# Rosie my cockatoo



## copperarabian

We all new this would come one day, I love my bird so much I can't help but post her everywhere lol

She also has a Tumblr blog http://www.tumblr.com/blog/rosiethegalah
and I made a video with a bunch of her photo's http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g_LhoxVtOA


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## copperarabian

I also have a cockatiel named Dante


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## diablo13

Aw, they're both so cute! I like birds with crest, in Cockatoos, at least to me, it looks like they have weird afros when they do it <3


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## bettalover2033

Wow! Your birds are so pretty. I love the pink color on the first one. IYO do you think that all birds have their own personality? Also, was it a fortune to pay for the first one or the second one?

I was thinking of getting a bird myself and so far cocatoo & cockatiels are my favorite! Yours just make me want them even more!


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## SDragon

very pretty birds.


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## peaches3221

:shock: CUTENESSS!!!!!11!abddhwdkwhdbhdbdwhdbhwbd


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## copperarabian

bettalover2033 said:


> Wow! Your birds are so pretty. I love the pink color on the first one. IYO do you think that all birds have their own personality? Also, was it a fortune to pay for the first one or the second one?
> 
> I was thinking of getting a bird myself and so far cockatoo & cockatiels are my favorite! Yours just make me want them even more!


They totally have individual personality's, large parrots have the intelligence of 3-5 year old, but the mental capacity of a 2 year old. There have been tons of studies, and for birds that pick up human speech well(like African grays) can actually have conversations with them. A lot of pet birds even think they're people, which can be sad. They'll choose they're human as they mate then be forced to watch the love of there life love someone else. Also, I've never met two birds with the same personality, they're all so different just like people.

Cockatiel's still have personality but they're not as intelligent. They can still be taught to do a bunch of stuff though, the males can learn words and even whistle entire songs and they can learn tricks.

Be careful with cockatoo's, do tons of research before buying one because they're hormonal, and unpredictable to a inexperienced person. They also go through puberty at about 3 years of age where they're very hormonal and a bite from a larger cockatoo will send you to the ER to get stitches.... or put your finger back on lol then you'll have to deal with a hormonal bird for a few months every year.

Luckily I didn't have to pay for Rosie, a Galah from a breeder cost $1,500-1,800, and at pet store they would be about $2,000. And Rosie's actually a dark morph Galah and I don't know how much they would cost because there's no breeders in the US(that I know of) that breeds them, and very little info about them overall. And cockatiels are pretty inexpensive, they cost $60-$120.

here's the what the normal and dark morph look like together

*Normal*









*
And here's rosie, next to a breeders bird they used to have*


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## Mart2289

This is a beautiful cockatoo I never seen any that had pink on them!


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## copperarabian

Mart2289 said:


> This is a beautiful cockatoo I never seen any that had pink on them!


There's a few pink cockatoo's, the Galah is the darkest pink though. Most people are used to only seeing the white cockatoo's.

Prepare yourself, tharrrr be pic spam water's off starboard

Moluccan (the largest of the white cockatoo's) is a very soft pink or orange, sometimes barely noticeable with a Salmon colored crest









and the major Mitchel has a striking crest









and the goffins has a little spot of pink on the face










Some also have red

red vented cockatoo









Goliath palm cockatoo have red faces









Red tailed black cockatoo

Male









Female









And lastly there's also yellow tailed black cockatoo


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## bettalover2033

Well you've educated me a lot! My grandmother is a bird fiend! She has has a bird about 1 1/2 foot tall and also has trained her birds to dance, and say the normal things like hello, goodbye and I love you, ect.

In ignorance, I honestly thought that there weren't more than 1 kind of cockatoo. And I think i'll stick with the cockateil, if I ever do get one. When I was younger, I remeber being chased by one of my grandmother's horrible birds that were just knee high at times and I thought they were the birdy versions of godzilla and it could fry so that made it no easier to get away from.

Also I love the red vented cockatoo. He/she looks so smooth and sleek! Beautiful creatures they are!

Do you really have a leash on your cockateil? What if Rosie tries to fly away? How would you perch it on your hand/other place?


