mypinklove
New member
Good morning everybody! 
My name is Mae and I've been here for a while without an account, just reading and learning everything I could. I'm 20 years old, joined the Air Force at 17, and have been married for about a year and a half. I've had cockatiels and budgies growing up, and my favorite was a cockatiel named Sam who I trained and spent lots of time with.
My husband and I have a dog, two rats, and now a parrot! I've been doing my research for over a year and finally decided that a rose breasted cockatoo is exactly what I want. And after visiting my local bird club and meeting a Galah in person, I fell in love. Sooo, I adopted a 13 year old male Galah last Thursday evening from a couple ignorant owners who bought him for Christmas and weren't prepared for what a handful he would be. They clipped his wings after he had been fully flighted his whole life, kept him in a cage because he wouldn't stay on his perch when he was out, and fed him only fruity Zupreem pellets all day long...
I named him Pablo. I thought it'd be cute since he's a colorful cockatoo, and Pablo Picasso was a painter... His old name was Charlie so he says "hi Charlie" a lot, but I'm hoping he adjusts and starts saying "hi Pablo" after a while. I'm letting his wings grow in and plan on training him with a flight harness so I can take him outside a lot.
I've been reading Michael Sazhin's "The Parrot Wizard's Guide to Well-Behaved Parrots" and started clicker touch training a few days ago. He's so smart and already has caught on and it's lots of fun! He's a biter so I've been saying "owe" when he bites too hard and ignoring him or putting him on the other side of the table or couch or something and making him run back over. If he keeps up I just walk him to his cage and put him on it.
He's also really destructive lol, so I've been replacing what he's chewing on that's bad (furniture mostly) with his toys and Q-tips to destroy. Then I praise him a lot for destroying the Q-tips.
He's tame for sure but I think it's pretty obvious he hasn't ever really been trained what's appropriate for a companion parrot to do and not do. But he's so smart and willing to learn that I think we'll be just fine. <3
Right now I'm feeding him a veggie and spinach mash for breakfast and dinner, with crushed zupreem pellets mixed in. He wants only zupreem all the time but I figured this way he's at least getting some extra vitamins and nutrients when he eats the bits of pellets. Also this makes him hungrier mid afternoon and we can effectively work on training because he's food motivated. I've been using pieces of the fruity zupreem as training treats since he takes them so eagerly and they're better for him than seeds. At night I give him a few pieces of nut or fruit (if he wants it) as a bonding dessert before he goes to sleep.
I'm also trying to teach him to potty on his cage by asking him to go potty, and then when he poops I praise him and take him out. He still goes everywhere and anywhere lol but he's catching on that he's gotta poop first if he wants to come out and I praise him when he goes on his playstand or in his cage.
Before I touch him I ask "can I touch you?" and he puffs up a little if he wants it and usually walks away or tries to bite if he does not. I'm trying to be respectful of his wishes while still making my wishes clear. We have a pretty good relationship so far I think, and he seems very interested in me. I've got so many questions that just pop up through the day and now I'll be able to start my own threads to ask them!
Thanks for being a great community - much respect to you all and I'm very excited to be a part of this group and learn all I can.
~ Mae and Pablo
My name is Mae and I've been here for a while without an account, just reading and learning everything I could. I'm 20 years old, joined the Air Force at 17, and have been married for about a year and a half. I've had cockatiels and budgies growing up, and my favorite was a cockatiel named Sam who I trained and spent lots of time with.
My husband and I have a dog, two rats, and now a parrot! I've been doing my research for over a year and finally decided that a rose breasted cockatoo is exactly what I want. And after visiting my local bird club and meeting a Galah in person, I fell in love. Sooo, I adopted a 13 year old male Galah last Thursday evening from a couple ignorant owners who bought him for Christmas and weren't prepared for what a handful he would be. They clipped his wings after he had been fully flighted his whole life, kept him in a cage because he wouldn't stay on his perch when he was out, and fed him only fruity Zupreem pellets all day long...
I named him Pablo. I thought it'd be cute since he's a colorful cockatoo, and Pablo Picasso was a painter... His old name was Charlie so he says "hi Charlie" a lot, but I'm hoping he adjusts and starts saying "hi Pablo" after a while. I'm letting his wings grow in and plan on training him with a flight harness so I can take him outside a lot.
I've been reading Michael Sazhin's "The Parrot Wizard's Guide to Well-Behaved Parrots" and started clicker touch training a few days ago. He's so smart and already has caught on and it's lots of fun!
He's a biter so I've been saying "owe" when he bites too hard and ignoring him or putting him on the other side of the table or couch or something and making him run back over. If he keeps up I just walk him to his cage and put him on it. He's also really destructive lol, so I've been replacing what he's chewing on that's bad (furniture mostly) with his toys and Q-tips to destroy. Then I praise him a lot for destroying the Q-tips.
He's tame for sure but I think it's pretty obvious he hasn't ever really been trained what's appropriate for a companion parrot to do and not do. But he's so smart and willing to learn that I think we'll be just fine. <3
Right now I'm feeding him a veggie and spinach mash for breakfast and dinner, with crushed zupreem pellets mixed in. He wants only zupreem all the time but I figured this way he's at least getting some extra vitamins and nutrients when he eats the bits of pellets. Also this makes him hungrier mid afternoon and we can effectively work on training because he's food motivated. I've been using pieces of the fruity zupreem as training treats since he takes them so eagerly and they're better for him than seeds. At night I give him a few pieces of nut or fruit (if he wants it) as a bonding dessert before he goes to sleep.
I'm also trying to teach him to potty on his cage by asking him to go potty, and then when he poops I praise him and take him out. He still goes everywhere and anywhere lol but he's catching on that he's gotta poop first if he wants to come out and I praise him when he goes on his playstand or in his cage.
Before I touch him I ask "can I touch you?" and he puffs up a little if he wants it and usually walks away or tries to bite if he does not. I'm trying to be respectful of his wishes while still making my wishes clear. We have a pretty good relationship so far I think, and he seems very interested in me. I've got so many questions that just pop up through the day and now I'll be able to start my own threads to ask them!
Thanks for being a great community - much respect to you all and I'm very excited to be a part of this group and learn all I can.
~ Mae and Pablo
