Galah info needed

As the title says i need some info, ideally from experience and how to do things like harness training, trick training and how easy they take to it, one of the things I don't understand is how to get them to try new things, fruit and veg are really important I know but there will be a point when it doesn't want to eat something and I would really would appreciate some advice as well as how get one in a harness, I don't have a bird yet but I refuse to get a "starter bird" because I don't want a conure, budgie of cockatiel and it's disrespectful to that species in my opinion anyways, the care for a budgie is basically the same and I don't want to be stuck with a bird I don't want, I have experience as I'm doing work experience in a pet shop that has medium sized parakeets and I've wanted a parrot for the past 7 years, I've done tons of research

I haven't attempted harness training yet, and I know I should. From what I've seen harnesses come with instructional DVDs, all though I can't speak to how helpful they are.

As far as new foods, keep offering them. I have found my macaw to be vey much like my son. It can take many times offering them new foods before they will try it sometimes. Some foods they just don't like and won't it at any cost.

If you are getting your galah as a baby you should start harness training as soon as the baby is feathered enough to be able to wear the harness without harming it. This should be done from a very early age. I always had Nigel in his harness while I was holding some type of snack. This way he associated wearing it with something yummy to eat. I tried and keep his mind off of the fact that he had this strange item on. I also brought him outside and let him fly from me to my husband. He loved going out and flying a bit. Galahs are such energetic busy (did I say BUSY?) birds. My galah is a wonderful little guy but very, very different from any other bird I have been around. He is in constant motion, I was told this from the breeder about this type of bird and they were not kidding. I have Nigel flighted and I do think this is important however there are days when I wish he would just sit on the java tree and chill. He keeps me on my toes but when he looks at me after doing something naughty and just fluffs up his face so I can pet him he melts my heart! (by the way he does that a lot! LOL)

The whole baby harness training thing might be a problem, I'm am not yet prepared for hand-raising, there are no, reliable breeders nearby who I can ask to harness train, I'm literally going to search for a young weaned, fledged and unclipped galah. Unless that is you know a galah breeder between 0-3 hrs away from Central london uk. I'm looking forward to getting a little energetic ball of attitude! But there's still a parent factor, there half convinced and I wish there was a way to get one sooner, within the next month I'll know for sure if they say yes or no

There seem to be a lot of galah breeders in the UK at the moment - just use Bird Trader, Birds4SaleUK etc to find contacts and phone up a few to get a feel for whether you can work with them. As a pointer, Birds4SaleUK - Baby Galah Cockatoos For Sale, Nottingham so well within three hours of London. I've no first hand experience, but a friend recommends him. He may even offer harness training as standard, I can't remember. My local pet shop in Manchester has several three month old galahs at the moment, and there's a second local shop that has just started advertising hand reared galahs, but a breeder would be a better bet if you want them to introduce the harness early on.

I knew about those, but I wasn't too sure if they were trustworthy, to me the seem a bit dodgy, but I'll most likely pay by cash so I'll have to go to the seller to see the galahs.

I know how you feel, the bird trader ad approach doesn't inspire confidence but it seems to be the way things work in the UK. All I can suggest is sound them out on the phone, offer to go and visit if possible, ask about getting updates on the baby after you pay the deposit. You should be able to get a good feel for them. I'm sure there are crooks lurking in amongst those ads, so you'd be right to tread cautiously.

If you decide you don't want to risk the classified route, these are the businesses I know of in the UK who have advertised galahs recently. Bare in mind that if it's a shop that doesn't breed themselves they're probably buying at the same prices you would do going direct to a breeder. Breeder prices for a galah in the UK are going to be in the range of 600 -900, pet shop prices 1200-1500.

ParrotsAndParakeets.com (no address given but it's a Crewe phone number, no experience of them but lots of species bred and the website looks interesting)

Live pets , feeds , housing and accessories delivered worldwide (Small retail outlet in north Manchester which I visited a few months back but the parrot business doesn't seem to be run out of the shop. They do breed birds though)

Becks Bird Barn >>> Parrot Toys, Parrot Cages, Baby Birds, Pet Supplies, Reptile Supplies (No first hand experience but lots of toys and java products sold in the UK have Beck's branding on the packaging so it's presumably a fairly big business)

Manchester Pets and Aquatics (This is my local, they carry a large selection of birds and had several three month old galahs when I called in the other week. It's a good place to see different species but they don't breed)

Hope that's of help.

If you want a Galah to eat something put it on your plate and he will come over a steal it. He will give it a few tries even if he doesn't like it If he really doesn't like it he will probably just steal it and drop it on the floor. Mine doesnt eat too much in the way of fruit and vegies but likes a spoonful of rice with whatever sauce for flavor the is going each night.

If you want a galah to eat right, raise them right. You don't have to hand feed to do this! From day one offer veggies, cook bird safe foods for them, make chop mixes, and always remember that cooked veggies are better than no veggies.

When training to wear the aviator harness(the best/safest brand, also offers free world wide shipping) you'll first want to get the bird used to you touching their wings, and lifting them slightly. I never have to extend a wing for the harness. It's pretty basic, the harness also comes with a great DVD that will walk you through the harness training. If you buy from a breeder ask if they'll start harness training your baby.

Galahs have a human life span, but only if cared for excellently. Feed a high quality pellet such as Harrison's, totally organics, or another excellent brand. Do not offer any seeds as a diet. Becaus galahs are highly prone to fatty liver feed food that support liver health.

Next week I'll be making a thread about my next chopmix, this is made with Rosie(my 21+ galah) in mind. You may want to take a look at that after I post it for some ideas of a fresh diet. Rosie had a hard life, she needs a carefully chosen diet designed to support galah health.

Whenever possible galahs should be left fully flighted.

I really don't know what you can do since I never had a gallah, but this might help if I'm mistaken, but I'm sure you wil find something useful in it: Galah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Galahs are such beautiful birds ! I want one some day as well!

We have had our Galah for 3 years and tried harness training when he was young. I did it very slowly and we even played with it a lot. Short story, I only successfully got it on him once. We took a ride to the pet store which he loves to do, but he was just very bothered by it. He never let me get it that close again. We can still play with it, bit not to put it over his head. I keep an eye on his wing clipping, and as long as I know he's grounded he takes rides with us, goes to the store, takes the dogs out with me at night, etc. I don't take him out in the yard during the day due to my fear of hawks, ospreys and eagles.
Food is tougher. Our other bird is a quaker that will eat most fruits and veggies, so we try to use him to teach our Rosie to eat other stuff, but he only takes a rare bite. I use pellets in our seed mix, and he eats some of these, so that helps a little too. Good luck, we love our Galah, though like all Cockatoos, they aren't for everybody.

Thanks guys I hope this applies to all cockatoos because I'm still not 100% sure on which of them to get, I wouldn't want to be stuck with a galah if I didn't truly want one as that's just a wast if space, time, money and an innocent parrots life, the same applies to the others I have in mind like lsc2 and c2 as well as g2