Lina's Journal-Road to Rehabilitation

[gentleheart]

Hello! I am going to use this thread to chronicle my journey to rehabilitating a galah cockatoo with behavioral problems.

I suggest reading these two threads for background on this bird:
http://www.parrotforums.com/cockatoos/60280-galah-fearful-women.html
http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/70030-how-diet-affected-my-birds.html

Lina is a DNA confirmed male galah, 5-6 years old. For the longest time he was the sweetest bird on the face of the planet. Then at one point, he suddenly stopped allowing me to handle him and became aggressive towards me, then fearful. I let it go and just didn't handle him since he was OK with everyone else. Well, I went out of state for a while, came back, and he was no longer allowing even his person, my mother, to handle him. This really took a turn for the worse after she took him to the bird sitter while out of town, and then came back and he was neurotic, fearful and would not allow her to hold him anymore.

I eventually figured out that his behaviors were all hormonal. I changed his diet, and that has helped immensely. He improves each time he gets out of cage time.

The main problem I have at the moment is getting him out of the cage calmly. Whether I take him out or he comes out on his own, he freaks out and has to fly all over the living room. Then after his initial freak out, he is usually fine, steps right up, and we go hang out. My husband can sometimes take him out without any incidents, and other times he can't get him to come out. He exhibits some cage aggression and cage bound behavior.

I have tried using a long branch to get him to step up and come out. That was worse than using my arm, he was extremely freaked out over it. I have tried to begin target training as well. He will touch the target stick, then immediately back down the perch to the middle of his cage and refuse to take the offered treat. If I do manage to get the treat to him, he just grabs it and then immediately drops it on the ground. I have tried ensuring to do the training when he is hungry as well, with the same results. Without the target stick, I can feed him snacks through the cage bars just fine, and he only backs off and acts neurotic half the time.

There is talk of getting a 5 ft by 5 ft indoor aviary, in place of his current large macaw cage. This would allow us to take a chair inside of his space, and just hang out with him. I think this would help progress immensely. I would love to just do away with the cage/enclosure for the most part and let him live on a tree stand, but in a multi-pet household this is not possible.

I'll come back and post each time I take him out and handle him to record how it went.

And if you have any suggestions as to the target training or otherwise, please feel free to speak up!

 

[SassiBird]

...He will touch the target stick, then immediately back down the perch to the middle of his cage and refuse to take the offered treat. ...

I have seen people drop the treat in a food cup in cases where the bird won't take it from the hand. Just a suggestion.

 

[gentleheart]

So I just went down and spent about ten minutes trying to socialize with Lina. I started off trying to get him to touch the target stick, and inadvertently scared him. So I spent the rest of the time doing an approach and retreat method where I walk up and wait for him to stop freaking out and climbing all over the cage. Once he chose a perch or swing and sat calmly, then I retreated.

I tried dropping a treat in his bowl as a reward for being calm. He showed no interest in it or intention of getting it. Things he normally likes too. I suppose I could cook up some pasta and try using that as a treat, since he goes nuts for pasta. Everything else he is very 'meh' about.

 

[Scott]

Interesting journal and background, thanks for sharing! Some birds are by nature extraordinarily skittish. Best advice is to work slowly at Lina's pace and profusely reward any and all progress.

Pasta is indeed a favorite with many cockatoos. You can be creative and obtain all sorts of specialty pastas that are nourishing. All of mine love spiral noodles infused with various greens; currently using Ronzoni Supergreens Rotini.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Apparently RB2's are prone to phobic behaviour and there are times when Plum will look at me like he doesn't know me. Really don't push things, slowly, this will take time and this will I hope shed some light https://companionparrotonline.com/josh_galah.html

Sally's info is good and recommend it highly.

There are times when Plum will only come out under his own steam, if I go in with my hand for a step up he goes into a corner, leave his door open and out he pops, contrary devil. They are a strong minded species, best not to push.

Not keen on the stick as think more frightening than helpful. Have a pot in his cage for placing treats, let him go fetch it. Verbal praise is very good too.

Freaky flying : It is normal that sometimes Plum will come out and go nuts flying around the room and then he tells himself to shut up and is fine, normal service is resumed???

