Galah Cockatoos - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (Need Info, Experiences Please!)

[Flit]

A Galah/Rose Breasted Cockatoo is on my short list of birds I am considering adding to my flock one day. Yes, I like to start my research waaay in advance.

I'm looking for information and experiences from people who have either owned Galahs or who have had significant experience with them. It's so hard to get a good idea of the actual picture about a bird species unless one has been elbows-deep with them for a good amount of time.

I want to know the good, the bad, and the ugly. Granted, all individuals are, well, individual, there are often traits shared across members. How loud, and what pitch, are their calls/screams? How do they act, in general, with their owners from when they are young to when they are old? As in: what sort of changes take place once they reach and then pass those "terrible twos?" How hard can their bites be (what is the potential range of damage)? Do they break the skin easily? Crush nerves? Leave a finger hanging by a thread?

Are they, by and large, very mercurial in their temperament? How do they differ between males and females (especially during the hormonal breeding season)? Do they generally make a habit of trying to make meals out of other birds? Are there any behaviors markedly different between sexes? What types of toys are best for them? Soft or hard woods? Plastic/Acrylic?

And whatever else you Galah owners can think of. Please, throw it all at me!

 

[Flit]

Also wondering if anyone knows of any good books out there that have a significant amount of good, accurate, up to date info regarding Galahs. Any reliable sources are welcome. Thank you again!

 

[Allessa]

Galah was the original Cockatoo i had wanted, but around here (at the time) you couldnt find one under 2200 dollars. And there was no way hubby was paying that much.

Over the years, i feel that personality wise, i wouldve liked them alot better than my Goffins. From what i "hear", they seem much more mellow, and not as "needy" as your normal cockatoo. MOST that I have met/seen talk pretty darn well and have a decent vocabulary. (mine doesnt say a word).

Hoping to hear more about them as well. They are still one of my dream birds.

 

[Renae]

We are getting a 4 year old Galah in 2 days hopefully, so can tell you more once he is here, but a bit of information below.

This species is more independent and more manageable, however, they can still be very noisy, demanding, and destructive due to they get bored easily so they need lots of different toys such as chewing, branches to chew on, and foraging items.

Another thing with Galahs is that they are prone to fatty tumors so they need a low fat diet, and plenty of exercise. (it is not recommended to clip them due to this)

Bites from them can be pretty nasty, I think the best thing to do is really focus on reading and understanding your birds body language so you can avoid this happening.

Here are 2 links with more information:

http://jamiesparrothelp.wordpress.com/2008/08/07/rose-breasted-cockatoos-as-pets/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galah

 

[jmfleish]

Well, I've had Kishka RB2 for about six months now...He came home in August at 4 months of age and will be 11 months old on Wednesday. I waited a really long time to make the plunge but always knew I wanted one. I went with a baby because I wanted one who had never been clipped. I did a LOT of research on them and thought I was fairly prepared for one but I don't know that research ever really comes close to actually telling you what living with a Cockatoo will be like.

I should mention that I also have a 10 year old D2, Reggie, who has been with me since he was 2, so 'toos in general were not a surprise to me when Kishka came home.

What can I say about him...he's incredibly entertaining, will play with anything, never stops moving...in general, a joy but I have to warn you, he can be very, very loud. He gets very loud when he plays hard with his toys and his boundless energy will cause him to get kind of crazy if he doesn't get significant time outside his cage to blow off steam. I've invested in ear plugs for his noisy moments!

He's very affectionate and loves to be on me, but he does not like to be held or cuddled. Neck and head scritches he loves and will demand though. When I first got him, he didn't even like those, but after finding out how great they feel, he's a true believer.

He does say a few things and started talking the first week I had him. He's got the cutest little voice I've ever heard. Sayings he's hooked on are Come here, Kishka, Tuchis (my TAG). There are probably a few more that I can't think of right off the top of my head. His language is slowly progressing though.

He has more attitude than I would have ever even thought a Rosie could have. I was a little worried about how he would fit in with my group of strong willed birds, especially my TAG who can be downright mean to other birds but Kishie really holds his own and tends to be the one to start trouble, going after Tuchis far more than Tuchis goes after him. He likes to tease my CAG, Clancy, too by flying at him when they are both on the floor.

