galah behaviour

[lisa66]

i have a problem with a galah i have taken in.. i cant work him out i dont trust him.i want to but he is so unpredictable i take him out of his cage he seems ok then he will climb up and bite me on the back of the neck????i also cant let him run around on the grass because he will attack your feet, found that out the hard way..he puffs up and struts around .if i have him out and my husband or anyone comes outside he bites me???why please help.... can he be taught not to bite or am i fighting a losing battle????not sure how old he is ... HELP .....LISA >:(l

[davewa]

Hi,

When I first got Bob he did the same thing, I would pick him up and he would bite my hand or neck if he got that high and would bite my feet if he was on the floor. The main thing I put it down to was fear, Galahs are pink chickens and do not like change. I have just moved house and Bob has been with us for 8 years and now he is scared of me again because he is in a new house, he is starting to settle but it takes alot of time.
When others come out to see him and he bites you he is trying to let you know he is scared and wants you to move away from them, it is transference he bites you to say get me away from here.
My advise is get him use to his new flock, keep him in his cage in a main living area so he can see everyone. Take everything slow so he can adjust at his speed, we all want to interact with birds but it has to be on their terms they are prey animals so paranoid is good for them.
I have an outside house for Bob and that is where I spend time with him but it is a controlled environment. They get funny at different times of year and can be flighty this time of year and will do a free willy if you are not careful.
Other than that time is all you have and time is what it will take, I did find that once Bob flew around his big house the biting stopped. It seems like he now knows he can fly off my arm to his perch when ever he wants as he was not a good flyer for a while. Now he flies on and off at will and when we play o why bite when you can just leave.

Hope this helps.