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Crazy bird lady says HI!!

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Crazy bird lady says HI!!

Postby Galah44Sarah » Fri Oct 07, 2016 12:40 pm

Hello fellow Fid people!
So I am the one to be lucky enough to be owned by a 3year old (I think male) Galah and a slightly deranged budgie (pushed from the nest far too early and is a small bird with a really bad attitude!) :budgie: :hatched:

I'm contemplating another fluff to add to destroying my peace and quiet but not sure which to go for that would fit in...
I saw a beautiful yellow capped amazon (just 16weeks and stunning) earlier today that had been hand reared and was super friendly, however, my Galah, Tango, is SUCH A WUSS! He is scared when there is even a fly near him and as for the tiny little budgie that I "acquired" when it hit my window.... Well, it's safe to say that he becomes my shadow telling me he loves me.

Does anyone have ideas? I have two daughters (age 9 and 7) and I think anything like a grey is out of the question as I don't want one that bonds to one person strongly. My Tango is brilliant with everyone but does prefer to be with me when he's met them.

Any advice/tips are much appreciated!

Sarah
Galah44Sarah
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 12
Location: Staffordshire uk
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Galah rose breasted cockatoo, budgerigar, quaker parakeet
Flight: Yes

Re: Crazy bird lady says HI!!

Postby Wolf » Sun Oct 09, 2016 10:07 am

Welcome to the forum. I can't say that I have any advice at this time as I do not know enough about you or your birds.
Wolf
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is male
Posts: 8679
Location: Lansing, NC
Number of Birds Owned: 6
Types of Birds Owned: Senegal
African Grey (CAG)
Yellow Naped Amazon
2Celestial Parrotlet
Budgie
Flight: Yes

Re: Crazy bird lady says HI!!

Postby liz » Sun Oct 09, 2016 11:23 am

Welcome to the forum.

My first thought would be to get another budgie. Wolf is right though. Tell us more.
User avatar
liz
Macaw
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 7234
Location: Hernando FL
Number of Birds Owned: 12
Types of Birds Owned: DYH Amazon Rambo
BF Amazon Myrtle
Cockatiels: Shadow Tammy Flutter Phoenix Jackie
Andy Impy Louise Twila Leroy
Flight: Yes

Re: Crazy bird lady says HI!!

Postby Pajarita » Sun Oct 09, 2016 11:48 am

Welcome to the forum, Sarah, Tango and 'slightly deranged' budgie :lol: Several 'crazyu bird ladies' here!

Now, personally, I would not consider bringing another bird until your Galah is a sexually mature adult. Birds change A LOT when this happens and, in truth, one never knows how they are going to turn out. I've never had a Galah but I had two friends that had one and both of them were intensely jealous of other birds and people approaching their chosen human so, if I were you, I would wait to see what happens with Tango in the next couple of years because both of these birds would attack not only visitors (and I can attest to that personally) but also their humans' children (in both cases, the children were older teenagers but yours are still very young) in their attempt to keep everybody from threatening their relationship with their chosen one. Galahs don't act like the white toos, they are much more aggressive than they are...
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Crazy bird lady says HI!!

Postby Galah44Sarah » Mon Oct 10, 2016 4:30 am

Thanks for the replies!
Tango is coming up to 3, I'm guessing he is male as his iris colour has turned a dark brown (although I know this to not be a definite certainty) but I do call him my good boy.

He is VERY sweet and affectionate, I would say he is the perfect bird in all honesty. He is very clever and will even adapt his personality when he knows someone is nervous (fluffs up and becomes a baby bird wanting tickles!)
Although he will take love and fuss from everyone, he will only allow me to help him preen pin feathers and touch under his wings etc, so I know he sees me as his "person".

I took him on when he was 6months old after the person that had him, decided on a whim that they would buy this lovely hand reared bird when they walked into a pet store one day. They paid almost £2000 for him and a large cage. They then decided that they were petrified of him two months later and I was lucky enough to be the first to reply to the advert put on parrottrade website saying he was for sale. I went to see him with a 500mile round trip and they said he wouldn't come out of the cage. I put my hand in straight away and he immediately came up for fuss and climbed on. Needless to say I fell in love. I chose a Galah because I love the personality of 'toos but they appealed as seemed to be more relaxed. He has proved to be every bit as perfect as I had hoped.

Last year he survived being attacked by a friends dog (I've never seen anything so horrific - it was like seeing my child hurt!) the nearest vet I could get him to suggested having him put down as stress would kill him. He had puncture wounds under both wings and could not stand. Long story short, my vet nursing college course 18years previous and nights spent with him in my bed being syringe fed baby feed, he defied all odds and is now fully healed. If anything, it has brought us closer and he is even more affectionate to people as it was like hand rearing him a second time.

He is scared of the strange budgie... Mainly I think because the budgie just doesn't know how to interact. He must have been 4weeks when he flew into my window with a large head wound. I couldn't find out where he had come from so he has stayed. I have had many many budgies over the years, all super hand tame, but he has bamboozled me! When he has flight time (with tango safely hiding under my hair) he would rather do nothing other than pick at his bars and twang them to make a noise... It's like Chinese water torture! I don't know if it's possible for a budgie to have brain injuries, but if it is, I suspect that's what pidge the budgie has. When I was a teenager, I used to finger train other people's budgies, interacting them with mine and could do this over a few weeks (not a bad way to earn pocket money as I loved doing it!) but I just cannot do it with him!

