of the apple, but doesn't seem interested. He sometimes takes the corn and it looks like he eats the fleshy bit out of it, but I'm not sure? He also picks up the seed, but doesn't crack it.

I wanted to ask about the sprouted seed and pellets. Where do you get them from? I haven't seen them anywhere!

[germaine]

Everything is going great with Germaine

I ended up buying him some rearing mix and pellets. I din't know that the rearing mix was a seperate food source, I thought it was just another name for the egg and biscuit mush I was giving him.

I have another question though...

I have given him some fresh corn kernal, and he seemed to have eaten them whole! Is that bad for him? Next time I will just give him a cob and he can pick at it, but I am worried about the whole kernals he has eaten...

[avinet]

Dec 6, 2011 12:50:50 GMT 10 germaine said:

I have another question though...

I have given him some fresh corn kernal, and he seemed to have eaten them whole! Is that bad for him? Next time I will just give him a cob and he can pick at it, but I am worried about the whole kernals he has eaten...

Not a problem - it will digest and pass on through. I also give kernals cut off the cob to my birds, have done for over 20 years without a problem

cheers,

Mike