Newbie with possible galah health issues

Hi everybody

So glad to be here.

I have a juvenile Galah purchased 2 days ago and I am very worried.

He was hand raised and is approximately 10-12 weeks old independently feeding on parrot seed mix, he has had a couple of nibbles of an apple but hasnt been properly introduced to fresh foods as yet.

My issues are health related. My background is with Budgerigars and finches so this is my first foray into parrots and having never had a cockatoo species before I am unsure if the behaviour is normal or not.

He is sneezing ALOT.......several times an hour. He also appears to have wet feathers around his nares. He also is opening his mouth a little and "hissing" or could almost be a wheeze. My research suggests a possible respiratory issue.

Is the sneezing normal? is the mouth opening and 'snore' normal?

Keep in mind he is new to us and spent an hour in transport from the seller to my house and another 30 mins while I set the cage up for him.
Could it be stress?

I am worried but dont want to spend hundreds at an avian vet and put him through another stressful journey if its normal parrot behaviour.

Please help

Jackie
xx

I don't know much about toos but sneezing and a wet nose doesn't sound great.

Personally, i'd spend the money and get him checked.

As an addendum

He is eating well and I have seen him drink a couple of times. He doesnt make the weird noise all the time.
He still plays with his toys but he is also still settling in to his new home and us.

It sounds like a sinus infection to me. Take him to the vet. It's a good idea to take a new bird to the vet anyways, just to be safe.

It might help if you turn the shower on hot/warm so the bathroom gets humid and keep him in there for 20 or 30 minutes, longer if he isn't stressed out. the humidity is good for their respiratory system.

Is he from a breeder who gives a warranty? It was irresponsible of the person to sell a bird who was sick, they can degrade very quickly and the vet bills are expensive.



I'd call up the person you got him from, and he'll need to go to a vet

Personally i would check on the birds age as from my experience they very rarely are fully weaned at 10 to 12 weeks. He should be on hand- rearing formula. Gandalf wouldn't be totally independant until at least 16 weeks.

Any sneezing with open mouth breeding is an emergency so i would get him to the nearest Vet. If he needs antibiotics better ASAP because later could be to late.

You could try sprouting seeds or even get some already sprouted from the supermarket. Give some corn on the cob, celery, peas, beans just to name a few.

Hi everyone

Thanks so much for the replies......it was very helpful to me.
Nothing to report though........no obvious infection and today he seems a lot better.

No funny noisy breathing and the sneezing is down to just a few per day rather than loads every hour. There is no nasal discharge.

He seems to sneeze most pre and post preening so maybe its the dust getting up his nose.

I agree that he may not be fully weaned as well. The reason being he is extremely picky about his food. He will maybe nibble on a bit of apple but all other fresh fruit and veg is ignored....to the point where if he could say yuck or what the hell is that....he would!!! I even offered nuts but nope.....flatly refused to even try a taste.
I give him fresh parrot mixed seed but he picks out all black oil sunflower seeds first which are an obvious favourite....and yes I know they are not to be given huge amounts of sunflower seed. The seed mix I get doesn't have too many sunflower thankfully.
Anyway, he roots through until they are all gone before he starts on the rest.

Any ideas on how to get him to eat more variety?

Maybe you could try sprouted seeds? Most birds love them... they're full of vitamins, and compared to the seed in its dry state, they're a lot easier to digest.

Tabbiespice said:

Hi everyone

Thanks so much for the replies......it was very helpful to me.
Nothing to report though........no obvious infection and today he seems a lot better.

No funny noisy breathing and the sneezing is down to just a few per day rather than loads every hour. There is no nasal discharge.

He seems to sneeze most pre and post preening so maybe its the dust getting up his nose.

I agree that he may not be fully weaned as well. The reason being he is extremely picky about his food. He will maybe nibble on a bit of apple but all other fresh fruit and veg is ignored....to the point where if he could say yuck or what the hell is that....he would!!! I even offered nuts but nope.....flatly refused to even try a taste.
I give him fresh parrot mixed seed but he picks out all black oil sunflower seeds first which are an obvious favourite....and yes I know they are not to be given huge amounts of sunflower seed. The seed mix I get doesn't have too many sunflower thankfully.
Anyway, he roots through until they are all gone before he starts on the rest.

Any ideas on how to get him to eat more variety?

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Hi I'm bec, I am completely new to the parrot world and have a 14 week old galah and I'm having the same issue with food, he seems to pick out the sunflower seeds and leave the rest and won't even consider touching fruit or veggies ! I'm worried he isn't eat enough per day :/

Bec, I would keep trying with the fruit and veg. Try different methods of presentation, try hand feeding bits whenever you're eating something appropriate, and try holding the food bowl up for him if he's ignoring it.

