RB2 Nummies

Hello all.

As you may have noticed in my "Parrots" section above, we had added a new member to the flock. Stupid me forgot to take a pic to post, but as of Saturday, we have had Rhubarb the Galah.

We had already decided earlier this year that a second parrot would be in order for us, and attempted a rescue. After that experience, the decision was to wait until the breeder we acquired Monty from had Galah chicks, and we'd see if they appealed to Mrs. Scooter and daughter #2. Of course they did, and against our original instinct to get a female, they decided on the friendliest chick, a little boy.

So far, so good. He is a very affectionate, cuddly bird, pretty much the opposite of Monty. All things considered, that is good, as after Monty bonded pretty hard to me, the ladies in the house felt a bit left out, and wanted a bird with a bit of a softer temperament. It looks like Rhubarb will fit the bill.

For food, my first impression is that Rhubarb is not Monty, and will not aggressively eat whatever is put in front of him. He came with small Roudybush and Zupreem Fruit Blend - he seems to like the Zupreem, but only the banana shaped ones. The Roudybush is getting no love. We've also tried offering him banana, Harrison's weaning formula, mixed veg, and snap peas, with only the snap peas getting eaten. At least I think he's eating them - he seems to be more just tearing them apart for fun.

And of course, he will eat an almond.

Understanding that we need to keep him on a healthy diet, what foods have others found their Galahs like?

Actually here's a pic from the breeder's website:

Congratulations on your Beautifful new addition to the family I hope thst all of you enjoy Rhubarbs company and enjoy many adventures with him for many long years to come i know nothing about Galahs so I will leave those who know to answer your questions ...Hes Beautiful

Congrats on your new addition and look forward to pics very soon??

Please if the Zupreem contains any artifical colours change this pronto. TOPs Organic Crumbles Pellets for small hookbills works with Plum and my holiday RB2. They smell good too! He will now he's got used to these accept t2t Harrisons High Potency Super Fine.

Have a look at the chop recipes - finely chopped goes down well but he's not a fruit fan other than banana.
http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/60500-stressing-food-not-anymore-chop-convert.html - this is what proved to be good for Plum.

Tip: Start as you mean to go on re food and treats as RB2's are manipulative. Also prone to liver disease. See if you can get him interested in Walnuts offering excellent nutrition containing antioxidants as well as contributing to heart health among others.

Very much like to be part of a flock so will eat if you eat. Give a dish in his cage and then you all eat your meal with him. Watch and learn little one! Hopefully you will get results.

Welcome Rhubarb.

Wow, new addition to the family - that great!

Hey wait just one darn moment, that's not an Amazon! Say it's not so! Say you haven't gone over to the dark side!

All good kidding aside, congrats!

Congratulations, Rhubarb is incredibly beautiful! Wishing you a wonderful relationship with one of the most accommodating Too species!!

I don't have a Galah, but my Goffins and Citron enjoy most of the following:

Orange, apple, banana, pomegranate and melon seeds, yams, sweet potatoes, red/green/yellow/orange peppers, peas, blackeye peas, lima beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, small amounts of corn, green beans, carrots, cooked whole wheat spiral noodles, dense whole-grain breads. Once weekly they get a small piece of string cheese, and use Cheerios and almonds (spraingly) as a treat.

The additional foods quoted by Scott are all good and allow variation of the foods given whilst still ticking each of those boxes relating to nutritional requirement. Who wants to eat exactly the same thing day in and day out? Hope Rhubarb is keener on fruit than Plum is, this should be a smaller fraction of his overall diet than veggies as sure you know.

The Roudybush may be accepted at a later date?

I have tried to give info that I have learnt from having my own RB2 Plum and also the much younger RB2 that I am holiday mum to. He is with me at regular intervals throughout the year. His Mum came to me before she got him and has taken the advice given. He eats far better than Plum because she was strict about his diet from day one. He has no inclination to want our food because he has never been given any. Nor does he exhibit a preference over his food, just gets on and eats, no sorting through it.

Plum was previously fed mainly on a seed diet, which is his preferance. It has taken perseverance and strong will to try and get him changed over to a pelleted diet with veggies. He will pick out from his chop all his favourites first, usually anything that is a carb. My point is if you start off well in the first place and your RB2 is accepting of a good and balanced diet then you shouldn't have to worry about any problems with pickiness or health problems that can arise. I love Plum to bits but being an RB2 he has a very strong will and will fight me when I try to change things for his benefit which I have found to be stressful.