Training could be best suited to certain times in the day, work out when he is most receptive? My guess first or last thing?

A perch on his cage door could help? Has he a few trusted and not frightening toys in his cage. New ones take a while to be 'not scared of'.

RB2's seem to take comfort from routine and one such thing is saying night, night, properly which includes a bedtime song.

Go real steady with changes anything new and unfamiliar at the moment as this could push him further away. Has Lina a toy that is his comforter? Plum has a tatty piece of wood hanging in his cage and this is his world. God forbid if it got lost, cannot even contemplate that happening. Hubby would have to have a crash course in shabby chic woodworking! The point being he sits by this and gently sways it, it gives him peace and comfort.

Can you attribute this change to phobic behaviour to a particular event? Not convinced it's hormones.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Welcome.
Plenty of journal-loving folks here, including me.
Chronicling the Rickeybird Scrapbook has been sooooo helpful in both problem-solving in general and therapy for me in specific!
It's also great to reach out to others and offer information and support.
Glad you found us!

 

[gentleheart]

Apparently RB2's are prone to phobic behaviour and there are times when Plum will look at me like he doesn't know me. Really don't push things, slowly, this will take time and this will I hope shed some light https://companionparrotonline.com/josh_galah.html

Sally's info is good and recommend it highly.

There are times when Plum will only come out under his own steam, if I go in with my hand for a step up he goes into a corner, leave his door open and out he pops, contrary devil. They are a strong minded species, best not to push.

Not keen on the stick as think more frightening than helpful. Have a pot in his cage for placing treats, let him go fetch it. Verbal praise is very good too.

Freaky flying : It is normal that sometimes Plum will come out and go nuts flying around the room and then he tells himself to shut up and is fine, normal service is resumed???

Training could be best suited to certain times in the day, work out when he is most receptive? My guess first or last thing?

A perch on his cage door could help? Has he a few trusted and not frightening toys in his cage. New ones take a while to be 'not scared of'.

RB2's seem to take comfort from routine and one such thing is saying night, night, properly which includes a bedtime song.

Go real steady with changes anything new and unfamiliar at the moment as this could push him further away. Has Lina a toy that is his comforter? Plum has a tatty piece of wood hanging in his cage and this is his world. God forbid if it got lost, cannot even contemplate that happening. Hubby would have to have a crash course in shabby chic woodworking! The point being he sits by this and gently sways it, it give him peace and comfort.

Can you attribute this change to phobic behaviour to a particular event? Not convinced it's hormones.

Wow, thank you so much for posting that. It was extremely enlightening, helpful, and encouraging to know that there are others out there who have dealt with this.

Lina HAS made progress. Unfortunately, I have not been as consistent as I should have been due to various circumstances, but he has improved. Especially compared to last year where I didn't know what else to do other than towel him and work with him in an unfamiliar room away from his cage. At that time, he was biting and fearfully aggressive. Even just approaching the cage resulted in wild flapping of wings, heavy panting, etc. Now, though he still acts fearful sometimes through the cage bars, he for the most part will interact normally with us. A great help has been putting a chair next to his cage, and we will sit and eat and watch TV. He often comes over and says "what's that?" (his way of asking for food), and then he is rewarded with food if it's something he can have. He really seems to enjoy eating with us.

This is all new to me, as my other bird ownership experience has been parakeets and lovebirds. Lovebirds are not afraid of anything, and I actually think they make great companion parrots. Parakeets can be fearful, but once tamed they also are pretty consistent in behavior. I am definitely not used to what appears to be a tempest of moods from Lina.

Lina does have a couple of toys he likes. I don't change things around in his cage often at all, maybe once a month at most. His favorite chew toys are the mesquite branches we get locally.

He will not come out of the cage on his own at all. I've tried attaching a perch to the door, or outside of the cage, and he might sit there a minute (after I go through the struggle of getting him out) and then immediately climbs back inside. He is a lot better when I work with him away from the cage in a different room.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to pin point exactly what started all of this. I do think it took about a year for him to get where you couldn't even approach his cage, and I do blame myself for not addressing the little problem when it first showed up, and now it turned into this. A good bit of it WAS hormonal, as he used to constantly lower his head, flatten his feathers, and quiver his wings, which is sexual behavior. Though it still happens occasionally, it is not constant as it used to be on the new diet.

