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| Hi, my family is thinking about having a grey parrot for years. I read a lot about them and sounds like this bird is a moody full of trouble pet.Is this right? We don't want to make a bad decision but we can't stop thinking to have one. (I don't like cockatoos, I know they better for families but if we have a parrot it will be the grey african.) So please let me know what is your experience. How suitable is that bird for a family with small kids? How often and how much vet and behaviorist care they need? How painful is their bite? And what is that mean that they don't suggest them for first time parrot owners? We never had big parrots just parakeet but we want some smarter and funnier species this time. Is there a good breeder around DC area among you or you know about? Which parrot book do you find best? Every thought and advice is appreciated. Thank you.
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Greys all have their own personalitys. Get a young one and it will form a personality that fits u'r family. It still may want to favor one person. I have two. My male will bite hard and draw plenty of blood given the chance. My female will bite but it wont hurt at all. Male steps up no problem and isnt cuddly but likes to be pet on the head. My female wont step up at all but will tollerate u picking her up and being cuddly. Both are extreemly intelligent and talk and know what they say.
They live a long time and need alot of interaction with toys and ppl. Treat them like A 4 year old kid.
Well my eyes have seen the horror
Of the coming of the flood
I’ve driven deep the thorny crown
Into the soul of someone’s son
Still I’ll look you in the eye
’cause I’ve believed in things I’ve thought
And I’ll die without regret
For the wars I have fought
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Well I have to agree about grey's all having their own personality. I have a 9 month old african grey congo, when we got her she was only 3 months old. She was still on 1 nightly feeding of formula so she bonded very well to me. As far as my husband goes.... she will tolerate him but refuses to let him touch her. She loves my neices and nephews and will sit and listen to them forever but they too cannot touch her. I can hold her, cuddle her, give her lots of kiss's and she loves it. She doesn't at all bite me. I think it's something you should think about because they usally only attach themselves to one person. As far as a family bird, she/he will love to be around all of you all the time but will only allow one person to handle them. Good luck on your decision... feel free to ask any questions you'd like:grey:
Lori :grey:
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| African Greys can varry greatly on personality. We have two pet hens. One we rescued from someone that no longer had the time to care for it. She said it had been a "plucker" since it was 6 months old. It is from what she told us 18 years old now. What this bird lacks in looks it diffently makes up for in personality. "Gonzo" was totaly naked when we picked her up except for her head feathers. I think she spent a lot of time having to entertain herself and turned to plucking as a soothing effect it also may be a little bit of "wanting to breed frustration". This bird was very tame towards me since day one. She stepped right up and put her head down for a scratch..and would keep you scratching as long as possible. At first she didn't like her body touched really other than her head or beak but I think that's cuz she is naked and doesn't like her skin touched much. This bird imitates everything from horses neighing, answering machines, phone ringing, microwaves, TV, to pomerians barking and even says, MOoommM , hey MOM..etc. just like my kids. Fool's me everytime! She is now starting to keep feathers on her wings..She is out of the cage almost all day. When she is in her cage she has the company of our other African Grey hen and Blue and Gold Male. All three stay in my computer room which is in between the living room and laundry/bath room so lots of traffic. I think she has fallen for our other hen..lol as she trys to "swqat" for her and gives her "goo-goo" eyes trying to feed her. "Gonzo" has also tried to feed me. "Gonzo" loves everybody and steps up for everybody only once in a while she is not in a step up mood and if she doesn't raise her foot to step up we know to come back in 5 minutes or so and she steps right up agian. Our other African Grey hen "Darling" when we first got her at 2 years old wanted nothing to do with any of us. She was very shy. It took her about 3-4 days for me to even get her to step up onto my finger w/o backing away & biting. Once she realized I wasn't a threat and was living with us for a while she now adores me and I her but still doesn't like anyone else much. She sticks her beak out of the cage and goes hello darling and makes kissing sounds to me. She hasn't bit me since. She also is a wonderful eater in perfect feather..eating almost anything you give her while Gonzo will ignore everything good for him or take it and toss it away. Gonzo also will not play with toys and if you put one in the cage she will cowar in the corner and shake..I don't think she ever had any toys to play with growing up. Darling loves her toys exspecialy her swing and bell. I think a lot has to do with the way they are socialized from a young age. everythime the phone rings Darling will go "hello". it's a trip to hear all 3 of them get cranked up in the morning, horses neighing, dog barking, phones ringing, microwaves beeping..and poor ol Toby the Macaw wants so bad to be able to make the sounds they do but all he can get out is "Hello", "Hi Toby", "Whatcha Doing" and of course the Macaws LOUD honk-swack. The one good thing about African Greys is that they do not Scream but they are known to become pluckers. Cockatoos are known to do both but when handfed are very much cuddlebabies. For a first time big bird owner I diffently wouldn't recommend a Cockatoo unless you really know what is involved in owning one.
Regards,
Mandy Tucker
www.singing-wings-aviary.com
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The grey is a wonderful bird especially if you live in an apartment but have the space. Greys are not known for being screamers like other species. They can and do generally pick one person as their favorite but not always. I have a grey who will not allow anyone but me to hold her and even then if she is in a bad mood she will give me a light nip saying NOT NOW  They are excellent talkers and even though mine is almost 20 yrs old she still comes up with new words or short sentences all the time. Out of all of my birdsIi would have to say she is one bird you can look at and actually see the little wheels in her head going round thinking or trying to understand. I got my grey through rescue yrs ago and she was a plucker and quite bare. Luckily she hadn't damaged all of the folicles and after about a year or so she allowed some feathers to come back without plucking them out. The best advice I can give to any new bird owner is don't put in anymore time into any bird than your willing to always do with the bird. Birds are social animals and like interaction with their own species or with people. If you start out with a lot of attention then back off this may result in plucking or other bad habits to set in. Making sure you have lots of toys in the cage helps them to amuse themselves when they have to be in the cage. I usually rotate my birds toys every other week so they don't get bored with the same ones. I make sure all of the birds have as much out of cage time as my schedual allows.Bonnie
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| I have a Timneh African grey and he is great! He is my first large bird, but we are all doing great. African greys aren't as high demand as other large birds. I am a stay at home mom so he spends most of his day out of his cage. He is only locked up for bed time, and if we go out during the day. we even brought him on vacation w/ us for thanksgiving weekend. He gets loud about 3 times a day but it is just him talking so you really don't mind cause your too busy listening to what he has to say. He doesn't screach or scream at all. every once in while when I walk out of the room he will give a quick contact call and I'll just call to him from another room and then he is fine. He does bite everytime you tell him to step up, but it doesn't start off hard. He just gives a little testing nibble and if you don't flinch he will step up, but if you do flinch he keeps nibbling harder and harder, then he won't step up. His nibbles are so minor even my 4 year old has no problem getting him to step up. My only problem w/ him is he is very messy. He flings everything off of his cage. But I just lay newspaper around his cage and keep a dustbuster on hand and it doesn't ever get too bad. You also have to remember that you can't just feed him pellets and water and walk away like w/ parakeets. they need fresh fruits and veggies everyday to get all there nutriants. My grey gets a fresh salad everyday of Kale, squash, zuccini, broccoli, carrots, jalopeno peppers, green and red peppers. Then for snacks during the day he has apple, banana, orange, grapes. So it gets very expensive. Whatever you decide to do, gl!
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