Greetings from us in Massachusetts!!

[Rach1979]

Hi y'all,
My name is Rachel. I'm a single mom of 6 yr old boy/girl twins. My son was diagnosed w ASD some years ago and is quite high-functioning. He is FASCINATED with animals and we've seen huge improvements w him by the way he interacts w our furry friends.
We have a
2yr old Morkie (1/2 Maltese/ 1/2 Yorkie) Gracie
1yr old Biewer Yorkie-Bruiser
75 gallon tank w/ 5 fancy goldfish
And drumroll please....our newest member of the family, a 4 mo Rose Breasted/ Galah Cockatoo that a friend asked us to take in after accepting a job offer in Japan that she didn't know was going to happen.

I did as much research as I could b4 we got him (DNA tested) but i def needed to join a forum for all the questions and knowledge that comes with being a bird owner.

He is a doll! We got him last week and he is still acclimating. My twins aren't allowed to hold him yet but are aloud to give him scrtiches and pet him.

He was hand feeding 1x (nite) but regressed and now he eats in the morning and nite from me and I do like the idea of letting him decide when he's ready. He also gets fresh veggies and fruit as well as seeds which is noshes on throughout the day

My friend hesitantly and reluctantly clipped his wing due to her ceilings being very high the ceiling fans. Which leads me to my first question about how long do I wait until they grow back or is it different for every bird?
I'm a true believer or should be for the fly.

We have an appt w an Avian vet in an hour where I can ask some more "basic" questions but like my son w ASD, other parents were the best resources!

A couple starting questions...
My friend had him go on her shoulder and the only time I've been accidently nipped is when he's up there. Every time I hold him, even arm length away from me, he jumps right for my shoulder. How do I retrain him to not go up there? Or do I need to master another form of training 1st?

How do others introduce new foods?

Are there some good tell tale signs that indicate to stay away or is it different w every bird?

From the age of 12 to 23 I worked at a local pet shop and have a aviary downstairs so I have some experience with young birds but not as much as I would like so I have some experience with young birds but as a family member.

Alright, I got cut this short to get ready for our appt but thank you in advance for being here and all the informationI've learned so far!

Be back after our appt!

Cheers,
~Rachel & Dash

 

[CeciliaZ]

Welcome Rachel, Dash and family! I have no experience with larger birds - just the "littles" (5 tiels and a lovie) There are many here that can offer great advice for you

 

[sunnysmom]

Welcome to the forum! Your too is beautiful! Galahs are one of my favorite birds. We have quite a few members here with Galahs and I'm sure they will give you some great advice. : )

@tastybeets ? @Tanya ?

 

[SandraK]

Hi Rachel, Dash and the rest of your furless, furry and finned family (tha's alot of Fs, now isn't it?). I had to chuckle when I looked at your photo - that little pinkster has "mischief" written all over his beautiful little pink face. Don't feel shy abut posting photos of the rest of your companion creatures, we might be mainly avian, but we're always curious about other people's companions.

 

[greys4u]

and Welcome

 

[expressmailtome]

Welcome, and enjoy the site!

 

[Tanya]

Welcome, welcome!

Rhubarb is a 3 year old Eastern Galah hen. We're not too far from those sweet baby years.

You asked a ton of really good questions! I'll do my best to answer what I can.

The first and most important thing is to set up routines. We had a lot of behavioral issues with Rhubarb until we got her on a fairly strict bedtime/wakeup schedule. They need about 12 hours of sleep per night to be happy, healthy little 'toos. For us this meant a smaller sleep cage in a quiet room away from the living areas.

Having a set breakfast time and place is also helpful. New foods can be introduced at breakfast, and since they're in the food location it may only take a month to try something new instead of six. Eating the food in front of him will also help. Rhubarb is certain that the watermelon in our hand is superior to any we leave in her dish. If you don't mind a little beggar, feel free to feed parts of your food that haven't been near a human mouth (we have bacteria there that is rough on the birdy system).

Routine is also important in the words used. When we brought Rhubarb home, we started a list of words to use with her (and what they mean). Like "step up", "breakfast time!", "want scritches?" (with a finger wiggle in front of her face, waiting for her to face puff) and "comin' in" when we were about to put our hand in her cage. This allowed her to somewhat predict what was coming and as far as possible gave her little choices to make (as in the case with scritches).

Shoulders are a dangerous area. Rhubarb only gets to be there on very rare occasions, and only when we have her directly step there from a hand (with the words "Shoulder, down"). We didn't want a bird that would run up the arm of anyone new and try to forcibly remove that wonderfully shiny earring! Some Galah's seem to believe they are Remy from Ratatouille... and that they can steer their human simply by biting the ear in the right place to get whatever it is that they want.

It's good of you to let him self-wean. He'll be a better adjusted bird because of that! As far as the wing feathers are concerned, that may be a bit of a wait. Rhubarb molts her wings once a year, in the spring. There's a partial molt in the fall at our house, but that's only a few body feathers.

I hope I didn't forget anything! Looking forward to hearing how it went with the vet.

 

[txdyna65]

 

[Cynthia & Percy]

welcome

 

[tastybeets]

Welcome, welcome!!

My man, Indiana, is a 2ys old and fully flighted. I'll be happy to chime in on these questions!

He was hand feeding 1x (nite) but regressed and now he eats in the morning and nite from me and I do like the idea of letting him decide when he's ready. He also gets fresh veggies and fruit as well as seeds which is noshes on throughout the day

- I know this pain. I know it so so well...

My friend hesitantly and reluctantly clipped his wing due to her ceilings being very high the ceiling fans. Which leads me to my first question about how long do I wait until they grow back or is it different for every bird?
I'm a true believer or should be for the fly.