UPDATE: Since last night until now, I have been doing the approach and retreat method once or twice every few hours. Since he is comfortable interacting through the cage bars (when I don't have that stupid target stick lol, which I'm not using anymore), I practiced this by opening the cage door, sticking the upper half of my body inside, and holding the door closed against my body so he can't fly out (this is a very large macaw cage). Then I just stand there quietly, talk softly a little bit, and wait for him to go back to sitting on a perch. Once he does (and doesn't jump back off right away), I say "Good Boy!" and immediately retreat, closing the door and leaving him alone. He's went from freaking out, flapping, etc. as he was last night, to just jumping off the perch and nervously climbing the bars. A marked improvement. The main problem is just getting him out of the cage, since he is so cage bound, and that is what I am trying to address.

I will definitely be careful to take things slowly. I don't like forcing him out of the cage, and am aiming to not have to do that anymore.

 

[plumsmum2005]

One thing with RB2's is that they will do things BUT when they think they are not being watched. I can leave Plum's door open and be in the room, he won't move, watches me and the moment I go to another room he's like a rat up a drain pipe, whoosh.

If you can approach and only say "hi Lina, what you doing?" and retreat no effort made to bring him into this scary world. My point, so he does not expect you to try and prise him out every time. Mix it up. Something I do with Plum at times. Any household items like brooms etc are fearful.

They are dead nosey so use that to your advantage. Bet if you made a model on a table near him he wont be able to help himself but at least come to the edge closest to see.

I have found that taking Plum out in his back pack has been beneficial to him, given him confidence, as long as mum is in sight anyway. Something for a while down the road.

I meant to say the the manic flying is good exercise for him as long as no frights occur whilst he is doing it.

Plums was five when he came to me and I still got the baby feed me reflexes. Squat, head up, squawking, beak open, wings slightly out. This has worn off except the occasional occurrence. Have you tried putting a teaspoon with food on near him?

BTW the new diet is brill, a real life saver for a RB2. Sorry not sure about you invading his cage space, better sitting outside on a chair IMO.

Have you a playstand that you can place near the cage so that all he need do is come out and climb, no flying involved?

If it is necessary to use a towel then give a minute of complete darkness and calm in the towel before doing what you need, he should calm down some instead of escalating. These birds are used to dark spaces they nest in tree trunk hollows. Plum seeks out dark hidey holes behind cushions, under the bed covers, presume he is trying to find his mum a nest? ;-)

 

[gentleheart]

One thing with RB2's is that they will do things BUT when they think they are not being watched. I can leave Plum's door open and be in the room, he won't move, watches me and the moment I go to another room he's like a rat up a drain pipe, whoosh.

If you can approach and only say "hi Lina, what you doing?" and retreat no effort made to bring him into this scary world. My point, so he does not expect you to try and prise him out every time. Mix it up. Something I do with Plum at times. Any household items like brooms etc are fearful.

They are dead nosey so use that to your advantage. Bet if you made a model on a table near him he wont be able to help himself but at least come to the edge closest to see.

I have found that taking Plum out in his back pack has been beneficial to him, given him confidence, as long as mum is in sight anyway. Something for a while down the road.

I meant to say the the manic flying is good exercise for him as long as no frights occur whilst he is doing it.

Plums was five when he came to me and I still got the baby feed me reflexes. Squat, head up, squawking, beak open, wings slightly out. This has worn off except the occasional occurrence. Have you tried putting a teaspoon with food on near him?

BTW the new diet is brill, a real life saver for a RB2. Sorry not sure about you invading his cage space, better sitting outside on a chair IMO.

Have you a playstand that you can place near the cage so that all he need do is come out and climb, no flying involved?

