BlackOpal

Thank you, I just wanted to know if it was safe! Since it's not, I definitely will not be giving him any. In the meantime I'm still waiting for him to eat his veggies...

As some of you might know I got my first African Grey a week ago. I have been looking into natural oils I can add to his food so he can get the vitamins he needs. I read that carrot seed oil is rich in Carotene and Vitamin A (like red palm oil, which is sadly not available in my country). Would it be safe to give my grey some essential carrot seed oil? I wanted to make sure it's completely safe before I purchase it. Thanks!

Thanks Judy, we do call him Chicken but I think of it more as a nickname because I feel bad calling a rather majestic animal something goofy LOL. So I secretly named him Onyx, but continue to call him Chicken... I will keep trying different veggies prepared in different ways and hope he ends up liking something!! Thank you for all your advice and tips <3

Interesting, I didn't know they weren't supposed to have a lot of fruit! I gave him some carrots yesterday but he didn't eat them either (surprise, surprise) will keep trying with different veggies... Or maybe he's like Sophie in this case. Nancy, how long did it take for you two to bond?

This is great advice Acappella, thank you SO much! I will definitely do those things. Speaking of food, he doesn't go near any of the fruits we give him... He only eats seeds My goal is to get him to like healthy stuff but I'm not too sure how to go about it. I've tried apples (red and green), oranges and bananas. Nothing. I've tried taking his seeds away for a while, then he just doesn't eat so I cave in and give them back. Ugh.

Thank you guys, as a new African grey owner so far I have been able to observe that Chicken has moods he goes through throughout the day. I don't know if this is typical Grey behavior but he is really cheery in the morning when he first wakes up, then gets really quiet for several hours, then cheers up again when the sun is setting, then gets quiet again, and finally gets REALLY cheery just before he goes to sleep. He has followed this exact pattern two days in a row. He is happiest when we are out of the room, that's when he makes all sorts of sounds. Sometimes he will chirp and flap his wings when I'm in the room, but if I walk past him this causes him to quiet down up to an hour or so. He was really active this morning until I pulled out his tray to clean it (with vinegar, lemon and water) and put it back in. He was completely silent and still after that, for almost half a day. Hopefully he warms up to us soon because we already love him so much!

I got Chicken 48 hours ago, and although he growls when we come near him, he appears to be quite happy with his new environment. Here is a video of him taken yesterday (sorry about the vertical video): [video=youtube_share;oeXTxSuw9Ng]http://youtu.be/oeXTxSuw9Ng Bonus picture (this was the closest I could get without scaring him): He's already such a good bird, we just need to gain his trust...

As a soon to be Grey owner, I don't want my Grey's wings to be clipped, I want him to fly freely and explore the house. But I also don't want him to fly out of an accidentally left open window, or worse, fly into a pot of boiling water. So I'm torn...

Thanks for the heads up! I know my cats won't bother Chicken, they have been around ducklings and baby sparrows before, but if Greys aren't good with cats that's a whole different story. I'll have to keep an eye on them! Here's Heidi with our foster duckling from a couple years ago

That's good to hear that they don't swallow small parts. I have so many more questions but perhaps I will write them all down and post them in a new thread... I see from your avatar that you have a dog and cat too. How do they all get along with your Grey? I have a small dog (papillon), two cats and a free range tortoise. Our furry kids are great and love and accept other animals, but I'm worried about the safety of Shelly, our Mediterranean tortoise. She is small and I'm concerned that our Grey will try to hurt her? Do Greys prey on tortoises in the wild?? If it's going to be an issue I will have to put Shelly in the big balcony and let her stay there from now on... That would be a shame though, she loves exploring the house.

Thank you so much Nancy!!! That means a lot. You made my day

Thank you so much for the warning!!! As a first time Grey owner I need guys like you in my life!! Potential disaster averted thanks to you! I have a question... I also got a plastic abacus, thinking he might enjoy playing with the beads and rearranging them and such... But when I got home I thought what if it could be dangerous? Do they tend to swallow small parts like babies do? Lol silly question but better safe than sorry.

Thanks Timbersmom, I can't wait! I keep glancing over at the cage and seeing it empty makes me sad I want to bring him home ASAP.

Thank you. I have recently had the extreme displeasure of finding out about the massacring of African Greys in the wild for luxury purposes. It was a video on youtube, I didn't watch it nor do I want to, but if they really kill these majestic creatures for fun, I think stealing them from the wild is not the worst thing that could happen to them. By no means do I condone it, but if it helps some of them not get killed instead, that's a good thing in my book. I hope ya'll can at least agree with that. Anyone that hurts/kills an innocent, defenseless creature that is highly intelligent with cognitive skills is... a monster. They should not be considered a human being.

I've been doing some reading on the different subspecies of Congo Greys and apparently there are 3 types of Congos: Cameroon, Congo and Ghana. Cameroons are the largest in size and lightest in color, the Congo is a bit darker and smaller, and the Ghana is the darkest and smallest of the three. All three subspecies are generelized as Congos. In this case I think Chicken is a Ghana Grey. I would say he's a bit bigger than and as dark as a Timneh. Good news, I'm going to put a deposit on him soon! As soon as he comes home I will see if I can get a better picture.