Bob is about 6 years old

[davewa]

Hello again,

I was talking to a bloke today about Birds, he has alot and helps out at shelters and stuff and he had a Galah in his car. So we talked breifly about them and he was saying that he has trouble with his males when they reach sexual maturity. He said they hump his foot and prefer his wife and some funny stuff, but anyway I was wondering at what age is maturity? As the heading says Bob is 6 nearly 7 and well he has never humped my foot or hand my sons Budggie has humped her toys but not Bob he is a good boy!
Also when is mating season for Galahs is it the same for all Parrots, maybe that is why he is biting at the moment among other reasons.

Thanks for your time ;D

[Robyn]

Hi there,

Galah's mature around 3 years so your Bob is an adult. Not all males are frustrated in that way. So your lucky. Breeding season is from July-August through to December. So Bob may be worse with his biting at that time. I have inherited a very old Galah that my uncle owned. As a kid i hated that bird, he used to chase us round the kitchen and try to bite our toes. Now as he ages i can do anything with him, mind you he is 70 years old now.
I think we all have had experience with a nippy bird.
About 3 years ago i rehomed a white too, he is such a lovely bird NOW but when i first got him he didn't like woman. So i had my work cut out for me. Slowly we went and inside the first year we became great friends. Now when we let him out for his daily run in the yard if i am not in his sight he will come looking for me. But having said that i respect him and keep an eye on the body language just in case. He will let you know if he isn't happy about something, he will give me a warning before he strikes. That beak of his could do some serious damage if he wanted to.
Cocky is 9 years old and has a great nature.
So hopefully with lots of work BOB should learn to trust you and the family.

[davewa]

Thanks Robyn thats just what I needed to know.

[scots001]

All male birds will "hump" if given the chance with a human and the males will also leave a secretion.

Naturally this behaviour should be stopped dead in it's tracks due to the bird becoming frustrated with it's chosen mate and issues do follow. They will scream, pluck or become overly aggressive. The aggression can be very serious.

I also have amazons. Anyone who has been around an amazon when they want to copulate has heard their death screeching screams and it's like running fingernails down a chalkboard. And it doesn't last just a few minutes, it can go on for quite a while, This applies to both sexes. They are not shy when the hormones are raging.

I wouldn't call what they do humping.. Possibly more like rubbing on a particular item, especially their human arm or hand. Stop them doing that immediately with either back in their cage or a quick jiggle of the hand to break the rubbing action.