I honestly can't say enough wonderful things about Kishie although he can be very loud but I guess you just learn to live with that. His bites are very subtle and he's never broken my skin but he's a good pincher and I've had pretty good bruises from him. He's nippy too but I think that's more because he hasn't really learned the word gentle yet. He spends a lot of time on his back playing with toys and just this weekend, he turned over on his back while sitting next to me and just played with his wings...cutest thing I've ever seen!

The one hesitation that I have is what he will be like once he hits puberty. I've heard a LOT of stories of these guys really turning into phobic birds once they hit maturity. I read somewhere that they are three times more likely to become phobic than other Cockatoos and there is no real idea as to why it happens or how to avoid it. I'm hoping that I started out well by not clipping Kishka and letting him call the shots. I've heard that clicker training is a great way to avoid the phobias too but I have yet to really do much with that.

If I knew that he would always be the sweet and crazy boy he is now, I wouldn't hesitate to say that RB2s make wonderful pets but I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little worried about hitting a phobic stage. We take it day by day though and so far, I've got no complaints.

Here are a few pictures of the little imp!

 

[Merlie]

My RB2 Jazz is female and almost 2 yrs. old.

She's fairly calm. Not too noisy, but she does have her moments. She has a weird beeping noise, almost sounds like the noise that is made when you click to set or disarm a car alarm.

She can be a bit of an attention hog, loves her scritches. She gets a bit jealous sometimes is another bird is getting attention and she's not.

She does fine with my other birds .. but she was a rehome, and came from a home that had a lot of other birds.

She has to have shredding type toys .. has to. She likes soft wood, and some beads/plastics .. but her love is anything shreddable.

She doesn't talk clearly yet .. but mumbles a lot of stuff. She loves to wander around the floor, which can be a bit annoying .. but Toos are "ground" birds so it's to be expected.

She's extremely opinionated and has no problem "telling" you what she wants in her way. She's not truly bit me yet, but she can get nippy and they hurt. RB's have smaller beaks, but they are deceivingly powerful.

I would say my Jazz is quite similar to Jen's Kishka .. perhaps a little mellower and quieter. Jazz does NOT like to be on her back though .. she freaks.

All and all, I'm extremely happy with my decision to add an RB2. I think they're great <for a Too .. >.

 

[JLcribber]

A TOO is a TOO is a TOO.

1 adult cockatoo = 1 three year old very hyperactive, athletic child with severe A.D.D. Who walks around with pliers, never grows up and never moves out.

 

[jmfleish]

A TOO is a TOO is a TOO.

1 adult cockatoo = 1 three year old very hyperactive, athletic child with severe A.D.D. Who walks around with pliers, never grows up and never moves out.

I don't agree with that at all. My D2 and RB2 are very different. I count Kishka RB2 as a half a 'too!

 

[Flit]

These are really good insights and information; please keep it coming! This is also why I ask about Galah-related experiences in particular since I've heard they have traits not typical of other 'Toos. Those are beautiful pics, Jen. I hope to hear experiences from people who've gone through the terrible-twos stage or dealt with older Galahs.

It's one thing to read books and the "marketing spiel" but quite another to get information from people with no agenda and who have actual experience with this species. I've learned that after having my BWP that the "spiel" can't be relied on as entirely accurate, much less the whole story. Don't get me wrong, I adore my pionus but the way pis are marketed isn't the whole picture much less entirely correct.

 

[Theresa]

A TOO is a TOO is a TOO.

I don't have a TOO but having met Mystic BP2 and talked with Tanya about the Black Palms she has known, it does not apply at all They absolutely don't fit the cookie cutter mold of Toos some try to put them in.

 

[samccormack]

One of the key differences I've noticed with RB2s that I have met and white cockatoos is they are definitely more independent and not as needy but they enjoy attention as much as other cockatoos and like to play and make noise. They make a beeping sort of sound that is different from the screeching sound that other cockatoos make although they can screech and have the same two voices that cockatoos seem to have (the whisper voice and the standard child sounding voice). Most of the galahs I've met talk but their vocabulary seems to be in the normal range for cockatoos.

One thing I've noticed with all the galahs I've met they are BIG scratchers. Whenever I've petted an RB2 they immediately start scratching like crazy usually scratching their head, grabbing your finger and putting it up on their head, etc. They are some of the softest TOOs although they don't seem to like petting as much as other toos and just want lots of head scritchies.