If it is necessary to use a towel then give a minute of complete darkness and calm in the towel before doing what you need, he should calm down some instead of escalating. These birds are used to dark spaces they nest in tree trunk hollows. Plum seeks out dark hidey holes behind cushions, under the bed covers, presume he is trying to find his mum a nest? ;-)

LOL, yup, he tries to still be a part of things when no one is in the room. He will talk to us from his cage in the living room when he hears us talking upstairs. If a phone rings and no one answers it right away, he immediately responds with 'hello, hello, hello.'

I don't have any perches/playstands, but we are planning on getting one soon.

I agree that the flying is good for him. I actually think not clipping his wings anymore (despite advice from our local 'bird experts' that he won't come around unless we do) has helped give him more confidence and stopped the biting behavior. Fight or flight you know, so if he can't fly he will bite. I'd rather let him fly. I just want to help him not be afraid so he will stop doing the fear flights out of his cage. I'd like to get him to step up and come out, and then he can fly as he likes.

The toweling stressed him out more than me just going in and getting him. I only toweled him the first few times last year since he was so cage bound that he was severely aggressive and biting so hard as to draw blood.

I did try leaving his cage door open for even hours at a time. He will not come out on his own, and he still refuses to come out on his own. Even when I would leave the room.

I know that everyone says to put the bird's cage in a corner where they will feel secure, but it did not help at all. What did help was putting his cage in a higher traffic area, where people walk by all the time and interact with him. He is miles ahead of where he was last year when I first came and posted because of this.

He interacts just fine through the cage bars, like I said. He's even OK for me to open the door to get the bowls and such now. It's just actually interacting with him inside the cage that he is still upset over, so that's why the invasion of his space, though I'm not doing anything other than standing there, just to get him used to my presence inside the cage. The reason I was trying to target train him before was because my initial thought was to get him target trained so I could target him to come out of the cage. Well, that failed. He is liking the approach and retreat method much more.

Spoon feeding we did in the past and it is a good idea. I will start that up again, along with pasta goodies.

I love those bird backpacks and have looked at them before. Yet another thing to add to the list

BTW, I am really enjoying the kind and helpful community here. I've read threads on other forums before and the hostility I saw made me very sad. Doesn't help poster or the bird.

Well. I am hoping to make tons more progress once the aforementioned (in the diet thread) 'house guest' leaves, which should be within the next couple weeks. She makes everyone nervous, and I don't think poor Lina is any exception.

 

[plumsmum2005]

The flying for a RB2 is essential IMO, they need the exercise. Just wish Plum would accept that :-(

Just a thought, how about playing some games with him in his cage (if I have not mentioned this before)? Peek a boo, shake hands, wave. Thinking if there is a break through, even a small one? The interaction even at a distance is good.

I am also a holiday mummy to another RB2 and he loves interacting with the whistled tune of The Addams Family, nods his head. Lina will have something he likes you just have to find it.

Morning! Keep updates coming btw.

 

[gentleheart]

We happened to have spaghetti for dinner, so I took some of the cooked pasta and hung it in various places around his cage. When nobody was looking he zoomed around and gobbled it up. I came back and did this once more, and he seemed rather inquisitive that my visits standing inside his cage can also mean good things like yummy pasta games. He also took one from me from outside the cage and munched it down.

I will have to do more yummy pasta games in the future. I don't know about you, but I call this progress

BTW, it's now the end of the day and birds are put to bed for the night. I visited with Lina about 6 times today, and the improvement I saw even over the course of one day was great. I'm very excited about this approach and retreat method. Maybe it's a little bit too ambitious, but I'm hoping that within a month I will have this little guy stepping up to come out, at least part of the time!

 

[plumsmum2005]

Great news and good to see your excitement. You may have to contend with two steps forward and one back, so be prepared. If he goes the whole way, brilliant!

Ok will say goodnight then LOL.

 

[gentleheart]

Did not feel much like working with Lina yesterday so I didn't. Me being moody wasn't going to help anything!

Today, I had to make up the bird cooked bean mash, so my mind was on the birds and I spent a few minutes with Lina today. We made more progress! He was far less neurotic about me being in his space. Climbed to one spot on the cage and then waited. I waved and moved my hand and arm a little bit so he can get used to me moving. I also played with one of his toys, pushed it so it would swing, and then he did it back and we took turns. I talked to him in baby talk, telling him "Good boy!" and such things, and he was putting his crest up and generally being less fearful about the whole thing.

