Taming 2 Galahs at once?

[na-cho-cheese]

hi there,
i recently purchased two galahs one female one male, they are 4 years old and untamed.
Wondering if its possible to tame them both at once? so target train them both in the cage, getting them out eventually.
They are still frightened of me so it would be hard to seperate them. Or do i take one out when i can and do separate training?

thanks in advance

[Wolf]

There is no single answer for your question. To begin with you have only just gotten them recently, which is too large of a variable to work with as there are questions as to what is recently to you, a few days, a week, a month? The answer to that probably explains why the birds are afraid of you and what the proper approach should be. In all likelihood you have not yet had them long enough to worry about training per se until you can gain their trust. To know what needs to be done about this we need to know how long you have had them and what their diet is. We do need to know why, at 4 years of age, they are not tame. Is this because they were used as breeding birds or what? Breeders are treated much differently than companion birds and that way of handling does not encourage the birds to trust you so if that is the case then you are going to have a long road ahead of you before these birds are going to be ready to be companion birds and then to be ready for training. If this is what you have, retired breeder birds then you have first got to rehabilitate them before you can do a lot of training as in trick training or flight training. Still rehabilitation is still a type of training, but it is more like life and social skills type of training and does not have any schedules as any and all interactions with these birds is training. They are probably not on a good diet and so you will probably have to teach them to eat a good and healthier diet, we will know more about that when you share with us their dietary information. Just so that you understand the importance of this, diet affect their emotions as well as being heavily involved in their breeding cycles. Getting them to trust you is the hardest part of what you have to do and especially this early on I don't think it is wise to separate them, but their will be a time when you will need to work with them separately and even then I can't yet say whether that will mean separate but in sight of each other or in a separate room altogether as we are not at that level just yet. I think that at this point of their lives that if you were to try to separate them you would have two unhappy screaming birds that are not going to pay any attention to any form of training.

Please excuse me for going on as if you have no experience with birds and I realize that I should have started this with asking you about you knowledge about parrots as well as how much experience that you have. I do not mean to be insulting, I am just in the habit of trying to explain why I would respond to birds in the manner that I do. So I tend to explain what I would do as well as why.

The more we know about your birds and your knowledge and experience the better we can assist you in developing the relationship with them that you want to have and for that you can also tell us about your hopes and dreams for yourself and these two birds so that we can also take that into account when making suggestions to you.

[na-cho-cheese]

Thanks Wolf for your reply, really appreciate it.
I have had 2 sulfur crested cockatoos in the past, my most recent flew away 3 months ago from being startled by a loud sound. Both were untamed and after doing alot of research about them i got into a routine to help them get comfortable and be able to get in contact with them. Also some rainbow lorikeets and budgies. Love having birds as pets although they are so complex

I got these Galahs yesterday, i know its wayy too early to start anything at all
i was just curious to what people thought because ive never had two cockatoos at once especially two that are so bonded together. yes they are retired breeders, im aware that will take longer then usual to earn their trust.
what do you mean by rehabilitating?

when i said separate i mean to take one out in another room for a session then switch, just for training.

i haven't gotten anything specific yet except for a seed mix and removing sunflower seeds.
im hoping to stick to the same diet i had for my previous cockatoo.
which is a mix of cooked lentils/brow rice, fruits such as apple/banana/berries etc, Harrison's high protein pellet food and veggies carrot/celery/cooked mash potato/ baby spinach/tomato etc, a nut mix and seed mix. plenty to choose from and will try my best to mix it up for them.

my brother this morning opened the cage door for them and eventually they sat on top of the cage just chilling together then we got stuck not knowing on how to get them back in and that was very stressful for us and them so never again for now. they are both clipped but still fly short distance.

i hope i answered what you've asked. im so loving their cute voices and they are just so beautiful cant wait to be able to play with them, but i know that will take lots of patience on my part.
like i mentioned in my previous post im just puzzled as to how i would approach training as little as taking a treat from me to doing a step up, and i dont want to take them out of the cage i want to keep them together because they comfort each other.

thank you

[liz]

