I rescued a G2

[talvarez]

okay so i rescued a G2.
I am the third owner.
It does try to bite and does not step up.
It SEEMS happy. it dances with you, says look at me, and chills on top of the cage all day long. it doesnt scream much shockingly but it does have a bit of a problem.
Its first owner said it was plucking, so rehomed it. I bought it from the second owner who had it for 2 months and said the plucking had stopped. I have not noticed any plucking in the past two days. I will say that his cage is awfully empty toy wise, and she was only feeding seeds. the cage definitely is a bit small as well.
My plans are to get a large macaw cage, with a play top, and tons of more toys for it. Also, i will be switching it to a pelleted diet with fresh fruits and veggies. Seeds only beeing 25% of the diet down from 100%.
As for the plucking, will the feathers grow back? the tail feathers seem to be growing back but i think it has been growing slow due to poor nutrition. Also, is it possible to form a bond with this bird considering im the third owner? When i first met it, it walked onto my arm and went up to my shoulder. It has not since, but i hope it is trainable and fixable. Please help guys i want to get this baby back perfect health. It is only 2 years old

 

[Featheredsamurai]

Oh no! galah rescues always break my heart since my galah came to me in bad shape.

As long as the feather follicles have not been destroyed they will come back. If they are they will not. But keep hope Health can affect how quickly feathers come in.

Make sure that any cage you get have a bar spacing no larger than 1". My galahs cage is 37" wide, 27" deep, 68" tall. This is a very large cage and I think it's a wonderful size for a galah. Here is a photo of Rosie's cage

A good diet is a must, but don't be afraid to take it slow. It took my galah 6 months until I could completely remove seed from her diet. Offer fresh veggies even if they are ignored(offering them in different ways as well can help). Try a chop mix. this is a easy thing to offer daily as its pre-made, I made Rosie 3 months worth the first time(but it lasted 6 months since I don't feed it every day), she ignored it until I only had 10 bags left when sudden she loved it.

Buy some natural perches, and buy a few different types of toys to find out what she likes. She/he may not know how to use toys, play with them in front of her and try to be creative to make them interesting.

I got Rosie to first start using her toys by hiding treats inside.


This may help you determine the gender so your birdie is no longer a it.
In adult birds the Females(left) have red-pink eyes, while males have black to very dark brown.

Eye color can't always help though, this is my galah Rosie. Her eyes are a medium brown. I've seen this eye color on both proven males and females.

And here is a proven male galah with a very unique silver blue/green eye color that also doesn't fit in and you wouldn't be able to determine the gender based off of it.

 

[talvarez]

oh dear im sorry, i thought g2 stood for goffin >.< its a goffin not a gallah im sorry!

 

[RoseateToo]

Haha no you're good! RB2 is usually Rose Breasted Cockatoo or people just say Galah and G2 generally refers to Goffin's Cockatoo!

I am also going to be adopting a Goffin's (and I own a Galah) in the beginning of June, four years old not a plucker but otherwise same situation as yours. Perhaps we can lean on each other while trying to convert them off of seed! Haha.

I just want to mention too that Goffin's (and Galahs) are generally ground birds. So whatever cage you get, make sure its one that they will be comfortable walking around the bottom of, because its unnatural for their species to be stuck on branches all day long. I accomplished this by buying a cage with a stand under it so that the bottom is just above my knees. My Galah didn't like a cage where she felt too low and it really was wasted space because she didn't go down there, even when I supplemented that area with fun stuff. Although it doesn't have huge Macaw cage dimensions (but she's only in it four hours a day anyways haha), she is able to happily run around at the bottom and no space is wasted!

Looking forward to seeing pics!

 

[RoseateToo]

Ooh copperarabian I love those pictures! I've heard that immature rose breasted can have that silver eye color (as opposed to other immatures with a dull brown iris), I wonder what the age of the one in that last photo is. My girl has the same eye color at three years old and I've read that some don't change until 5 years old! My boyfriend is uncomfortably waiting to wake up to Inca having the pink iris- it's his big fear!

 

[Featheredsamurai]

oh dear im sorry, i thought g2 stood for goffin >.< its a goffin not a gallah im sorry!

oh haha, yes you are very right. I forgot people also call them Rose breasted cockatoo's (RB2) which I think is just silly! The fact that people still use that name today is baffling to me and I'm very glad it's loosing popularity. The word Galah contains their history, rose breasted cockatoo is boring name that was created for selling them out of the country. For me that name only tells of the suffering the poor birds had to go through when being captured and shipped out of australia.

I'm not sure if you can tell then gender of a goffins with the eye, but the other information still stands

 

[RoseateToo]

That's an interesting take on the name, first time I've heard of it thought of that way! To me the "Galah" name is just a reminder of how they are considered pests in Australia and shot down by the hundreds, and how "Galah meat" is considered a delicacy in some countries. Of course, Galah is much quicker to type on a forum over and over than Rose Breasted Cockatoo so it's definitely gained some popularity on forums in that manner! Crazy how supply and demand can form such culturally different views on these cockatoos!

 

[Tonkatiel]

I think the idea that the term 'galah' being used because they're seen as pests over here is a bit ...untrue?
1. I've never met anyone who views galahs as pests (not to say that some people don't, but its not that common). I live on a farm, my partner is a farmer. I grew up in 'fruit country', my parents work in a vineyard. Have heard them complain about other birds eating the grapes but never galahs (and yes they do get plenty of galahs around there).
2. It's what they've always been called over here?
3. Australians do sometimes call idiot humans Galahs - but more because the humans are silly, like Galahs. It's a term used in an affectionate way. Ie. I sometimes call my 5 year old daughter a Galah when shes being silly and trying to 'show off'.

I'd never heard of them being called Rose Breasted Cockatoos until I joined this forum...

 

[Tonkatiel]

Haven't got any advice other than whats already been said Talvarez, sorry... But congrats on the newest member of your flock

 

[RoseateToo]

Haha oops, allow me to clarify my statement! I did not mean they are called Galahs simply BECAUSE they are pests, but rather there are regions in Australia that consider them pests, and that Galah is also the Australian name for them. I meant it as my personal opinion when I said "is a reminder [to me]" of their pest status. Heck, we have many species over here that some consider pesty yet many people do not have issue with. Rose Breasted Cockatoo is just a common USA name for them, other regions in the world have their own names that they use commonly (preferred over Galah and Rose Breasted Cockatoo) such as Roseate Cockatoo and Pink and Grey Cockatoo.

 

[talvarez]

so a little update on the G2.
We have been getting real cuddly the past few days. Has not bit me once!
Im still working on getting him on pellets. Any ideas on how to do so?
Also got him a few more toys and still on the hunt for a large macaw cage.
He ate a few sticks of apple today. Also, he is afraid of hands. He willingly walks onto my shoulder if im near the cage, but is afraid of hands. I cant stick train because he is WORSE with sticks. So.. any ideas? let me know

 

[buddhabread]

Our G2 was about 2 when we got her as well. She barbered a bit then, and still does, but not to the point of plucking. She was also on a seed diet.

We tried the crash course for pellets... Took the seeds away completely for the day and offered only pellets while watching her stool. If it became clear or she stopped pooping, she was refusing the pellets and needed to be offered seeds again for a while. Another way is to just slowly start mixing them in and offer fewer and fewer seeds each day. You may also try soaking a pellet and see if he shows any interest that way.

Congrats on the no biting! Clemmy-Hawk was terribly bitey at first, now she only does soft nibbles. Still chomps visitors if they think they're brave enough to try her.

How hard does he bite your hand? Breaking the skin, popping off a fingernail, cracking something? She would do sharp (but ultimately harmless) nips, and we found that if we offered our hand palm up for her to chomp we could lift her up and get to to perch by rolling her hand. Took some getting used to, but she enjoyed the gymnastics we now hang her upside down and she loves it. It also showed her we weren't afraid of the bites. Granted, his bites may mean way more business than hers did.

 

[talvarez]

well, he now walks onto my hand, doesnt bite, and is eating pellets!
Also, his feathers are coming in as well and his belly seems a lot more salmon colored then before.