 

[jmfleish]

I forgot to mention that Kishie loves to ring like the telephone too. When he gets going, my greys start in too and now I'm never sure if the phone is actually ringing or not because there are too many birds that seem to need to be answered!

 

[AngelGoffin]

I have zero experience with the Galah, but Jen I love the pictures of your bird - what a beauty!

I think trying to get all the info that you can ahead of time is great. I wish you all the best on your hunt!

 

[Lobby]

Sounds like I may have the most experience with RB2s to post here at the moment, Strawberry just turned 11 and she will have been with us for 11 years next month. We finished her hand feeding. And I will say a 'too is a 'too is a 'too.

It is true that Strawberry is less demanding than Goofy but she is wanting more attention now than ever before. She doesn't scream for attention but if I go anywhere near the bird's room she starts chirping for me to come give her a scritch or 2 or 3. She is a little more skittish than Goofy but I would not call her phobic. She does not like wood, odd for her species, but loves shredding paper. In fact she shreds her phone book so fast that w/in a couple of hours of my cleaning her cage you'd never know I'd done it. She covered the entire floor in paper again. Strawberry has never shown any signs of talking or mimicking any sounds at all.

For the longest time she was so cage territorial that even when she invited you to scritch her (rarely then) it ended with her drawing blood. We used to make her grab a bar with her beak before we'd pet her and you had to stop before she let go or zap, blood. I believe she got jealous of watching me play w/ Goofy and decided she wanted that. Since then she has really blossomed into a loving a fun fid.

She was a little slow to catch onto some of the foraging things I have done and never has done well with most of the foraging toys that Goofy has. She does great with things wrapped in coffee filters. I had to start her with just loosely wrapped items at first but once she caught one now I can tie them firmly shut and she will tear them apart quickly.

I think the reason Strawberry was so nippy when she was younger was that we brought Goofy into the family to soon after getting her. Goofy came from the same PetSmart and was purchased just a few months after Strawberry. We didn't plan on getting another fid so soon but we felt so sorry for the poor treatment that Goofy was getting that we had to buy him. He was in a cage too small for a conure when we got him. I think Strawberry was frustrated that we had another bird to share our attention w/ before she was even a yr old.

Strawberry has the softest feathers I've ever felt. She is also the dustiest bird of our 'toos. I also just love her purr. It is so soft that I have not been able to record it. Too bad I'd love to make a loop of it to help me fall asleep.

 

[jmfleish]

Strawberry has the softest feathers I've ever felt. She is also the dustiest bird of our 'toos. I also just love her purr. It is so soft that I have not been able to record it. Too bad I'd love to make a loop of it to help me fall asleep.

I don't find Kishka to be nearly as dusty as my CAG or my D2. He doesn't leave a mess on my black shirts when he comes to visit me!

I also love the purr that the Rosies make...it's the cutest thing ever! I would try to get Kishie doing it but he does it in short bursts...it's enough to melt your heart.

 

[jmfleish]

I have zero experience with the Galah, but Jen I love the pictures of your bird - what a beauty!

I think trying to get all the info that you can ahead of time is great. I wish you all the best on your hunt!

Thanks, Kishka is a handful but he's also very charming and cute to boot!

 

[Patty]

I have a friend in Australia, his name is Redballoon and he has Galah's, has a ton of video's on UTube. He'd be happy to talk to with you.If you PM me I can give you the information. I don't have enough post to send you a PM.

 

[Flit]

Thank you so much for the new info, guys.

Please post more! Whatever you can think of about Galahs. I want to hear it all!

Lobby, thank you for posting your experiences. I hope you don't mind if I bug you more. How would you describe the type of bites she inflicts? Is it anything that'll send someone running to the ER? (I'm not overly bothered by getting bitten, per se, so much as I am concerned over the degree of damage of the bite...I can't afford a lot of ER visits. ) Or is it more like a type of bite you'd just clean and slap a bandaid on? How would you describe her behavior/personality before, during, and after she transitioned through her "terrible twos" stage? Do you know of any significant differences between male and female Galah behavior?

Also, thank you very much for the offer, Patty, I'll shoot a PM off to you.

 

[Patty]

I got the message but I can't answer you. I hate to put his email address out in the open. Any ideas?

 

[JLcribber]

I got the message but I can't answer you. I hate to put his email address out in the open. Any ideas?

PM it to a mod and they can forward it for you.

I hope Red is doing better these days.