So progress! I am really happy about that, but not trying to get my hopes up too high, as I know any day he may take a step backwards, and I don't want to be disappointed or depressed about it.

The 'house guest' is going to be gone on Monday. She got herself kicked out when she put a huge chef's knife, point up with blade unguarded, in a spot where someone could easily have gotten it put through their chest or stomach or arm. We all now feel that she is a danger to everyone else in the house, animals included.

Anyway, this means that rehabbing Lina and taking him out is going to be a lot easier now. Looking forward to more progress!

Meanwhile, I accidentally burned the bottom part of the bean mash (oops!), but was able to keep most of it. I am also looking into ways to sprout some seeds. I have chia, flax, and millet to sprout.

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I love this thread! Following it closely! You are doing such a great job with Lina and just by reading this,it is obvious to me,that he thinks so too!

Your "user name" does not come close to your determination to win this frightened,unsure creature over. Thank you for your efforts,and posting such great progress

And thanks a million K,for all you are doing to help!




Jim

 

[gentleheart]

I love this thread! Following it closely! You are doing such a great job with Lina and just by reading this,it is obvious to me,that he thinks so too!

Your "user name" does not come close to your determination to win this frightened,unsure creature over. Thank you for your efforts,and posting such great progress

And thanks a million K,for all you are doing to help!

Thanks so much! I'm really trying to help him as much as I can, but I'll admit sometimes I feel like a failure. I just keep trying though, since I'm stubborn as a mule lol. It served me well with my difficult horse so...

I have been thinking about this, and I honestly think the year of just having his cage in a new location and readjusting to being in the center of the comings and goings of family life was necessary. Now, he is used to people approaching the cage and interacting with everyone. I don't think that without that time to readjust I would have been able to start rehabilitating him to come out.

 

[gentleheart]

RB2's seem to take comfort from routine and one such thing is saying night, night, properly which includes a bedtime song.

I missed this before! :18: Mom sings good night to him every night. They make kissy noises at each other too. It is a whole, big, dramatic lovey dovey affair. LOL!

 

[plumsmum2005]

I love this thread! Following it closely! You are doing such a great job with Lina and just by reading this,it is obvious to me,that he thinks so too!

Your "user name" does not come close to your determination to win this frightened,unsure creature over. Thank you for your efforts,and posting such great progress

And thanks a million K,for all you are doing to help!

Jim

Thanks Jim, that means a lot

 

[plumsmum2005]

Did not feel much like working with Lina yesterday so I didn't. Me being moody wasn't going to help anything!

Today, I had to make up the bird cooked bean mash, so my mind was on the birds and I spent a few minutes with Lina today. We made more progress! He was far less neurotic about me being in his space. Climbed to one spot on the cage and then waited. I waved and moved my hand and arm a little bit so he can get used to me moving. I also played with one of his toys, pushed it so it would swing, and then he did it back and we took turns. I talked to him in baby talk, telling him "Good boy!" and such things, and he was putting his crest up and generally being less fearful about the whole thing.

So progress! I am really happy about that, but not trying to get my hopes up too high, as I know any day he may take a step backwards, and I don't want to be disappointed or depressed about it.

The 'house guest' is going to be gone on Monday. She got herself kicked out when she put a huge chef's knife, point up with blade unguarded, in a spot where someone could easily have gotten it put through their chest or stomach or arm. We all now feel that she is a danger to everyone else in the house, animals included.

Anyway, this means that rehabbing Lina and taking him out is going to be a lot easier now. Looking forward to more progress!

Meanwhile, I accidentally burned the bottom part of the bean mash (oops!), but was able to keep most of it. I am also looking into ways to sprout some seeds. I have chia, flax, and millet to sprout.

Don't worry about the 'off' days, they happen. We do not always feel sunny do we? Plum will have days where tbh as long as hubby is here to scratch his head and I have fed him he couldn't care less about me. That is until something scares him and then it's me, me, me! That's when you know you have their trust LOL. My Plum will make me pay for having my friends RB2 to stay and very often get a nip sometime after he has gone home. He does not forget does Plum LOL.
The sprouting is good and have a look through the food sub section for info on that and I liked this site https://sproutpeople.org/.