Alice is not desperately keen on healthy foods, but she'll often make an exception if it's warm. Boiled corn on the cob was an instant hit, peas she'll eat if boiled, mashed veg such as sweet potato or parsnip works well - so I'd try all of those if you haven't already. Warm mash seems to work well with a conservative eater, possibly because it reminds them of baby food? Cold veg she's not so keen on, but she'll eat it if she's hungry and there's no alternative.

Have you tried pellets? I use Harrisons High Potency fine grade, at first given to her piece by piece by hand rather than in the bowl, but she was soon eating it from the bowl.

Seeds are best kept as treats with species such as galahs that are prone to fatty liver deseases, and if you check the fat levels in different seeds sunflower seeds are amongst the worst to give. Hard if it's his favourite thing though! Hope that helps.

Welcome Tabbie and Bec. The wet sneezing doesn't sound healthy, at least if there's a discharge. Several of our birds (weiros, mostly) will sneeze from their own feather dust when preening, or make other birds sneeze, but not with a discharge. A few years back, our beautiful RS eccy boy Jazz gave a big wet sneeze on my ear while sitting on my shoulder, the first I'd heard: he was dead 3 hours later.

I agree it can be difficult to get birds to eat "good" food, even our eccies pick through cockatiel mix to find the sunflower seeds before starting on the smaller seeds. Thankfully, they enjoy corn on the cob, and greens such as choy sum, spinach and rainbow chard (silver beet with coloured stalks). Our little corella will also pick through seed mix to grab the sunflower first, indeed, if he can't see any, he'll flick it all out until he CAN find some We haven't had a lot of luck convincing birds that root vegetables like carrots are good for them- if they touch it, it's most likely they'll chomp it up for fun, without consuming it. If it's shredded, they'll ignore it.

You definitely need to start switching him to pellets as seeds are just lollies for birds - not much nutritional value! Harrison's is obviously the best available but VERY difficult to find in Australia. If you do find someone who stocks it don't let your stock get low as sometimes we get a period where it is not imported and therefore not available for awhile. I feed my Ollie Vetafarm pellets (not as great as Harrisons but the next best thing and readily available here in Australia)

I started out by combining a 50/50 mix of seed and pellets and then slowly reducing the amount of seed. Having said that, Ollie had been getting some pellet previously so it was not totally new to him!

This thread has heaps of useful info for you! http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-...7-converting-parrots-healthier-diet-tips.html

Good luck, and keep asking questions because there are HEAPS of awesome people here full of birdie knowledge!

Forgot to add - When Ollie came to me the breeder had been feeding him the frozen mixed diced vegetables. Because he was used to those I have kept him on them and just add extra stuff from whatever we are having that night to get him used to other veggies. Fruit is not a problem for us as Ollie would happily survive on fruit alone if I let him!

I have pellets - vetafarm nutriblend pellets and he doesn't touch them, I finally got him to eat one today and it was because I was holding it but that was the only one. I haven't tried warm food yet so ill defiantly try that today and Il let you known how it goes thanks for all the help and advice
Also do you weigh Alice? I've read a lot about people weighing their birds on this forum and I was thinking maybe I should start so I can keep an eye on if his eating enough

I've even tried mixing the seed and pellets but the seed has some sunflower seeds in it and that's all he goes for and the rest just sits there not touched :/
Thanks for the link Calace

Have you checked with the breeder you got your baby from?? Does he offer a health guarantee? Even if he doesn't, it's probably a good idea for you to do a well-bird visit anyways with a certified avian vet. Birds are notorious for hiding their illnesses VERY WELL, most times until it's too late.

As for the eating part, just keep trying...like others have said, offer him fresh bits of what you're having (as long as it's bird-safe and don't share bites- spit swapping is a no no) ...also offer them different ways- cooked, not cooked, mashed, fresh, strung up on a kabob stick, etc...if you do offer him cooked food make sure the temperature is luke-warm- if it's too hot it'll burn his crop.

I make birdie bread and mix in fine ground pellets along with other ingredients...that's how I get chili to eat pellets because she won't touch them otherwise lol

Get creative and don't get discouraged! Getting them to eat "good stuff" is mostly trial and error...just think- they're feathered toddlers!!

My baby is finally eating ! I was holding the pellets and kept offering them to him and he finally gave in and eat a couple and now he is back in his cage and hasn't stopped eating he must have been very hungry

that's good to hear!! sometimes it's just a matter of showing them it's edible lol

Beckyymayy said:

My baby is finally eating ! I was holding the pellets and kept offering them to him and he finally gave in and eat a couple and now he is back in his cage and hasn't stopped eating he must have been very hungry

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That was exactly how it was for us! Pellets had to be handed to her one by one to start with to get her interested, but didn't take long to get her settled on them.