I made a slight "oops"

[jessykai]

I'll start by saying the title is tongue in check and I in no way regret my little "oops".... However I did impulse by a galah :54:

I've had animals that have required a large commitment in the past (my horse was put down two years ago aged 30) so I'm not afraid of hard work!
I won't be able to have a horse again due to my health, but I knew I wanted an animal that would be more than a pet and have more like the partnership that you have with a horse. So decided to get a bird, researched birds as a general thing and then spotted an ad online for an 11 year old galah....

You can probably guess the rest! I went to collect him the next day and have now had him since Tuesday. He went to the vets on weds for a nail trim and a little check up and they confirmed my suspicions about him being a fatty (470g)! and also that his beak isn't in the best condition

He was being fed a bad quality seed diet that was very high in sunflowers, at the moment he wont eat veg/fruit or pellets, but I've put his bad food in a puzzle/interactive feeder so that if he wants it he has to work for it, and in his food dish he has harrisons pellets, a bit of tidy mix and 1-2 nutriberries. I'm trying to get him to eat other foods by sharing dinner time with him as well.

He has far more toys now than he had before (he just had a mirror, swing and mineral block) and I have also got him a UV light, so I'm hoping to see a much happier and healthier (mentally & physically) bird soon

Flying also isn't his strong point, his wings are intact and have been for a while, but I don't know if he was clipped previously. I have been encouraging him to fly to his cage from a couple of steps away and also leaving him on his stand while I do something fun down on the floor so he has to fly down to join in.

Any hints/tips that you can pass along to help him loose weight, get healthier, fitter and more active would be much appreciated!

 

[wrench13]

Congrats and welcome. Nothing there looks cheap or in bad shape including the bird.

 

[jessykai]

Congrats and welcome. Nothing there looks cheap or in bad shape including the bird.

Thanks, I might occasionally be impulsive but my animals will never want for anything (and I have enough common sense not to take on more than I can handle)

I would also like to add in case anyone reading this is getting twitchy, under no circumstance will this bird end up in rescue, or being passed from pillar to post. I'm with him for the long haul, I've already got battered fingers from misreading his body language a few times, I ignored the pain as much as I could, apologised for pushing him too far and moved on.

I'm learning to read him better everyday, and he loves nothing more than sitting on my shoulder going around the house with me and then being plonked on a perch while I get on and do things under his supervision!:09:

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hi there, and welcome to the forums, and many congrats on your new family member

You must have REALLY done some extensive research because his setup looks absolutely PHENOMENAL! Very well done!!! KUDOS to you!!!!

And by the looks of it, he's made himself right at home, sharing mommy's healthy food and all! Awesome!!!

 

[riddick07]

Careful with the peanuts. I pulled this article real quick off the internet so you get the general idea of why they can be dangerous if you aren't careful.
Aspergillus ? Are Peanuts Safe for Parrots | Parrot Parrot

Also, trash that bell. Parrots break off the tag in the middle and swallow the metal which can kill them. You can get a high quality stainless steel bell if you really want him to have one or he likes bells.

Beautiful bird! I got my Amazon to lose weight by some flying, better diet, and forcing him to climb a lot. So sounds like you are on the right track

 

[jessykai]

Careful with the peanuts. I pulled this article real quick off the internet so you get the general idea of why they can be dangerous if you aren't careful.
Aspergillus ? Are Peanuts Safe for Parrots | Parrot Parrot

Also, trash that bell. Parrots break off the tag in the middle and swallow the metal which can kill them. You can get a high quality stainless steel bell if you really want him to have one or he likes bells.

Beautiful bird! I got my Amazon to lose weight by some flying, better diet, and forcing him to climb a lot. So sounds like you are on the right track

He's annoyed with me for turning on the lights after literally just putting him to bed (I'm in the uk, it 9:30pm here), but the bell and the peanuts are gone!
Thank you for telling me!