Good news re your guest, it is important that Lina has the opportunity to fly.

 

[gentleheart]

Just had what I feel like was something of a breakthrough with Lina.

The 'house guest' left yesterday, so I decided to take Lina out after work. He was in general being a lot better about my entering his space, though he still acts like a funny nut sometimes about it.

I didn't want to undo all my work by forcing him out, but I wanted him to come out and exercise and socialize. He won't climb out on his own so... I started visiting with him, leaving the cage door wide open so as to give him room to fly out. Well, he didn't try it, so he has improved on the cage neurosis end, but that wasn't helping me get him out of the cage. I decided to change the cage paper and went to get the box it's in. When I picked that up, it spooked him and he flew out of the cage and around the room. Success! He was out! While I don't like him being spooked out of the cage (though I didn't do it on purpose), I figured it was better than me forcing him out.

We had quite a bit of bonding time, and the breakthrough was that he was actually letting me preen the feathers on his head with my fingers, which is a first! I was able to help remove some of the old pin feathers, and he actually seemed to enjoy it.

I was able to pinpoint his main neurosis. It appears to be about 'stepping up'. If he is low to, or on the ground, when you ask him then he is fine. Any other time, including stepping up between different people, and he freaks out and flies off. It must be caused by something either we unknowingly did, or it happened while he was being boarded.

He was out for a good hour. After several unsuccessful attempts to get him to step up calmly, he finally flew into a more enclosed area (corner of hallway). I got him to step up from the ground (easy peasy), and then I asked for him to step up again to my other arm. Once he did, praises and head scritches, which he really seems to enjoy. Did this once more, and then put him back. He did really well! I am very happy with the progress.

He still acts like a neurotic nut in his cage at times, but I think it will get better, given enough time.

The big landmark was basically being able to 'preen' him. Before, he would only let me scritch/touch his feathers for a few seconds before he gave a warning lunge with his beak. Today, he stretched his neck down, fluffed out his feathers, and seemed to be enjoying it thoroughly!

 

[plumsmum2005]

Just had what I feel like was something of a breakthrough with Lina.

We had quite a bit of bonding time, and the breakthrough was that he was actually letting me preen the feathers on his head with my fingers, which is a first! I was able to help remove some of the old pin feathers, and he actually seemed to enjoy it.

I was able to pinpoint his main neurosis. It appears to be about 'stepping up'. If he is low to, or on the ground, when you ask him then he is fine. Any other time, including stepping up between different people, and he freaks out and flies off. It must be caused by something either we unknowingly did, or it happened while he was being boarded.

He was out for a good hour. After several unsuccessful attempts to get him to step up calmly, he finally flew into a more enclosed area (corner of hallway). I got him to step up from the ground (easy peasy), and then I asked for him to step up again to my other arm. Once he did, praises and head scritches, which he really seems to enjoy. Did this once more, and then put him back. He did really well! I am very happy with the progress.

This is pretty much on par with Plum, happy to be saved from the floor but if any higher not so keen to step up. He sounds happy and will settle I am sure, well done. RB2's love to be on the floor btw so take care with that. Plum will waddle about the house, have taken him on a tour so he knows each room and he follows me about, even remembering which doors close on their own and either waits outside for me or gets a scoot on. The progress means that you can at last start to enjoy Lina and build on the bond you already have. I have days where Plum is full of go and bravado and others where he is the complete opposite. Would still love to continue to hear Lina's progress.

PS develop something that Lina likes to bring him back to normality, a song, dance, word, something that works for him? Plum reacts to a couple of songs.

I am starting to believe that this species go one of two ways if they hit trouble, phobia or pluck. Not seen both and hope never do? It is worth bearing in mind that if you have one of these 'too's then be very aware if there are any emotional upheavals in your household and protect them the best you can. For example I have offered my friend free reign to just bring her RB2 to stay with me should her Mum pass away, she is advanced in years and becoming frail. This will I hope protect him and avert another plucking episode.