Sprouts have been a success with both birds and nutritionally very good if you can get into the swing of growing them? Being softer these could work with Rhubarb as the first steps to a healthy diet? Both birds love egg also.



I am absolutely sure you and your family will fall in love with him very quickly.

Plenty of veggies and fruit with pellets is fine as stated above. They are prone to getting fat as pets so keep treats to a minimum and ensure that they get plenty of play time, chewing, learning tricks flying etc. A busy bird is a healthy bird.

EdwardH said:

Plenty of veggies and fruit with pellets is fine as stated above. They are prone to getting fat as pets so keep treats to a minimum and ensure that they get plenty of play time, chewing, learning tricks flying etc. A busy bird is a healthy bird.

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Yes agree totally, encourage to fly as much as possible.

My friend juggles balls in the air and hers will fly round the room whilst she is doing it. He wont fly for me, just goes straight to the floor to try and get into a cupboard.

Sorry if it looks a bit like over kill but I am passionate about this and absolutely adore these brilliant birds and it really helps to set out on the right path with them.

Well, spent the entire evening making chop. Monty didn't stop eating for an hour. Rhubarb had a good feed too, though nothing seems to compare to the appetite of an Amazon LOL.

ScooterMcTavish said:

Well, spent the entire evening making chop. Monty didn't stop eating for an hour. Rhubarb had a good feed too, though nothing seems to compare to the appetite of an Amazon LOL.

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Great news for both birds. Must be due some pics by now dyt? LOL

LOL, need to get some good ones. Crazy little bird was running all over last night - got a few of his tail and that's it. We'll get some soon.

ScooterMcTavish said:

LOL, need to get some good ones. Crazy little bird was running all over last night - got a few of his tail and that's it. We'll get some soon.

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What is he RoadRunner LOL
Very much looking forward to them

PS how did the chop making go? IMO not difficult once you sorted with the prep - cooking the ones that need cooking and then dicing, slicing, chopping and mixing. I make an awful mess but hey ho all good fun. Plum will usually fly to my shoulder to have a nose at what mum's up to and receive a kiss or twenty.

Well, it was a full evening of work - between cooking, chopping, mixing, bagging, and cleanup, it was a 3.5 hour process. I had three cooked ingredients (lentils, barley, and brown rice) so nothing majorly complicated or difficult to do. Bagging takes a long time, as does chasing birds around the house!

Hadn't used the food processor in some time either, so working with its discs and chopper to find the magic texture was a touch time consuming. Sure I could shave some time off next batch anyways.

http://www.parrotforums.com/parrot-food-recipes-diet/60516-chop-no-stressin.html

Not sure if you saw this at the time but here is Plum helping himself to a big bowl of chop.

One of the things I also do now is, when we have veg left that is still good I will cook up (steam) and whizz through processor ie Broccoli and Cauliflower and today Sweet Potato and Carrot and this helps to have additional little pots of goodness in the freezer to add to the main chop or serve separately to keep Plum interested.

ScooterMcTavish said:

Well, spent the entire evening making chop. Monty didn't stop eating for an hour. Rhubarb had a good feed too, though nothing seems to compare to the appetite of an Amazon LOL.

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Amys' doc didn't call her "hefty" for no reason..:52: :09:


Jim

Well Jim, BFAs are pretty solid birds. Saw one about a year old at the pet store this weekend - I need a new bird like I need a hole in the head, but it seemed like an active, curious intelligent bird.

Anyways, Rhubarb is still a bit iffy on the chop, but he absolutely freaked out when I tried him on Zupreem Naturals size M-L last night. It was nice to see him eat with such vigor, especially as he lost a few g in his first few days with us. Considering a pellet-based diet is easy and somewhat healthy, if he wants this as a base diet, that's great.

And worst case scenario, Monty now has a favorite food with the chop.

And here are some pics - he was pretty proud of the elastic he found:


I love watching them eat. Cockatoos almost look greedy when they eat and I find it so entertaining to watch:

Adorable pics of Rhubarb and Monty looking on in the background lol.

It's like they are saying to themselves "mine, all mine" LOL

Congrats on the little guy. Rhubarb is adorable. I love galahs. I think he'll come around eventually with eating.

I also think it's so cute how 'toos/tiels eat their food. How they're eyes go cross-eyed with full concentration.

Have you tried giving Rhubarb just chop first thing in the morning, if nothing else is available it might be the impetus he needs. Also can try adding little chopped almond/walnuts etc to the top of his chop to get him going.