Galah Chases and Attacks

About two weeks ago, I found a Galah which was obviously an escaped pet. Local vets were notified, we posted it on a community Facebook page and have checked ParrotAlert, but we haven’t gotten any responses so we’ve decided to keep him. Most of the time he’s very friendly. He’ll fly over to you from his perch to ask for a head scratch, and he’ll come and perch on my lap if I’m sitting on the couch. He’ll also cry whenever anyone leaves the room. The problem is that when he gets annoyed, it often results in a serious prolonged attack rather than just a single bite. For example, he gets excited whenever I bring out the clicker and treats (almond slices), and will be really cooperative if I’m trying to teach him something like step up, but as soon as I finish the training session and put the treats away, he’ll fly after me, if I hide behind a door, he’ll pace back and forth pecking at it. Another time he was chewing at the skirting board. I kept telling him NO, which worked temporarily for about 10 seconds, when I tried to take him away by getting him up on my arm, he attacked again. When he starts attacking now I cover him with a towel, put some gloves on and take him back to his cage, he doesn’t like this at all, and I get the impression that it might be making the attacks more frequent, but I can’t think of what else to do. Also I’m fairly sure he’s hormonal a couple of times he’s tried to mount my hand, and he often does this strutting walk. At the moment he is on a diet of seeds and in a cage that is too small. We'll be switching him to a bigger cage and pellets in a couple of days, just didn't want to go and buy a bigger cage when we thought someone might still come and claim him. Any advice on how to stop these attacks, or just a better way of dealing with them?

Hi, it is good news that you are taking good care of this found RB2. Well done on the measures already taken but a bit more effort should be taken to find the home he came from. Can you take him to see an avian vet to see if he's been micro chipped please?

I think you need to let him settle and gain some trust. He clearly knows you are not his bonded flock and therefore does not trust. It would be nice to know where in the world you are located. PLease can you introduce a diet of veggies and wean off the seed if he is a keeper. RB2's are extremely prone to fatty liver disease which is life threatening and expensive.

There is a lot more info that can be given but one step at a time.

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/

Awesome you were able to get this bird back in a safe place!!! Totally agree with Plum... In your place I would back off the "training" sessions since they seem to be the trigger. Take the time to learn each other a bit and if you cant find the home he came from start slow with the basics. Put yourself in birdies place. His world is out of wack right now and everything is new to him. Somewhere there may be a frantic person looking for this bird. While looking for his last home I would offer goodies at random just to interact with him, not really for training.

Thanks for the advice. For some reason I didn't think birds would get microchipped, but guess they're easier to lose than most pets. I took him to the vet this morning, but they couldn't find a microchip, I've also searched some more lost and found sites, but no matches. Hopefully his attacks will go away with time then as he gets used to the place (if his original owner isn't found), because at the moment it can be a bit frightening being in the same room as him. He does this thing where he'll strut up to you and start circling around your feet, and if you move away he'll lunge. As for weaning him off the seed, I just got some pellets today which I'll try out, and I've been experimenting with different veggies, he doesn't seem fond of human veggies but likes grass seed and dandelion leaves. Also I'm located in Sydney, Australia.Thanks again for the help.

I suggest you maker a T perch with a 3 ft handle and keep it close. Great for handling a bird with a chip on their shoulder.... and quicker access than gloves and towel. I'm all for kindness and developing trust but I refuse to be trained by a bird in my own home. I'm sure some will think me cruel but that's my dab of advice. Note I have limited dealings with toos' but sounds like he is testing you out.

Thanks for providing your general location. Take a look at the local Weather over the three weeks prior to your finding this Galah. You want to look at wind directions and storm tracks over that period of time. This will provide you with some idea of where (general direction) this Galah may have come from.

You are entering your Summer season and this likely indicates that the temperatures are much safer than where I am as we are look at Winter and colder temperatures. Also, food sources are more likely in Sydney, Australia than in Western Michigan.

If I found a Galah outside my home today, I know that it became lost only a coupe of days ago, at most. With you, it could easily be a couple of weeks.

I fully agree with the above statements. Slow-down, develop a comfort level of being with a new family! Parrots need to Trust to be comfortable. In addition, the Galah will likely also try to push boundary's as s/he tries to understand the new Pecking Order in this home.

If you haven't already, try and find lost and found groups on Facebook and check lost and found ads in your area.


As far as the training goes.... would it be possible to take the training to the cage? So once you are done with a training session, you just train him to go back in the cage and close the door?

Hello again, work on http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/49144-tips-bonding-building-trust.html building trust and some of the problems will sort themselves. Sounds a bit like he wants to but isnt sure yet. Galahs want to be #1, important they are not. Everything you have said is typical Galah behaviour.

Great news re the dandelion which packs a mighty punch nutritionally. If he likes this chop and mix with say grated carrots to start and add others one by one. If you are having healthy food then give him some, they like to eat in a flock. Easy with the almonds - Galahs get fat easily and care needs to be taken. When you leave the room repeat I'm coming back or similar, they get to recognise the phrase, keep calling it if within ear shot, it helps.

http://www.parrotforums.com/new-mem...friendly-warnings-keep-your-parrots-safe.html

Hi... my galah acts like this but he's lived with us since late December of '19. His DOB is 07/18/19 and was 4 months old when he got here... which seems entirely too young in hindsight... Any advice?

This bit is especially relevant:

"The problem is that when he gets annoyed, it often results in a serious prolonged attack rather than just a single bite."

Please... I'm desperate for any advice to get me by until I can talk with the parrot behavioral consultant with whom I've scheduled.