I brought him home from the breeder clipped 4mos old, and I wanna say it was probably a year or just over a year later that he had fully grown flights and was able to actually zoom around.

My friend had him go on her shoulder and the only time I've been accidently nipped is when he's up there. Every time I hold him, even arm length away from me, he jumps right for my shoulder. How do I retrain him to not go up there? Or do I need to master another form of training 1st?

- Curb shoulder habits quickly! Indy was never a shoulder bird, but a head bird. What worked was removing him immediately any time he managed to make it to a head. No fussing, just a quick removal. You can try and distract him from moving to shoulders with shinies or treats. I always felt that talking to them while they're up there, even if it's to chastise, was rewarding, so make it quick and quiet!

How do others introduce new foods?

- I personally just offered them until he got interested. Indiana was on seed until he came home. I offered bowls of chop, pumpkin pieces on a skewer, and sliced fruits. He took to them immediately, but sometimes I think you just need to waste a lot of food to get them interested. Offering new foods during playtime seems to help Indiana be a bit less frightened (he is scared of everything).

Are there some good tell tale signs that indicate to stay away or is it different w every bird?

- Indiana has developed a warning beak grab when I'm doing something he doesn't like. If he wants to come out, he will get on a perch I have attached to his door. If not, he stays in the back of his cage. I never reach towards him and only offer my hand rather than pushing it against his tummy to get him to step up. This is all stuff I learned through trial and error based on his personality though. I've seen many birds offer out a warning whether it's a gesture or noise.

 

[Newbie GCC]

Cute addition to the family!

 

[zoo mom]

Welcome.

 

[Smbrds]

Congrats on taking in the galah. He's a cutie. They are one of my favorite toos. There are several here who have galahs.

And,

 

[Rach1979]

Omg, I'm so wonderfully overwhelmed by all the welcome!! A thousand thank you's!!
It is so nice to have a place to come where others share their love and experience!!
So I took Dash to the Avian vet and he got a clean bill of health. In fact, Dr Noonan said we are ahead of the game in his other experiences w Too's he's seen...in the sense Dash is very friendly and eager to learn. He showed me how to perch him on my hand so he doesn't try to scurry up my arm, on to my shoulder. That lasted until he realized he could "dash"/ leap on to it. He loves it up there and I have to admit, we walk around doing chores and what not...I do plan to start implementing so "trick training" w him tomorrow and I'll try to be more vigilant with keeping him off since I think we all can agree that it's soooo much easier to teach a behavior, than try to break one!
The vet wasn't crazy about me letting Dash pick when he stops hand-feeding and that I should try in the next month to make it my goal to get him off it. He also to me to lay off the seeds which he was eating b4 he came to us and get him on a pellet diet. I was doing research and came across that pellets aren't great and they can cause behavioral/anxiety in larger birds. Dr. said that I should be feeding him 60-70% pellets/ 20-30% fresh foods and 10% seeds. I just started introducing new food such as the fresh ones and we start the pellets tomorrow. He said that I should keep a good eye on his weight (I have a scale that Dash gladly steps up on) and that once I introduce new food that I could see a 10% drop in weight. Thoughts on the food section?
I also heard that it's important to make sure we focus on giving scrtiches/pets above the neck area due to mating issues. Does anyone have experience with petting below the neck? It feels so limited otherwise.

Again, thank you all for the warm welcomes and helping take care of him. I tend to let my pets run the show...not for any reason but because they are so darn cute and out of love but I rlly want to make sure Dash is well-rounded and happy...as well as us humans.

Ttys!!
~Rachel

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Welcome to the forum Rachel! I have a fondness for the pink too's. You are right on track with asking questions and vet check. Petting below the neck is just a bad idea as it will encourage your too in a sexual manner towards you when Dash matures. Once they reach maturity it can be confusing for them and they can easily become frustrated and exhibit behaviors such as aggression towards you and family members. Galas are known for their nippy tendencies. It is much easier to train positive behavior than break a bad habit. It may be fun at the present to allow him to ride on your shoulder but you have no control when they are there. Birds love to be up high so they prefer the shoulder but if and when ( and it WILL happen) you receive a bite to the face, ear or neck you may have difficulty getting him to step off to your hand and possibly suffer bites to your hand too while trying to get him off your shoulder. One bad event leaves a lasting impression on your pink guy…and you. Better to be safe than sorry. I personally don't see seed as a bad thing but should only be given in very limited amounts. I only give my amazons a teaspoon of seed in the evening a couple of hours after I've fed them my cooked grub I make especially for them.. it also has fresh chopped veggies in it. Pellets are always available for them. If you will be feeding a fresh chop mix in the morning and evening keeping a bowl with only pellets available through the day will be fine. Most birds on pelleted diets are dunkers with those pellets. They like to "dunk" much like we do with a donut and coffee ( or cookie in my case ) so the water cup should be near the pellet cup. Dunked water gets nasty so replace it as often as needed. Visit the food court section to get ideas on chop mixes and recipes. Yup… one more kid, or Fid as we call them, to keep you on your toes! You will enjoy him.. he's a beauty!!!!

 

[SueA555]

Welcome! Dash is a great name. When Joey was young, he kept trying to get on my shoulder. i told him shoulder no and moved him somewhere else. When he was about 15, i decided i trusted him enough, and he's been riding on my shoulder ever since. No problem with bites. it depends on the bird.

 

[calibird]

Welcome to The Avenue.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Welcome to AA.

 

[Animallover03]

Welcome!

 

[Macawnutz]