The budgie avoids all people, but tango loves any attention. However, he is also happy to entertain himself... Sits atop his cage (door is always open.. No point shutting it as he can open it anyway so I gave up!) and he will play with toys and chatter away.

As I'm writing this I can kind of hear a voice saying "why rock the boat" as I have such a laid back bird at the moment and add another to the mix and risk havoc.

What age would tango likely sexually nature? I thought it was around 4 so am getting ready for it but I've heard so many different things. Loads of people have told me Galahs are a nightmare... I feel like I have maybe got lucky with my boy or its all to come as he seems to be too good to be true!

Any replies are grateful!

Sarah x :lol:
Galah44Sarah
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 12
Location: Staffordshire uk
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Galah rose breasted cockatoo, budgerigar, quaker parakeet
Flight: Yes

Re: Crazy bird lady says HI!!

Postby Galah44Sarah » Mon Oct 10, 2016 4:39 am

I would also add, I have a cat too which I also "acquired" as a neglected kitten (I was never a cat person but I couldn't leave him)
Tango will happily sit on my lap with Tigger the cat and even grooms him too.
Tigger obviously knows Tango is boss as right from a kitten Tango put him in the pecking order so to speak and there has never been any issues. Neither seek each other out, but there is a mutual tolerance and sometimes even a little affection when I am with them both.
Galah44Sarah
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 12
Location: Staffordshire uk
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Galah rose breasted cockatoo, budgerigar, quaker parakeet
Flight: Yes

Re: Crazy bird lady says HI!!

Postby Pajarita » Mon Oct 10, 2016 11:38 am

As I said before, I've never had a galah so I am just going by what other people have said or written about them and this is what I will share with you. For what I understand, they develop sexually between 3 and 5 years of age BUT I read once that from 4 or 5 years of age to about age 10, they develop a birdy PMS when they scream almost constantly (my friends' birds were both screamers). I don't know how true this is because, in my personal experience (umbrellas, lesser sulfur and citron), ALL cockatoos are borderline screamers, needing just the merest push to go over the line and get into the habit of constant screaming (the 'push' been that the care is not 100% what they need and, as they are more difficult than other species to keep happy, this is a common problem with all of them -mine are not screamers but one of them was - BIG TIME!). I've also seen more than once galahs compared to grays in the sense that they are much more high strung than the white cockatoos and more of a one-person bird (white cockatoos tend to be hams and enjoy attention from everybody when they are well-adjusted).

The thing with cockatoos is that they all require A LOT of one-on-one, a lot of chewing material, a lot of freedom, super strict solar schedule, etc -they are kind of like 'a lot of everything' :lol: and, because most people cannot manage to give them what they need, they end up with issues and been rehomed (cockatoos are the number one given-up birds). And they are not very good at sharing with other birds... Mine were adoptions and both came with severe behavioral issues, one plucked terribly (even barbered all his primaries, the bird had no wings and no tail!) and the other was a screamer -and, when I say 'screamer' I am talking all day long and even during the night if he happened to hear a noise and LOUD LOUD, constant screams (took me ten months to break him off the habit). They were both dearly loved by their owners but love is not enough when it comes to a cockatoo, you need to be able to give the extra care...

Yours is still not sexually developed and babies and juveniles are always loving and easy-going because there are no sexual hormones to 'mess things up' and they regard you as their mother but they grow up and, if one is not careful to keep them from becoming overly hormonal (cockatoos all have two breeding seasons a year and that makes them what we call 'hormonal birds') and is not there 24/7/365 for them providing one-on-one, things to chew, the right diet, etc that's when the problem starts.

Not that they cannot be 100% completely delightful birds! I LOVE my cockatoos :cockatoo: :cockatoo: to pieces! They are so very affectionate and funny, one cannot help but love them! But, in my personal experience and opinion, they are harder to keep than other parrots (and I've had experience with lots of different species) and, as all parrots are very difficult pets to keep healthy and happy, that's saying a lot...
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Crazy bird lady says HI!!

Postby Galah44Sarah » Mon Oct 10, 2016 12:06 pm

Yeah, getting his diet sorted has been hard. The people that previously had him literally had him exclusively on millet sprays!
It's been a long journey to get him to try other things, but if I try a bit first, then he will too. His feathers have become so much brighter and his droppings not as foul smelling!
Don't get me wrong, he has his cockatoo moments... Chewing my wooden table edges in the space of 20minutes. He also likes to match the noise level of the house... Quiet chatting, or full scale party, he can match whatever is given!
I am at home pretty much all of the time as I suffer from epilepsy and cannot go out alone.
He has proven how clever he is, I had collapsed in the kitchen and he had made he made his way through, sat on my shoulder and pulled at my eyelashes to wake me! (not in a way that pulled them out, but enough to wake me!)
I am fully prepared for any hormones... I have a red haired daughter... I can handle most things! Haha!

Good thing now I'm on this forum, I have a place to turn for help!
Galah44Sarah
Parrotlet
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 12
Location: Staffordshire uk
Number of Birds Owned: 3
Types of Birds Owned: Galah rose breasted cockatoo, budgerigar, quaker parakeet
Flight: Yes

Re: Crazy bird lady says HI!!

Postby Pajarita » Tue Oct 11, 2016 11:19 am

Yes, you do, and we mean that very sincerely! We are all bird lovers here and that means that we not only love our own birds but everybody's birds! The basic difference between this forum and other forums is that, here, we go mainly by science (I say 'mainly' because we are only now beginning to get any good studies on birds so there is still a lot of ground that needs to be covered) and do A LOT of research. So, ask away and we will answer to the best of our ability.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18701
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes


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