My new Galah Max

[mandy85]

Hi everyone,

I recently aquired a pet Galah I named Max. He is absolutley gorgeous and I fell in love with him as soon as I seen him but I also have alot of problems with him I was wondering if anyone could help me out with them??

I have had Max for 2 weeks now and am getting really worried about him. I have a sneaky suspicion that maybe he was caught as a wild bird. I was told he is 5 months old but he is huge! I have a large cage that I keep him in and he seems OK except when people start going anywhere near him, then he starts pacing up and down the cage and looks really scared. I have plenty of toys in the cage for him but he simply refuses to play with any of them. As for his eating habits, i have tried everything to get him to eat his fruit and vegies and he will not have a bar of it, he tosses them all out of his cage and will only eat seed. I was told sunflower seeds are not good for Galahs as they can make them put on alot of weight and are not nutritious, but that is all he will eat out of his seed. I have tried picking them out so he doesnt get any and then he just refuses to eat anything until I slip a couple back into his feeding bowl.

He also will not come anywhere near me when I change his food and water or clean his cage out. he has bitten me a couple of times but it is only little nips that don't register at all, so I am not to worried about that. He has one wing clipped ( it was like that when I got him) and I would love to have him trained so he could come out of his cage and play around the house but am at a total loss as to what I should do considering he seems soo petrified of people!!

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I refuse to give up on Max and still have alot of hope that he will make an awesome companion, I just need help and ideas on how I should be going about it..

[vankarhi]

Ok ........ what colour is he?? As in does he have a lot of grey feathers diffused throught the pink feathers?? If so then he is young. Are his eyes still dark?? If so then he probably is a junenille (spelling) if he has a greyish look about his feathers. Adult females has brownish orangey eyes.

Galahs don't seem to like change...........I thought it was only my girl but it seems according to most people here with galahs.....it is a galah thing. So with his toys he quite possibly just needs time to get used to them. The pacing can be excitement.........but as I can't see him I cant really say. My girl used to pace all the time when she got excited and wanted to come out.......she would swing her head around too.

If he was wild caught and not used to humans he would be terrified of you and he would be screaming everytime you came near him and he would bite not nip.

It is possible he probably was parent raised and just not had much handling from humans.

As for the seed.........give him small parrot mix and if there are a lot of sunflower seeds then try to take some out if possible. They do become seed junkies. Maybe tempt him with millet sprays and corn cobs and apples/rockmelon/passionfruit/broccoli.....the list is endless. Sprouts etc etc. Maybe try to sprout his seed too at least that is better than dry seed.

[mandy85]

Max is prodominantly light grey on his back and and wings and has very dark almost black tail feathers ( they are only that dark near the tips of his tail feathers). His got very dark (black) eyes and the colour surrounding his eyes are very pale pink.

He seems like he wants to interact with me when I talk to him but only as long as I am not too close to his cage and when he seems like he has had enough he starts hissing and all his feathers fluff up. He is very quiet and doesn't seem to make much noise at all which I thought was odd because everything I have read indicates they are very noisy birds......

I am going to keep trying with the fruit and vegies and give him a smalll variety everyday.....

Also, do you know any good techniques to try and calm him down or trust exercises so I can bring him out of the cage and into the house?

Thank you for your help

[davewa]

Trusty is earnt very slowly with Galahs sometimes and can depend on how they started life. Galahs are a very quiet parrot compared to others I have seen, they may make noise a couple of times a day but generally if they are with the family all the time they are very content to watch and learn. Moving closer inch by inch and at a slow pace is your best chance if he hisses try moving back until he stops and seems comfortable, then a while later try moving 1 inch closer until he leans back then stop and try again later.
You will need to try to read his body lanuage, if he leans back he is scared and you need top stop and not move so close.
You can try reading a few mags on parrots thety are helpful but time is your best friend they live a long time!

[vankarhi]

By "Grey feathers" I meant are they "diffused" through the pink feathers on him??? They do have grey wings and tail etc but when they are juveniles they have grey feathering/colouring through their pink feathers on their chest and crest area (galahs lighter pink area on their heads is their crest).

For him to be hissing at you makes me think he is not tame. It is illegal to catch galahs now a days (maybe some people with permits can do it). My understanding is if you buy a galah from a store or a breeder then it should have been aviary bred. So ............ I am going to assume your guy has been aviary bred and parent raised?

Yes keep giving him variety of food every day. Try to tempt him with everything and anything.......being aware that galahs do seem to freak out at new things for some reason.

As for trying to tame him.........try as Davewa above suggested, just keep talking to him softly and trying to put your hand in the cage slowly and moving it around and trying to slowly edge it closer to him. Telling him softly he is a good boy etc etc. You did say he has a clipped wing?? Maybe leave his cage open?? So he can come out when he feels comfortable?? Maybe when you are sitting around watching tv or something so that you can keep an eye on him "quietly"

Once he has gained your trust he will make a lovely pet. Galahs are a lovely bird to own.

[vankarhi]

p.s ......... I forgot to say..........Galahs are not a noisy bird. You want to hear noisy??? Listen to my eclectus.....any of them when they are in a good mood OMG they can give a cockatoo a run for their money at times.

[carlsandclan]

It can take a LONG time for galahs (or any other bird, for that matter) to come to trust you. There are heaps of websites out there that can help you learn about his body language. Being able to learn what he is telling you by his body language is SO important. Some things actually don't mean what you might think they do, so I would look it up.

Keep offering new foods. Sprout his seeds - it's so easy to do, and my birds all love them. It's a good way to introduce them to fresh foods when they've been brought up on seed. Don't let him fool you - he will eventually eat what is there. Well, that's what I found with my galah, AJ. I also put vegies on a kabob - AJ likes them that way better. Galahs seem to like vegies more than fruit, too.

Patience, patience, patience. Things take time with our pink chickens!