They are not wild they are scared. You have not had them long enough to try to work with them.
I think it might work to your advantage if they have been together for a while. They have each other to back them up.
Start with the moving them to perch at face level. Limit touching their cage. Make yourself available as much as possible for them to watch you while you are doing something other than with them.
I have taken in rescues. The easiest rescues are the ones who came as mated pairs. To protect his female the male would always put himself in front of her. I use that to an advantage to communicate with him while ignoring her. He will bond to me since he knows I am not going to hurt his mate and she will come around eventually since she sees our interaction. I don't try to touch them and keep my hands palm down at all times. There are only a few in my flock that will step up but there are others that will land on me to "whisper" their secrets.
Respect their space and give them plenty of time to figure you out. You can be learning their personalities in the mean time.
You are expecting too much for the short time you've had them.
Knowing not ver6y much about Amazons I did about everything wrong until corrected in this forum.
Myrtle was scared half to death when I got her. She was clipped and that made it worse. When she would put her foot up to warn me to stay away, in my ignorance I wiggled my finger and said "tickle tickle" and touched the palm of her foot. It was a short physical contact so after a couple times when I said "tickle tickle" she raised her foot. I don't know if she was still telling me to back off but after a while she would put her foot up when I said "tickle tickle". She is so social after about 5 years (she is almost 6 now) she will fly to strangers who come to the house and ask for a tickle.
I rambled too long. Give them respect and let them come to you.

[na-cho-cheese]

Thanks Liz, im fully aware that its way to early
like i said, im just curious as to what you guys thought for how i would approach them once they are comfortable

Day 3 and i can see that they are playing and moving around more in the cage, i can sit a meter away, no eye contact and they are fine with it. only when i come too close or to change their food bowl they rush to a corner of the cage away from me. I read in the post that Michael wrote about pausing when they get uncomfortable and only stepping away when they calm down, so I've been giving that a shot. I spend hours with them just walking around, or as im cooking and talking with them, people are going to think im crazy hahaha
i put a perch stand next to the cage so they can get use to it and hopefully when they are okay with me close to the cage i can move on to offering a treat and soon moving them to the perch like you suggested.

[liz]

Sorry Na-cho. My kids get on me about telling them something they already know and that I should know they already know it.
I'm old you have to cut me some slack. Ha Ha

[Pajarita]

Well, in my personal opinion, the answer as to whether they can be tamed or not depends on two things:
1) where these birds hand-fed or parent raised?
2) what, exactly, do you mean by 'tame'?

Hand-fed birds, even the ones that were later used as breeders, always retain the imprinting to humans so it's just a matter of reminding them that humans are good - how long this might take or how difficult it is depends on the treatment they have gotten since then. Parent-raised that were used as breeders are a different kettle of fish... I am not saying it cannot be done but it requires years and years and a lot of knowledge in parrot behavior as well as commitment, time and work.

As to what you mean by tame, well, the thing is that this means different things to different people. To me, as long as a parrot does not fly out to attack me and I can put food and water in front of him without getting bit, it's tame enough. But, to other people, tame means a parrot that will perch on their shoulder and give them kisses which, to me, is a companion and not a tame bird.

I would allow them a few months to get used to the new home, routine and me and, slowly and entirely at their pace, start incorporating elements that would show trust - like baths, treats, etc as well as simple verbal communications like "Good morning!" when I first see them in the morning or "Go home!" (that's the command I use, you can use anything you like) when I want the non-companion as well as the companion ones to go back into their cage. Parrots like to know what is going to happen and are very comforted by routine so keep a super strict one every single day (and that means weekends, holidays, sick days, etc -every day means EVERY day of the year to a parrot), using always the same words to indicate an action (whether this action is one you are doing while you say it or something that is coming up like putting out fresh food for them or offering a treat). This will make them feel safe and establish a relationship between them and you (because they will understand that you are communicating with them). Eat your breakfast with them (and that means you eat their breakfast -I don't fee pellets, I don't think they are the best dietary option for parrots, I feed gloop but I only eat the fruits now), foraging is a flock social event and this will tell them you want to be part of the flock.

Take it easy and don't even worry about training them. You have a long way in front of you before you even get to that point.

[na-cho-cheese]

haha no no i totally get you Liz, ive just had my fair share of being told off on other forums that i should back off and give them space still leaving me clueless as to how i can approach them when they are comfortable with me.

im unsure if they are hand raised
they definitely do not bite, they run unless you come too too close to them. I feel they are both really well in that sense but they are just so scared of me. so im staying in the closest possible area that i can and they are comfortable with me being there, keeping it that way for a while not going to push it and try to come closer so they dont freak out

my definition of being tame is like you said being a companion bird, to be able to be in contact with them which i know takes a while. i experienced it with my 2 other cockatoos
my most recent was a biter and i had to deal with him from far and stepping up on a perch at first. slowly progressing to up on my shoulders he was just so beautiful and achieved major changes in his behavior which took about 2 months from day 1 of receiving him.

about their food they reject any fresh foods and love their seed mix which im guessing is what the breeder had them on for a while, trying to introduce fresh foods slowly with their seeds
will try my best to be consistent on the verbal contact

