Question:
I have a Galah who was given to me when his previous owners were not able to look after him anymore. He was somehow traumatised in his past and now will only hang onto the side of his cage and pull out all his feathers. Is there a way that I can prevent him from doing this? He is a really intelligent bird and I would like to make his life less traumatic.
Lisa, via e-mail.
Answer:
Sadly, this is an all too familiar story when it comes to caged birds, especially larger parrots. Birds are very intelligent creatures and need a stimulating (mentally and physically) environment. They were designed to spend most of their life flying and foraging for food, so being caged often drives them to distraction.
The feather plucking is a sign of anxiety, like humans biting their nails, or worse, causing self-harm. This behaviour may be well entrenched as a habit now but there are things you can do. Find a bird vet who can make sure there are no medical problems, such as mites. Give him the biggest cage you can and fill it with natural branch perches, from native trees, for him to rip up and munch on (they love destroying things). Hide food — berries, fruit and veggies as well as seeds — so he needs to spend longer finding it.
Give him toys to play with and get him into a routine. Remember, they are social birds so they crave company. Commit two to three lots of five to 10 minutes a day to talking to him and gently patting him, offering food treats. He will look forward to this time, and when he calms down you can teach him to get on your hand and to talk. In time you may be able to let him have supervised flight in the house. Cover him up and put him in a dark, quiet part of the house for 12 hours a day so he has definite rest times. If things are really bad your vet can prescribe some anti-anxiety medication to help him on his way.
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