Wow! That was a tough first day!

[Jayyj]

Finally taking a moment to unwind after bringing home my new galah - it's been a very long day!

Started well - she was in a happy, playful mood in the store, seemed pleased to see me. Got her in the carrier ok, fine on the ride home. The big mistake was not collecting the cage earlier, which the seller could probably have warned me about, so I didn't have the option of puting her straight in the cage. As soon as the lid came off the carrier she shot straight up my arm to my shoulder and stayed there. Tried to get her onto the play stand, no dice - claws went in then a quick scuttle over to the other shoulder. Tried to get the cage box open, complete panic. She made a couple of attempts to take off but ended up in a heap on the floor each time, and straight back to the shoulder when I picked her up.

Spent the best part of the next hour stood in the middle of the front room considering my options, the best of which was to get a friend round to build the cage whilst I kept her distracted. By the time he left she was much more chilled, and happy for me to sit near to previously terrifying objects and started preening.

Getting her into the cage was traumatic for both of us, but we managed. Once she found a perch she settled down and went back to preening for a while, then made my day by spotting one of the preening toys and playing with that for a while. Just now we've shared an apple through the bars, which admittedly ended up more shredding game than actual eating (20% me, 10% her, 70% on the cage floor), and she's finally given some little exited squeaks. She's not been near water all day, freaking out when I tried to hold up a cup for her, so hopefully she's taken in some water via the apple. She's watching a soap opera on tv now whilst I type...

So, happy ending just about but I feel absolutely drained now. I'm thinking the next couple of days it might be better to let her get used to the cage, figure out where the food and water are and relax a little. She's preening quite a but but I noticed quite a few pin feathers so perhaps they're bothering her a little? She's not pulling at them, just running them through her beak - she did the same thing to my stripey top when she was beginning to relax on my shoulder.

I'll see how she goes tomorrow, but hopefully at least we're set up and ready to settle down a little.

 

[MBL]

Phew! I'm exhausted for you! Sounds as though shes settling in nicely now, while youre the one who's got the stress . Hope tomorrow is a great day for you both!

 

[Lesliekj]

Your little journal entry made me smile. I will be picking up my new Cockatoo baby in 3 months
ty for sharing!

 

[Pinkbirdy]

One thing you can feel good about that day is [that she trusts you already] Ive had a Rb2 and she acted just like that.

 

[Jayyj]

Well, day two and she seems happier in the cage. It's about three times the size that she's used to and the bars are wider spaced so I think it took a little while for her to figure out how to navigate it, but she's found the food and water dishes now. She doesn't like me opening the door and putting my hand in, so I'm going to wait and see if she comes out on her own rather than stress her out any more.

The thing that has proved most difficult for me is that having spent the last six months working through all the theory I was fairly confident about how this was going to go, and now I have her I can't stop myself getting stressed out at every bit of behaviour (well, almost every, she's currently throwing bits of monkey nut shell at me, which I'm pretty sure is nothing to worry about). Should she be preening that much? Why did she just close her eyes? Is the room too cold, or too hot?

My head tells me she's doing as well as could be expected given the stress of the move, she's eating and drinking properly which I guess she wouldn't do if she was hugely unhappy (I couldn't eat yesterday I was so wound up!) and she keeps chirping to let me know she's there. It's just trying to get myself to relax.

Here's a picture from this morning:

 

[Jayyj]

If it's ok, I thought I might run through behaviors and see if people think we're doing ok?

The good bits:

She's figured out how to navigate the bars and scoots round the cage confidently enough.

When she bumps into a toy she'll stop for a nose and give them a tug.

She's eating and drinking fine although far more interested in the mix of seed, nut and dried fruit than anything fresh. She does like apple, and had a try at pear, as long as I offer them by hand.