*random questions as ive seen many different answers to it. from yesterday they have been pacing back and forth on their perch and bottom of the cage, both do it at the same time. anxious? bored? want to get out? would love to let them out but problem is getting them back in so would rather not

thank you

[Pajarita]

Yes, it is anxiety and of course they want to come out, wouldn't you? The first thing you need to do is switch their diet to a healthier one because if you continue to free-feed seeds, your are not going to be successful in taming or training them to do anything. The reason for this is that parrots need to be bribed for them to do anything. This bribe can be nothing more than praise (which is what I use) but, for that to work, you need to have parrots that trust you completely and love you and that takes a long time to achieve. So you need to have what is called a 'high value item' which is nothing more than something to eat that the parrot can't usually refuse because it likes it so much and doesn't get it all the time. This is always a high protein food item (usually a nut or a piece of one) so, if you free-feed high protein all the time, you simply don't have much of a high value item, see what I mean?

Now, you really need to get the answer to the question of whether they were hand-fed or not because at four years of age, you are dealing with adults and, if they never imprinted to people, are not tamed and were breeders sold as a pair, these birds are, most likely, mate-bonded and had nothing but negative experiences with humans so I might as well tell you that, if this is the case, your chances of getting them to be companions are almost zero. It's always tempting to get a cheap pair of beautiful birds but there is a reason why ex-breeders are cheap so you need to be clear on the expectations you have of them.

In my opinion, the things you need to do are:

1) put them on a fresh food diet so they eat something like gloop for breakfast and a good quality seed/nut mix for dinner (you also need to find out if they had been given vitamins regularly and what kind because, if they hadn't, you need to do it as a seed only diet is terribly deficient).

2) identify their individual high value item (once they have been switched to the new diet -and that means that they have been eating it for about two weeks straight-, place different nuts (2 of each kind) on a paper plate at the bottom of the cage right before dinner and watch which kind they each take first.

3) once you do this, you will be able to let them out of their cage because they will gladly go back into it for their seed/nut dinner.

4) while you are switching them to their new diet, spend time in the same room with them. Watch them out of the corner of your eye (never stare at them directly, that's a predator trait and it makes them distrustful and anxious) and note at what distance they react to your presence and, when they do, take a step back and stay at this distance to do your talking (you can sit down and read a book, watch TV, play computer games, whatever, just talk to them every now and then). As time goes by and you put no demands on them, they will begin to relax in your presence (look at their posture, plumage and behaviors and learn their body language by making mental notes of how they look when tense and relaxed). Once they are always relaxed in your presence no matter how close you are to the cage and are taking treats from your hand eagerly, you can start target training them inside the cage.

They also need to be kept at a strict solar schedule because cockatoos are naturally hormonal birds and the males are very protective of the females so you need to make sure that they never get to be overly hormonal or there will never be a good time during the year to make any kind of progress. They should, also, have out of cage time and flight. Flying disperses stress and sexual hormones and the calmer they are, the better off you will be.

Now, how long it will take for them to trust you completely and be able to start the actual training and physical interaction depends entirely on how strict you are in the routines, the solar schedule and how much time and work you put into taming them - it could take you some months, it could take you years or it might never really happen. It's all on you.

[na-cho-cheese]

Thank you for breaking it down, really helps out

I have put them fresh foods today and they went all morning just looking at it till they got hungry and went for it, i then treated them with some millet spary. And to be honest after reading what you wrote i thought most likely they would never trust me and i appreciate you being realistic with me. The male (kai) was pacing again so i opened the cage door and he flew to the stand then on the cage and offered him a millet spray. At first he was hissing and wings out/crest up giving me a warning to back off. He eventally came and took a piece from me, so happy about that. It started off as very aggressive pulling at the millet spray then he just stood there coming back for more. I then offered Cleo in the cage and she accepted the treat from me as well but much calmer then Koi. I dont want to get over excited but im super super happy about that and will not be asking more from them for a while, will try to stick to this.

To answer what you have asked, i spoke to the breeder today and he has had them for 3 years and in thoes 3 years they were never dealt with by people.

For the solar schedule i have them put in my bedroom so we are always around and a window for them to get the correct rest they need.

As long as i takes, will try my best to not push it with them and stick to a strict reutine.

*Hope you dont mind another random thing i would like to ask you, as its been a few days and i can see they are more comfortable they show more of their personality i guess.
Koi has been pushing Cleo around everywhere in the cage, pecks at her to move off the perch, pecks at her to move away from the food bowl then when she moves to the other bowl he will finish with his then moves to hers and pecks at her again. Its really bothering me to see that shes not comfortable and only relaxed and went down to eat when he was out of the cage.

Anything i can do to help? I dont have another cage to seperate them. Maybe i can take turns having him eat first then let him out and other way around

Thanks