Are we making progress? What the heck is she doing?

[PrincessSarah]

I've posted before about my sweet girl, Rose, the Galah Cockatoo. She's cage bound. I've been working on building trust. She will let me pet her. Occasionally, I can touch her feet. That's where she draws the line. So recently, she's been doing something new. I'm hoping this us progress. I put my hand in her cage. She meets me with the top of her head. If I hold my hand flat, she will scratch each of my fingers with her break, very gently. She will lick my fingers just a bit and sometimes chew on my fingernails. What is this? I'm really hoping that this is a step in the right direction towards her stepping up and out of her cage.

 

[Jayyj]

Galahs love tasting and chewing things, so yes, if she's checking out your hand with her beak, that's progress.

I brought Alice round from being cage bound. It tooks weeks before she was comfortable in the area close by the cage and well over a month until she would leave the front room with me, but we got there - it just takes time, patience and consistency. I bet you in six months she'll be a different bird though!

 

[PrincessSarah]

Oh, that's a relief! Every day I talk to her, pet her, scratch her neck. I touch her all over, especially her feet, duo she gets used to my touch. She'll give me kisses, and even peck at my teeth. The hand scratching is new. I'm letting her set the pace. As soon as she gets nervous, or tries to bite, I back off, but keep talking real soft to her. I spend about 15 minutes a day doing it.