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## copperarabian

*Do you really have a leash on your cockateil?*[she's a cockatoo]* What if Rosie tries to fly away? How would you perch it on your hand/other place? *
It's a harness for birds, when I have her on my hand I wrap it through my fingers so if she fly's she can't get far, a bird who isn't trained to free fly and in good shape can easily get scared and once in the sky they don't have the proper endurance to fly. Even in a small breeze a bird can loose control and become exhausted trying to get back to you before eventually being blown away(it's windier the higher you go too). Plus with a little wind any bird can get lift, even if they're wings are clipped. 

The leash part doesn't really get in her way, it mostly just annoys her lol When I carry Rosie I have her facing me, this way when she gets scared and fly's she either gets on my shoulder, or clings to my shirt while flapping until my hand is under her and she steps back up. When she fly's away from me she goes towards the ground since her wings are clipped and I lower her slowly so she doesn't hurt her keen or any other muscles/bones. I'm currently letting her wings grow back in so she can fly outside for exercise, Galah cockatoo's can loose 20 years of they're life from becoming overweight and developing fatty tumors. The hard part will be motivating her to fly, then getting her in shape.

*Well you've educated me a lot! My grandmother is a bird fiend! She has has a bird about 1 1/2 foot tall and also has trained her birds to dance, and say the normal things like hello, goodbye and I love you, ect.

In ignorance, I honestly thought that there weren't more than 1 kind of cockatoo. And I think i'll stick with the cockateil, if I ever do get one. When I was younger, I remeber being chased by one of my grandmother's horrible birds that were just knee high at times and I thought they were the birdy versions of godzilla and it could fly so that made it no easier to get away from.*

That's so scary! Large birds can do some serious damage, especially to a kid. Was it a cockatoo? Umbrellas are pretty big, as well as sulfur crested. Click on this if you want to see what a bad bite looks like, a guy got bit on his lip by his umbrella cockatoo http://www.charlieandpeggy.com/cockatoobite1.jpg


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## diablo13

I've heard about people have to get their eats stiched back on after a cockatoo bite. IMO, you should never let anything bigger than a cockatiel/well trained conure anywhere near you're face. I only have a pattotlet, and he tried to bite thu my eae yesterday. As it is, he made me bleed. Oh, and they definately have petsonalities. Mine is really grumpy. Probably because of some of the pinnies, foe some reason he gets all twitchy when I touch them. Poor baby


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## copperarabian

diablo13 said:


> I've heard about people have to get their eats stiched back on after a cockatoo bite. IMO, you should never let anything bigger than a cockatiel/well trained conure anywhere near you're face. I only have a pattotlet, and he tried to bite thu my eae yesterday. As it is, he made me bleed. Oh, and they definately have petsonalities. Mine is really grumpy. Probably because of some of the pinnies, foe some reason he gets all twitchy when I touch them. Poor baby


I think it's alright for some birds, as long as they're well trained XD Amazons are usually not a good one since they're famous for attacking who ever they're on when they can't reach who they're really mad at(usually a person they adore too) and African grays shouldn't be allowed after they reach 10 years old. Macaws are generally ok as long as they're very well trained. Of course there's always the specific bird XD I would love to have Rosie on my shoulder but she gets off balance then grabs onto my ear really hard O.O And when not off balance she wants to bite my ear kinda hard lol


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## LittleBettaFish

Nice-looking galah. You always see them feeding next to the roads with the corellas and cockies at dusk here. It's always so funny seeing our native animals in a completely different country. 

We had a couple of sulphur-crested cockatoos that we inherited off somebody. One of them was the meanest bird I think I've ever met. You had to cross over its perch to reach the water bowl, and it walk all the way down the perch until it was level with your crotch and give you the stink-eye. 

I did accidentally punt it across the aviary once when it bit my ankle and I automatically kicked out. Suffice to say Joey did not try that particular trick again.

You don't realise just how big they are until you get up close to them. Our sulphur used to try and yank your hair through the holes in the wire. I swear that bird was the devil incarnate.


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## copperarabian

@littlebettasfish
wow, they do sound mean, are they wild caught? Also, I had a classmate from Melbourne australia and when I told her I had a Galah she looked super surprised and asked how it got to America LOL and when I happen to run into people from Australia when I have her they always ask me if she's a Galah and tell me all the things they do in the wild.

Do you know what part of Australia the dark morph is from? I've been trying so hard to find information on them >.>


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## LittleBettaFish

I'm not sure. They were both left at this school camp my mum's ex-boyfriend owned and the old manager left them and a whole heap of chickens in my custody. 

Joey was very friendly even if he was a cheeky little bugger, but the other one used to just sit up at the top of the cage hissing at everyone so I think that one may have been wild at some point. 

I'm not sure where the dark morph comes from. Could just be something that pops up randomly in populations and someone has bred for it. 

We used to have a pair of cockatiels when I was younger. I would love to have a hand-reared breeding pair of pearl ones, but between a new puppy and my fish, I don't really have the time to dedicate to them.


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## Sakura8

Can't contribute much to the bird discussion, although I'm reading and learning avidly. But Copper, I never get tired of pics of Rosie. Never.


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## copperarabian

I know it's a naturally occurring morph in the wild, but maybe it is just random since the dark morph aren't breeding with the dark morph. A breeder who used to have a pair wrote that the young kept the dark plumage.

Cockatiels are so cute, I prefer larger parrots because of they're intelligence and long life but those little birds are so cute. Mine loves me so much


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## LittleBettaFish

Yeah they all kind of look the same when you come across a huge flock of them so it's hard to tell whether some are darker than others. 

My favourite are the big yellow-tail cockatoos. They have the most mournful call. After we had a big bushfire here a few years back, one flew over my grandparents' property and I thought if ever there was a sound for loss, that was it.


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## copperarabian

Sakura8 said:


> Can't contribute much to the bird discussion, although I'm reading and learning avidly. But Copper, I never get tired of pics of Rosie. Never.


yay, I love birds so much that it's awesome to hear that  I'm so happy you like the photo's I take of Rosie. She is so much fun, I'm going to train her to fly outside with her harness, and hopefully free fly in a year or two


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## LittleBettaFish

Just be careful with her. My mum's galah escaped because something scared him when he was playing with the dogs. She thinks someone found him because she could hear him whistling sometimes and he was very friendly.


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## Sakura8

Copper, someday I want to come see you so I can see Rosie and Dante. I would love to see you working with them.


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## copperarabian

@Sakura
That would be awesome if you could see them sometime  The training probably wouldn't be that interesting yet, I do them in 5-15 minutes randomly through out the day so they stay interested and don't become uninterested. Once Rosie has recalling started it will be more interesting 



> Just be careful with her. My mum's galah escaped because something scared him when he was playing with the dogs. She thinks someone found him because she could hear him whistling sometimes and he was very friendly.


Once she's fully flighted I'll be very careful, she has a harness for outside and I might use it downstairs at first so she doesn't get scared and crash into window or mirror and seriously harm herself O.O


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## Sakura8

I'd also love to see your cichlid tank. Something tells me your room must be absolutely fascinating, with the fish and birds.


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## bettalover2033

copperarabian said:


> *Do you really have a leash on your cockateil?*[she's a cockatoo]* What if Rosie tries to fly away? How would you perch it on your hand/other place? *
> It's a harness for birds, when I have her on my hand I wrap it through my fingers so if she fly's she can't get far, a bird who isn't trained to free fly and in good shape can easily get scared and once in the sky they don't have the proper endurance to fly. Even in a small breeze a bird can loose control and become exhausted trying to get back to you before eventually being blown away(it's windier the higher you go too). Plus with a little wind any bird can get lift, even if they're wings are clipped.
> 
> The leash part doesn't really get in her way, it mostly just annoys her lol When I carry Rosie I have her facing me, this way when she gets scared and fly's she either gets on my shoulder, or clings to my shirt while flapping until my hand is under her and she steps back up. When she fly's away from me she goes towards the ground since her wings are clipped and I lower her slowly so she doesn't hurt her keen or any other muscles/bones. I'm currently letting her wings grow back in so she can fly outside for exercise, Galah cockatoo's can loose 20 years of they're life from becoming overweight and developing fatty tumors. The hard part will be motivating her to fly, then getting her in shape.
> 
> *Well you've educated me a lot! My grandmother is a bird fiend! She has has a bird about 1 1/2 foot tall and also has trained her birds to dance, and say the normal things like hello, goodbye and I love you, ect.
> 
> In ignorance, I honestly thought that there weren't more than 1 kind of cockatoo. And I think i'll stick with the cockateil, if I ever do get one. When I was younger, I remeber being chased by one of my grandmother's horrible birds that were just knee high at times and I thought they were the birdy versions of godzilla and it could fly so that made it no easier to get away from.*
> 
> That's so scary! Large birds can do some serious damage, especially to a kid. Was it a cockatoo? Umbrellas are pretty big, as well as sulfur crested. Click on this if you want to see what a bad bite looks like, a guy got bit on his lip by his umbrella cockatoo http://www.charlieandpeggy.com/cockatoobite1.jpg



You really know your stuff! I think the bird harness is a great idea just like the dog, iguana ect. harness. Though what if he were to try and fly while you are walking where there is no place for him to land? Would you just pull him back, or what will you usually do?

Also, as for me, it was terrifying for me to run away from a huge parrot that just a minute ago I thought birds were so cute and wanted a parakeet, but at the same time I thought of that bird that was chasing me and made up my mind to just get a guinea pig. So I've had cavvys when i was younger and enjoyed them for many years.

Anyway, I see that I was starting to rant and keep going on...To get to the point, (Luckily I was never bit by her) she scratched me many times and was so jealous of all the kids in the house, but was so in love with my grandmother and had such an amazing bond with her it was unbelievable.

When you said that birds sometimes get confused and think they are humans. I think she felt this way.

I love your birds and especially like the dark pink color on her! It's very unique and unlike many things I have never seen before.


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## copperarabian

bettalover2033 said:


> You really know your stuff! I think the bird harness is a great idea just like the dog, iguana ect. harness. Though what if he were to try and fly while you are walking where there is no place for him to land? Would you just pull him back, or what will you usually do?
> 
> Also, as for me, it was terrifying for me to run away from a huge parrot that just a minute ago I thought birds were so cute and wanted a parakeet, but at the same time I thought of that bird that was chasing me and made up my mind to just get a guinea pig. So I've had cavvys when i was younger and enjoyed them for many years.
> 
> Anyway, I see that I was starting to rant and keep going on...To get to the point, (Luckily I was never bit by her) she scratched me many times and was so jealous of all the kids in the house, but was so in love with my grandmother and had such an amazing bond with her it was unbelievable.
> 
> When you said that birds sometimes get confused and think they are humans. I think she felt this way.
> 
> I love your birds and especially like the dark pink color on her! It's very unique and unlike many things I have never seen before.


When I don't want her to land I just don't lower her to the ground and get my hand back under her so she'll step back onto my hand XD If she where to fly straight I could just real her back in, her leash is only about 4 feet long since she's not currently flying. Once she's flying I'll go out and get her a 20" leash 

Birds have very sharp nails, I need to clip Rosie's nails again and when I take her out I'll bring a glove with me so my hand doesn't get cuts. I normally wouldn't but my mom works with very sick/injured/cancer people and is very paranoid about infections.

I took some photo's of Dante while I was exercising her, I have her fly to me, and also to a chair. I use the chair more for exercising then training.


















This one isn't really good, but I think it's kinda cool looking


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## LittleBettaFish

Does your cockatiel like getting in your hair? Whenever we used to let our male out he would always just sit on my head and groom my hair. That, and chew the ends of my pencils. 

Seeing your photos is making me all nostalgic. But with four inside cats and three dogs, I don't think a bird would feel very comfortable at our house.


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## copperarabian

Mine likes playing with my bangs, and Rosie likes preening my hair and she licks my forehead lol


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## Calmwaters

They are beautiful!


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## bettalover2033

@Copperarabian: Now I see. I love those pictures. The last one has a very "ghosty" look to it.

I definitely want a cockateil. Parakeets are beautiful, but they are little chatterboxes and usually very loud when in a group.

Now it's just a matter of money, and research that's stopping me lol!


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## vaygirl

They're both beautiful. <3


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## copperarabian

bettalover2033 said:


> @Copperarabian: Now I see. I love those pictures. The last one has a very "ghosty" look to it.
> 
> I definitely want a cockateil. Parakeets are beautiful, but they are little chatterboxes and usually very loud when in a group.
> 
> Now it's just a matter of money, and research that's stopping me lol!


here's some good sites to read about them
http://www.cockatielcottage.net/basics.html http://www.cockatielcottage.net/newbirds.html
http://www.letstalkbirds.com/cockatiels.htm
http://www.pet-parrots.com/


Here's a cockatiel Forum that has some good information
http://talkcockatiels.com/forum.php


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## bettalover2033

thanks I'll get straight to it!


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## Zappity

Wow, they're both beautiful!! I'm thinking about getting a Cockatiel, but it's between that or a Green Cheeked Conure. How old are they? Is Dante loud?


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## copperarabian

> *Zappity *
> Wow, they're both beautiful!! I'm thinking about getting a Cockatiel, but it's between that or a Green Cheeked Conure. How old are they? Is Dante loud?


Here's a information filled response to you, and anyone else with parrots on the forum 

Dante used to scream every time I left the room, sometimes for longer then 20 minutes. She no longer does this unless I leave my door open because I only came back when she stopped, sometimes I'd walk in and she would scream, so I turned right around and walked back out. The cockatiel has a pleasant trilling call that isn't very loud. Green cheek conures have a slightly louder and harsher call then the cockatiels single clear high pitched scream. And keep in mine all birds will at some point in the day scream, usually around sunrise or sunset. it's just what they do, only on rare occasions do you find a bird who won't scream. I recently found out from bird tricks that by feeding your parrot at night time they will be busy eating and not scream.*


Lifespan*
Both can live to be 30 years old, and some have lived to be even older. Sadly most pet stores give them a life span of 10-20 years because most people unintentionally neglect their birds. Here's 3 major factors to their life span:

*Diet*
Pet parrots eat seeds, most people know this and feed their birds a all seed diet for their entire lives. Unfortunately this is very wrong information and most of their diet should actually consist of fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, and some nuts depending on the type of bird you have. This should be supplemented with a high quality pellet diet, but not just any pellets will do! Most pellets are colorful and full of sugar and fillers that won't do your bird any good. 

Birds who aren't fed properly will have premature organ failure, can develop fatty liver disease, become obese, fatty tumors, contributes to a overgrown beak, feather plucking/ feather chewing, causes a parrot to bite more, and they're feathers won't be as brilliant as a well fed bird.
*
Exercise*
Just like humans if all a bird does is sit around all day they won't be as healthy as a bird who goes out and gets exercise. Some species of birds, like my Galah, are very prone to obesity and fatty tumors. Because of this I'm letting her primary feathers(the feathers that give lift) grow back in so I can teach her to recall and fly outdoors with her harness on. Clipping your birds wing's isn't a bad thing to do because of all the dangers, but well trained fully flighted bird get lots of exercise. A clipped bird should receive lots of playtime to make up for this. 

*Clean environment*
If droppings and food are left in the cage, they will develop mold and bacteria which can even make their owners sick, plus they will smell. Water dishes should be cleaned with diluted dish soap everyday, if they feel slimy that's bacteria and it should of been cleaned sooner. I clean their dry food dishes once a week, and wet food dishes get cleaned everyday a few hours after given the food so it isn't going bad in their cage. I also clean any food dishes that have been pooped on immediately.

The entire cage should be thoroughly cleaned once a week, and all the perches should be wiped down. Try placing the perches in places where they won't get pooped on. I use Nature's Miracle cage and aviary to clean the cages, some people use diluted vinegar. The dishes should be removed when cleaning the entire cage. For the bottom I layer newspaper so that everyday I just take off the top layer and a fresh one is already there, it saves a lot of time and is way more convenient. 


*Cage size*
Here is Dante's cage for an example of cage size. Cockatiels have long tails that will be destroyed by a cage that's too small, or misplaced perches(to close to the edge or too high). Green cheek conures don't have as long of tails, but they can still be messed up by improper perch placement. 

A 16" x 16" x 18" would be good for a cockatiel or Green Cheek conure, that's what size the cage in the photo is.

Also notice the perches, it's very important to have different textures and widths to prevent sores from developing. Having different types of perches also exercise they're feet, and stretches them. Most bird cages come with perches in either wood or plastic similar to the lowest perch you see in this photo, one is ok since it gives your bird access to both sides of the cage but make sure to give variation.

And here's a awesome treat, the pink perch is a cement perch that actually dulls Dante's nails for me so I don't need to cut them. Only downside is it's rough, so make sure your bird has other options.


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## Sakura8

I'm really serious, Copper, you should write a book on responsible bird care. You have such a wealth of information and compiling it into a book would be amazing. You could even make it an e-book or a Kindle book. 

Haha, like you aren't busy enough. Maybe Ksie can help you write it?


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## copperarabian

I've never though of doing that before, it might be interesting


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## Sakura8

I'll buy a copy so you've made your first sale already.


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