Rescuing Araluen

[Muchi]

No idea if this will work. If it does, sorry for terrible picture quality. Araluen is hiding in the dark back corner of his new cage.

I adopted him (actually, unsure the gender, he's five months old) because the woman who had him never let him out the cage, never washed him, never gave him food other than seed, had him outdoors on top of an AC unit in a travel cage surrounded by cats. He had no toys in his cage, only a cockatiel 'lollipop' hanging bird seed. The poor little guy's only five months old, and the lady was only asking $20 for him ($30 if I wanted his cage, but I get the feeling he never wants to see that again). I was planning on getting a hand-raised galah, but I couldn't just leave him with her when he'd been advertised for 3 weeks running.

He is timid (no surprise) however within an hour of being here he has eaten, preened and played a few rounds of the blinking game with my bf and I. I only have four toys for him, but will get more. In his cage he has some apple, some seed, some sunflower seeds (I feel like spoiling him) and a spray of millet... Oh, and fresh water. He seems quite content perched in the dark corner on the food bowls with the seeds in them, and hasn't touched his apple.
His new cage is about 3ft deep and 3ft wideand approximately 5ft high. As opposed to his knee-high cube cage.
I am aware it will probably be a long a rocky trip getting him to trust me, but I am already in love.

He is terrified of hands (took several chunks out of bf's hands when we were transporting him) so I've not yet been able to check him for parasites. I am probably going to have to wait until he doesn't flee to the opposite side of the cage before I can get a decent look. His droppings appear normal so far. The woman I bought him from said he'd never once been to the vet, so my next pay check will probably be going on that and some more toys. When he's better settled I will work out the way he's most comfortable bathing - he is a terribly dusty little fellow. I'm sure he'll be a lot more vibrant after a nice bath.

By the way, Araluen is an Australian Aborigine dialect meaning either 'water lily' or 'place of the waterlilies'. It's also the name of a lovely Botanic Garden here. It can be a male or female name, which I like considering I'm not sure the gender yet. The woman who had him before said he was a he, so I'm referring to him as such for now.
Just thought I'd share!

~Muchi!

[Courtzrocks]

Galahs are great birds!! You picked a good one! Females tend to have more reddish eyes and the males have darker eyes but its best to get DNA'd looks so cute!

[Muchi]

Originally Posted by Courtzrocks

Galahs are great birds!! You picked a good one! Females tend to have more reddish eyes and the males have darker eyes but its best to get DNA'd looks so cute!

I read about eye colouration - Alaruen's look black, but I didn't know if I'd have to wait until he was older, considering he's still so young before I could take a guess by eye colour. Also, I've been told that method's not 100% accurate, so I will get him/her DNA sexed in a while. For now I'll just work on making him/her comfortable.

He's a very sweet looking little guy. His feathers look like they're in okay shape considering he's never been bathed.

[KDK241]

He is very cute! I'm glad you took him so he knows what it's like to be in a loving home...congratulations!

[Amie]

Because he's so young, you have a much better chance of making a break through. I'm glad he found a happy home!

[MicahEspudo]

galah's are on my dream birds list! i want one.... but i think i need a lil more experience first... :(


im glad you rescued him :D

[Muchi]

Haha - he's bopping up and down saying hello to the birds outside now.

Amiestgermain - well, he let me pet him for a few min through the bars last night, so I don't doubt that! I kept trying to 'shout' whisper to my bf to come look, because I thought actually shouting might make Luen scared. But it was neat :Biggrin:

MicahEspudo - They're my dream birds too, which is why it broke my heart to see him like that. I always planned to get a galah, it just happened a little sooner than I expected.

[Ashling]

wow You're both so lucky you found each other! He's in a great home now. The ignorance of some people! Looking forward to updates :D I love galahs. I was talking to a wild one yesterday on a walk and he kept looking down at me and whistling. I love that loud call they have.

[Muchi]

Originally Posted by Ashling

wow You're both so lucky you found each other! He's in a great home now. The ignorance of some people! Looking forward to updates :D I love galahs. I was talking to a wild one yesterday on a walk and he kept looking down at me and whistling. I love that loud call they have.

Yeah, that loud 'criik criik!' noise... well, that's the best way I can describe it in human tongue XD My keyboard doesn't have birdy letters. But it's cute, sounds a little like loud laughter. He's very quiet though, has made that noise less than 20 times in the day he's been here. Mostly it's a chirp here and there and the occasional mumbling.

He's REALLY intelligent. Every time he opens his wings I say 'eagle'... and now, when I was talking to my mother, every second or third time I said the word eagle he would open his wings. He is a bit cheeky though, keeps flicking the seeds he doesn't like out of his bowl onto me when I'm sitting near his cage. Thank you Luen, but I'm not hungry

I hope to get some better pictures of him soon, but I'll have to work out hos to hook my video camera up to the computer.

[kellywess]

What a great story. Very Happy for both of you. $20.00 bucks? In the U.S. that would be one heck of a deal. How did the lady who had him know he was a male if she never took him to a vet? Well, he looks like hes settling in fine. Good Stuff! :+)