The food bowl is right at the front of the cage and if I sit by her while she eats she'll bob up and down, let me stroke her feet and scratch the feathers around her neck. She's a bit beaky, but I guess she has conflicting feelings about fingers through bars at the moment. I try to confine putting my fingers through to when she's obviously directing me to pet her. She gives off cute little squeaks, I guess contact calling.

The worrying bits:

I don't really know how much parrots preen but she does it a lot. It looks like proper preening not worrying at spots, but with everything I've read about plucking it's my real terror that she get's stressed to the point of plucking. She has quite a few pin feathers and I've not tried a water spray yet in case it panics her.

She also seems quite sleepy, had a brief nap earlier and is having another now: could that just be a response to the stressful day yesterday? I know I'm worn out, makes sense for her to feel the same, but it's also supposed to be a waring sign for ill health?

If I open a cage door she'll charge to the back and sit shaking and fluffed up for a few minutes: I guess this is normal fear at changes in what must seem a fairly tenuous safe place? The seller did say she was a hard bird to get in and out of the cage in the store, so I guess she might have a bit of a phobia we'll need to work on?

Sorry to deluge you all with huge blocks of text - just writing things down helps get it in perspective, but it'd be good to hear if this all sounds normal.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Sorry to deluge you all with huge blocks of text - just writing things down helps get it in perspective, but it'd be good to hear if this all sounds normal.

Please don't be sorry! You're a brand new birdy mom, and we LOVE hearing all about it! Your excitement shines through brightly.

...and boy is she a GORGEOUS girl!!! Please, feel free so share more pictures, too.

 

[Jayyj]

Is it exitement or sheer terror?! It's an amazing thing to be doing, just didn't expect to be so emotional about it, kind of had it mind to approach it with academic detachment and it doesn't quite work like that, does it?

 

[crimson]

all these questions are perfectly normal....in all seriousness you need to relax.
we understand you have plenty of questions, and if you want' to panic, better to do it with us rather than show your bird you are stressed. that is what we are here for.
your relationship with your bird will happen over days, weeks and months, and yes, the years to come.
everyday will be different with new challenges.
I don't own a galah, so I won't comment on how to address her issues.
she needs plenty of time to adjust to her new surroundings, and you. the bond you will develop will come slowly, day by day, be patient, take a breath and enjoy her.
Once you relax, she will to.

 

[Jayyj]

Thanks Crimson, much appreciated. I'm trying to praise everything good she does, and talk enthusiastically whenever she contact calls, so I hope I'm giving her positive vibes - and it actually really helps just writing things in a post: I can read it back and think 'hang on, of course she's stressed and not herself at the moment'.

I had to nip into work for a couple of hours this afternoon and when I got back she seemed really pleased to see me, clambered across the cage to take a monkey nut out of my hand and is chirping happily. She's showing signs of wanting to explore the other perches as well, just needs a little more courage...

 

[crimson]

Thanks Crimson, much appreciated. I'm trying to praise everything good she does, and talk enthusiastically whenever she contact calls, so I hope I'm giving her positive vibes - and it actually really helps just writing things in a post: I can read it back and think 'hang on, of course she's stressed and not herself at the moment'.

I had to nip into work for a couple of hours this afternoon and when I got back she seemed really pleased to see me, clambered across the cage to take a monkey nut out of my hand and is chirping happily. She's showing signs of wanting to explore the other perches as well, just needs a little more courage...

One of the reasons why I got into birds, was I found they calmed me down, I had to force myself to relax when handling them...which I loved.
I'd rather be relaxed than stressed any day of the week.
she is gorgeous!!!, and your doing great, just remember to take it s l o w

 

[U2gal]

Give her some time to settle in. I'd love to see more pics!

 

[Jayyj]

Yesterday went much better - at the end of the day she even came to the cage door fussing for attention and when I opened it stepped straight onto my hand and came out for a look round the room. She was seriously annoyed when it was time to go back in, and she's quiet again this morning so I guess it's three steps forward, two back, but that's fine as long as we make a little progress. Here are a couple more photos: