# Anyone keep Rosellas?



## ShnakeyGirl (Apr 15, 2010)

I know there are quite a few people on here that keep birds and was wondering if any of you have Rosella's? We got a pair frequenting our bottle brush tree at the moment and it got me thinking what they would be like to keep?

Can anyone tell me what they're like, personality, diet, cost etc


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## ShnakeyGirl (Apr 15, 2010)

bump bump...anyone?


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## Mighty_Moose (Apr 15, 2010)

I keep one, He is an EXPERT whistler but not very friendly and will bite you if you stick your finger through the bars but as soon as you open the door he flys to the bottom corner of the cage. 

But I suppose it all depends on the bird. Ralph or Ralphy doesn't eat much a lot of fruit but does enjoy apple and some berries. He loves 'Small parrot' seed with spinach given on occasions. They also enjoy the occasional native tree put in his cage.


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## ShnakeyGirl (Apr 15, 2010)

What sort is he Moose?


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## ShaunMorelia (Apr 15, 2010)

I have heard that rosella's in general are a real flighty bird and dont do too well in cages/aviaries.
I could be wrong tho.


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## Mighty_Moose (Apr 15, 2010)

He is an Eastern Rosella.


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## Tsubakai (Apr 15, 2010)

They don't make good pet birds. Don't really tame down too well in general.


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## Mighty_Moose (Apr 15, 2010)

Thats true, He will never be an inside bird but he is lovely to listen to  He has a wonderful array of whistles including "Were off to see the Wizard the wonderful wizard of Oz" tune ! But on most occasions its very repetitive haha. If you want a bird that sits on your shoulder I would not recommend a Rosella.


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## trader (Apr 15, 2010)

We have a pair of Easterns in an aviary...lovely gorgeous birds! 

We purchased the pair a few yrs ago from a breeder at the Bird Expo. If I remember correctly it was $60 for the pair. As the others have said, they are very flighty birds!

We appreciate the array of wild native birds that come to visit our yard, but since we have them, the wild Easterns hang around a lot more.


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## -Matt- (Apr 15, 2010)

I used to keep Easterns, Crimsons and Pale-Headeds in aviaries and bred them a few times. They were really nice aviary birds and weren't too flighty once they got used to me, however I had a go at hand raising a few babies and they would start off calm and then just turn feral even with constant interaction. They a fairly cheap birds to buy (especially the easterns) and mine were just fed on a diet of small parrot seed and fruit. Also they are birds that don't really tolerate other species and tend to do best in pairs of their own type.


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## miss2 (Apr 15, 2010)

from my experince they dont make the best "pet" birds.
even if you hand raise them from straight out of the egg they always seem to revert back to wild or not friendly once they are off the soft food.


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## ShnakeyGirl (Apr 15, 2010)

Thanks for the info everyone, very helpful. 

Next question and this one I'm very interested in as I am certainly considering one of these as our next bird

Gang Gang Cockatoo's? Anyone keep them? I would imagine because of being on license in Victoria and the fact that you don't see them for sale very often that they would be on the expensive side


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## miss2 (Apr 15, 2010)

this might help u darl, theres a bit of info down the bottom about keeping them as a pet. i have both a s crested and a gallah, i love them to death but a lot of work required due to the attention they need. just remember there life span can often be as long as ours, sometimes more.
i would also recommend u got a DNA test to determine the sex and would highly recomend you get a male over a female 
Gang-Gang Cockatoos: Species information and Photos


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## ShnakeyGirl (Apr 15, 2010)

miss2 said:


> this might help u darl, theres a bit of info down the bottom about keeping them as a pet. i have both a s crested and a gallah, i love them to death but a lot of work required due to the attention they need. just remember there life span can often be as long as ours, sometimes more.
> i would also recommend u got a DNA test to determine the sex and would highly recomend you get a male over a female
> Gang-Gang Cockatoos: Species information and Photos


 
Thanks miss2!

We have a Galah also, shes such a lovely bird with a BIG personality. We're about to have our 'girl' DNA tested because we're not convinced she is indeed a she. We want to eventually get her a mate also.


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## -Matt- (Apr 15, 2010)

ShnakeyGirl said:


> Thanks for the info everyone, very helpful.
> 
> Next question and this one I'm very interested in as I am certainly considering one of these as our next bird
> 
> Gang Gang Cockatoo's? Anyone keep them? I would imagine because of being on license in Victoria and the fact that you don't see them for sale very often that they would be on the expensive side


 
I have never kept them but had a mate that had a few pairs, they are very prone to feather picking and stress and also need a good diet. Just like any other cockatoo they require a lot of attention and get bored very easily (just like a small child). I honestly have no idea what they are worth these days but they weren't a real expensive bird a few years back. IMO they are the most interesting out of the cockatoo species and one I would love to keep! Especially a male.


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## ShnakeyGirl (Apr 15, 2010)

Mattsnake said:


> I have never kept them but had a mate that had a few pairs, they are very prone to feather picking and stress and also need a good diet. Just like any other cockatoo they require a lot of attention and get bored very easily (just like a small child). I honestly have no idea what they are worth these days but they weren't a real expensive bird a few years back. IMO they are the most interesting out of the cockatoo species and one I would love to keep! Especially a male.


 

They're very interesting, you're right about that. We're lucky, we have heaps around at the moment, they have a very cute call as well,not at all like other cockatoos. We fell in love with them after we rescued a young one that had fallen out of the nest last year. The males are just amazing


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## Jonno from ERD (Apr 15, 2010)

I used to keep a pair of Eastern Rosella's, the female laid four times in total. Her second clutch produced one healthy chick, and her third clutch produced five! I eventually moved them on as I didn't have aviary space.


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## herptrader (Apr 15, 2010)

They are just beautiful birds.

I have a book on "Broad tailed parrots" (the details of which I cannot remember - it is at home and we are the middle of renovating so??) which is a great read and basically describes with fascinating anecdotes what they are like to keep, their feeding requirements etc.

I just love ours to bits even though they are quite flighty.


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## ShaunMorelia (Apr 15, 2010)

ShnakeyGirl said:


> Thanks for the info everyone, very helpful.
> 
> Next question and this one I'm very interested in as I am certainly considering one of these as our next bird
> 
> Gang Gang Cockatoo's? Anyone keep them? I would imagine because of being on license in Victoria and the fact that you don't see them for sale very often that they would be on the expensive side


Yeah they are quite expensive, a guy I work with breeds them. he says they are very noisy but a great bird.
from memory I think his last female cost him nearly 5k.


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## Sock Puppet (Apr 15, 2010)

ShnakeyGirl said:


> Next question and this one I'm very interested in as I am certainly considering one of these as our next bird....Gang Gang Cockatoo's?


Gday Shnakeygirl! 
I have investigated obtaining Gang Gangs before. The problem with them is they are considerably expensive, difficult to find (I've heard there are waiting lists for chicks, not too sure if this is fair dinkum or not though), & have a bit of a specialised diet.
I'll sift through my email archives & if I've kept the emails, I'll PM you a copy. 
Cheers
Socky


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## ShnakeyGirl (Apr 15, 2010)

The_S_Word said:


> Yeah they are quite expensive, a guy I work with breeds them. he says they are very noisy but a great bird.
> from memory I think his last female cost him nearly 5k.




Holy crap! I didn't expect that much!!


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## -Matt- (Apr 15, 2010)

The_S_Word said:


> Yeah they are quite expensive, a guy I work with breeds them. he says they are very noisy but a great bird.
> from memory I think his last female cost him nearly 5k.



Really? My mate picked up his pairs from between $1500-2000 a pair about 6 years ago. I actually thought birds were getting cheaper?


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## ShaunMorelia (Apr 15, 2010)

Mattsnake said:


> Really? My mate picked up his pairs from between $1500-2000 a pair about 6 years ago. I actually thought birds were getting cheaper?


 Im pretty sure it was a proven breeder tho. not a chick.


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## -Matt- (Apr 15, 2010)

The_S_Word said:


> Im pretty sure it was a proven breeder tho. not a chick.


 
These were also breeding pairs.


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## ShaunMorelia (Apr 15, 2010)

Mattsnake said:


> These were also breeding pairs.


 Ah, not a bad deal then. This one was purchased about 4-5mths ago....


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## herptrader (Apr 15, 2010)

We had a gang gang fly into our yard earlier in the week. First time I had ever seen one close to home. (... in the burbs of Melbourne)


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## feathers (Apr 15, 2010)

Gang Gangs as pets are EXTREMELY high maintenance. Currently also you would need to be assured that they are not carriers of beak & feather as many are now, both in the wild and in captivity. This is due to the fact that captive birds are very difficult to get to breed as they are so stressy, so many "captive" birds are in fact wild bred and taken from nests that are used year after year. They are very prone to feather plucking due to boredom and once started it is virtually impossible to stop them. Their diet in the wild is not seed based rather more nut based with fruit as well and unless you live in an area where they occur and are prepared to gather local fruit, nuts and berrys they will always be bored due to the ease with which they can get seed in captivity. Very fussy bird, very stressy, very hard biters, etc. Not a good pet unless you are home 24 hours a day and are prepared to have a constant companion for the next 70 years.


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## ShnakeyGirl (Apr 15, 2010)

feathers said:


> Gang Gangs as pets are EXTREMELY high maintenance. Currently also you would need to be assured that they are not carriers of beak & feather as many are now, both in the wild and in captivity. This is due to the fact that captive birds are very difficult to get to breed as they are so stressy, so many "captive" birds are in fact wild bred and taken from nests that are used year after year. They are very prone to feather plucking due to boredom and once started it is virtually impossible to stop them. Their diet in the wild is not seed based rather more nut based with fruit as well and unless you live in an area where they occur and are prepared to gather local fruit, nuts and berrys they will always be bored due to the ease with which they can get seed in captivity. Very fussy bird, very stressy, very hard biters, etc. Not a good pet unless you are home 24 hours a day and are prepared to have a constant companion for the next 70 years.



Thanks very much!! Might give them a miss lol


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## Tsubakai (Apr 15, 2010)

feathers said:


> Gang Gangs as pets are EXTREMELY high maintenance. Currently also you would need to be assured that they are not carriers of beak & feather as many are now, both in the wild and in captivity. This is due to the fact that captive birds are very difficult to get to breed as they are so stressy, so many "captive" birds are in fact wild bred and taken from nests that are used year after year. They are very prone to feather plucking due to boredom and once started it is virtually impossible to stop them. Their diet in the wild is not seed based rather more nut based with fruit as well and unless you live in an area where they occur and are prepared to gather local fruit, nuts and berrys they will always be bored due to the ease with which they can get seed in captivity. Very fussy bird, very stressy, very hard biters, etc. Not a good pet unless you are home 24 hours a day and are prepared to have a constant companion for the next 70 years.



Pretty much what I was going to say but much better explained than I would have done. If you are looking for a companion bird there are much better choices around.


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