 

[jessykai]

Hi there, and welcome to the forums, and many congrats on your new family member

You must have REALLY done some extensive research because his setup looks absolutely PHENOMENAL! Very well done!!! KUDOS to you!!!!

And by the looks of it, he's made himself right at home, sharing mommy's healthy food and all! Awesome!!!

Thank you! Although to be fair, he came with that cage, and the long perch in the middle, I just kitted it out with everything else, and he will be getting a much larger cage as soon as I can find one I think is right for us

 

[Siobhan]

Good food will go a long way toward fixing his weight issues. Is he willing to waddle around on the floor with you? Maybe a ball that you can roll for him to chase? A rousing game of towel? Rocky likes to chase Hubby around and Hubby holds a towel and they do a sort of bullfighting thing. Rocky attacks the towel, Hubby backs up, Rocky chases him and attacks the towel again. Or go in the next room and encourage him to follow you?

 

[Flboy]

Welcome, awesome! Fantastic you are so open to learning!!

 

[jessykai]

I owe it to my little bird to be open to everything I can learn that will be benifical to him!

He will waddle all day long! So hopefully I can start incorporating some of those games into his day

 

[itchyfeet]

It's great to see more Rb2's / galahs popping up on the forum, welcome!
Lol, to second what the others have said, for an impulse buy your certainly doing awesome
I wouldn't stress too much about the cage, I reckon Marley's is probably a similar size and he's happy. Look instead into a java tree type stand, they're not cheap but you can hang various toys/food off it and that might encourage him to fly from cage to station/station to cage a little.

 

[GracelynNBirds]

Such a pretty bird! I can't tell you how much I love Galahs. I don't have anything helpful like how to help a bird loose weight. I know getting birds from seeds to veggies is hard, I own a cockatiels and I'm trying to get her to eat more of her veggies! Congrats on you Galah.

 

[2greenconurestostart]

Congratulations! She is absolutely gorgeous! There are great recipes in that forum. Maybe bird bread?

 

[chris-md]

Mcongrats on your new baby!!

I swear, other people's cages give me such envy and guilt. They always look well thought out. It seems like no matter how I try to plan, my cage always looks like - to steal a quote from the timeless Will and Grace - overstuffed bigness. That, or underdone and sparse.

 

[kq_fan]

Your set up looks amazing! She is a lucky bird! Thank you for rescuing her, she is in a good place with a perfect diet and a perfect cage! Not much more to say then the obvious, snuggle her to bits! Cockatoos are sooooo cuddly and wanting of love and I am sure yo have that for her Congratulations on the new family member!

 

[thekarens]

Congrats on your new baby. Looks like you're doing a fantastic job. Good on you for doing your research.

 

[Tony21]

I have nothing to add as in the way of help, but I love the picture where he's got his own plate of food at the table! SO cute

 

[jessykai]

Thank you for all the replies
He really is a lovely bird! He isn't liking the new diet, but at least sunflower seeds are now high value enough to him that I can use them for clicker training.

I got home from work today, apparently he'd been quiet as a mouse all day (apart from chatting to my mum when she went up to check on him), and then when he heard me talking downstairs he got all excited and started calling, so I think we might be friends now

 

[Loubie]

That's great! I hope he brings you lots of joy
I'm looking at your play gym/perch thingy you have set up against the wall..
Did you make it?
I would love see more photos of it to get some ideas.. I would like to make some kind of stand/perch/play gym thing for my galah's to play on when they're out of their cages.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

WOW! I just love his cage and setup! Gee, I think even I would be entertained with it lol.

And he is absolutely beautiful!! Looks to me that he is in great health. you did good on researching. I,unfortunately did NOT,when I adopted Jonesy,a goffins 'too...but that's another story..:54:

and welcome to the forum. You will find many well informed,and caring people here. don't feel silly if you think a question is dumb that you want to ask. The only dumb question is one that is NOT asked!


Jim