A fussy Galah!

Tabbiespice

New member
Nov 30, 2011
9
0
Perth, Western Australia
Parrots
Galah called Gandalf
Hi guys and gals

I have a young Galah (Rose breasted Cockatoo for you US folks) and I think he has been badly hand raised in that his diet is shocking!

He wont eat anything except black and striped sunflower seeds.
I feel like I am slowly killing him but he wont eat anything else.

I buy a good parrot mix which has the sunflower seeds in them (I cant find a seed mix without) and I have even gone as far as picking them all out but then he wont eat at all.

I have offered him a variety of fresh foods, both fruit and veggies but he eyes them suspiciously and will go to the other end of the cage away from them until I remove them.

So I then tried the pellets and over the last 10 days have introduced them into his feed bowl as instructed........mix them 50:50 with seed and a little hot water and over the course of a week decrease the seed ratio and eventually end up with dry pellets.
Well we were at the stage of mostly pellets and a little seed and this morning I awoke to a starving Galah begging for food.
He has visibly lost condition and weight since I have tried to reduce his sunflower seed intake.

What can I do??? I am so worried.

He needs fresh foods and less sunflowers but he wont accept anything.

help!
 

lene1949

New member
Sep 26, 2011
1,701
1
Brisbane, Australia
Parrots
Cory: Short billed Corella -
Echo: Galah -
Max: Alexandrine -
Skye: Yellow Sided conure -
Luka: Green Cheek Conure -
RIP Shrek: Quaker
Most birds love sprouted seeds... have you tried that? Also corn on the cob...

He'll probably have to be very hungry to try anything, but birds normally don't starve themselves to death, if there are food in the cage...

Maybe you can also try having him at the dinner table, if he sees you eat from your plate, he might just want to have a taste.
 

CRASH_CONURE

New member
Dec 14, 2011
21
0
Australia
Parrots
YSGCC- Crash
Galah- Rosie
you can buy 1 kg bags of seed with for exanple all corn seeds and all weat seeds. you buy buy a few of these and make your own seed.
 

Spiritbird

Banned
Banned
Aug 20, 2009
5,749
Media
10
6
Volkman's hookbill seeds and very good. No peanuts or sunflower seeds in them. I suggest you try the foraging route. It's all in the presentation of the food. Just lying in a bowl is not natural. There are may foraging feeders and tricks you can use for his food. It is true he will not starve himself. You may need to try other brands of pellets also. You can get samples from vets or call the company of many of the pellets like Harrisons.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&ke...=aps&hvadid=7167319659&ref=pd_sl_1eozd6pban_b

http://www.avianenrichment.com/store/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=192

http://www.itsagreysworld.com/articles/forage.htm

Remember to offer warm soft foods like mashes. I use a food processor for mine. You can make them so healthy. Try some oatmeal first to see if he likes the consistency.
 
Last edited:

Katkoota

New member
Mar 19, 2011
80
0
Parrots
1 Galah
Maybe you can also try having him at the dinner table, if he sees you eat from your plate, he might just want to have a taste.

Thank you for the suggestion. I am in the process of switching Dante de Rose's diet from mostly seed to little seeds. You gave me an idea of how I can try the first step of introducing a new healthy type of food for him. I've noticed that he especially likes to try and grab whatever I am munching on . I might try introducing him by having him see me eat them first. :D
 

roxynoodle

New member
Dec 1, 2011
4,499
2
Maybe you can also try having him at the dinner table, if he sees you eat from your plate, he might just want to have a taste.

Thank you for the suggestion. I am in the process of switching Dante de Rose's diet from mostly seed to little seeds. You gave me an idea of how I can try the first step of introducing a new healthy type of food for him. I've noticed that he especially likes to try and grab whatever I am munching on . I might try introducing him by having him see me eat them first. :D

That is how I got my conures on pellets and other healthy foods. I put them on a plate and started eating them, and within a minute they were asking for them. It works very well with one of them, but not quite as well with the other.
 

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