Bob the Galah

[davewa]

Hi all,

I have just joined and hope to get to know you all.

I have a small but ongoing battle with Bob my Galah, he loves a scratch in or out of his cage will let me preen his feathers clean his beak etc but has a problem stepping up.
Most times when I try to have him step up he will do so gladly but will almost always draw blood from my fingers once he is on.
He has done this for 4 years now and I have read everything I can on birds but nothing relates to Galahs.
Now I presume most Aussie parrots are similar so the rules may apply to most but I would love to be able to move him around without blood loss if possible.
He is afraid of perches that are not attached so asking him to step onto one is impossible, he is scared of gloves tea towels pretty much anything new!
He spends all his days with all of my family at one time or another and is rarely alone for very long so he is use to activity.
I recently bought him a great out door gage and put a big log a new perch and some toys but he is scared to go in on his own and takes a thumb off 8 out of 10 times if he on my hand, when I do put him in he is happy and reasonably active and not in a hurry to go inside but once in is again happy as Larry, has anyone any ideas as to why he bites so much and why he is afraid of so much?

Thanks
Dave

[madaussie]

First off welcome are you his first owner?
j

[davewa]

Hi j

No I am not the original owner.

My now deceased cat found Bob just before he died, he had been dumped with his wings clipped badly and he was up the side of our house dancing to some music which was playing across the road. I took him to our vet who advertises lost pets but no-one was looking for him so I took him home just before Christmas 4- 5 years ago. He seems to like everything except going on my hand or shoulder which I have not tried for some years now because I like my ears! So I guess he may have been abused in some way but would have thought he may have forgotten about it because he trusts us so much it seems!

[vankarhi]

Well not allowing him on your shoulders is easy enough ....... just don't allow it. lol But as for the stepping up .... or lack of it lol

Have you just tried to sit with him next to his cage and just slowly put your hand in his cage?? Just quietly sitting there and continually putting your hand in his cage....maybe just doing something like playing with his seed or fruit/veges, maybe offering him a treat from his food bowls while your hand is in his cage?? I would be tempted to try this ....... it might take ages for him to decide hands are not too bad because treats come from them. Maybe you could then occassionally try to get him to step up......don't force him. Maybe you could tempt him with food by holding your hand in the cage and having food held further away so he has to step onto your hand to get the treat???

I owned a female galah and I had her since she was a young chick. She was never mistreated but she also was scared of "new" things and I always had to introduce new perches or new feed bowls etc slowly. I would leave them laying around so she could see them, then the next day maybe put them near her cage, then gradually on top of her cage, then i would wait until night time to put it into her cage so when she woke up it was in her cage. She did not have a problem with stepping up though.....non of my birds do, they all willingly step up for me.

Others will come on and give you different advise......it never hurts to have many differing ideas to try ;D

Oh and welcome too ;D

[davewa]

Thanks for the advise, yes I have done all of those things and he is no problem at all until after he has stepped up, sometimes he does nothing at all until 20 - 30 sec after the fact. He will take treats from me but not as a reason to not bite or go into his new 1.5x 1.5 x 2m outdoor palace.
I can clean his cage and give him a kiss in or out, just won't go onto my hand without blood 90% of the time!

[megzly]

some birds just dont like hands! i dont know why!! My corella slack sounds just like Bob, he is happy to have a scratch and cuddle but ask him to step up onto your hand and theirs trouble! he will happily step up onto my fore arm and i ball up my hand into a fist so that he cant eat me fingers will he step up onto your arm ok?

[davewa]

Hi Megzly,
Same deal with the forearm, I have rolled my fingers up and he now goes to the exposed part of the thumb joint. Maybe he is just one that will not step onto me without a snack, he will sit on my leg with no dramas if he climbs up on his own. I can pick him up with 2 hands around his wings, he tells me off but is happy once he is on a perch again, dunno maybe its his personality!

Slack, what a great name!

[megzly]

Hey Dave,

I guess some birds just dont like hands, and mabye hes learnt to bite fingers in the past? hopefully he'll see that your not reacting to his biting and get bored of doing it. Keep up with the training though, it might click with him one day that if he doesnt bite he gets treats. Lovebirds seem to have a fetish for finger biting too (bit smaller but they still hurt!) i give them toys to distract them as soon as they even look at my fingers to wrong way Seems to work!

Megan

[davewa]

Thanks Megan

[davewa]

Update on Bob

Today I did the same thing and asked Bob to go on my hand so he could go outside and play in his big cage.
He would not go on without a nip. no blood so he must have been in a good mood, so I gently put both hands around him and lifted him out and put him on his perch without too much carry on.
He had fun dancing with my wife and actually played with his extra long rope for the first time and had a good active day.
To get him back to his indoor cage I tried again and after 3 - 4 false starts he went onto my hand without incident and happily into his othr home, success at last, until next time that is, hopefully he remembers how nice it was to not pick skin out of his beak

[vankarhi]

well that sounds positive....for now. lol

[davewa]

Just a quick update, Bob has not taken skin or blood for 2 weeks now, I have rolled my hand over more so now he stands on the back of my hand with all fingers out of view! When he does try to nip he cannot get any loose skin and he gives up quite quickly which then relaxes both of us.
I tried doing more step up practice while he was in his outdoor cage and he was quite excited when we did a small transfer from one space to another. Once he had finished I congratulated him and he pranced along his perch rolling his head so I think he was proud of himself!