raleej337

congratulations! we've just have our first grey last monday and the experience of bringing our grey home is one of the most exciting thing for us. the day we picked him up is the first time we saw him, no regrets that we choose him, anyway when we saw him at the breeders house he's so eager to get out of his cage and once out he let me scratch his head (though he's a bit apprehensive). i'm sure you'll gonna enjoy having your grey in your place. if you have any concerns just ask the people here, they'll share their experiences and will advice you.

in a way most people buy an african grey because they know and they want a talking bird. it is one factor thats why people choose the grey. there is nothing wrong with that as long as you'll love your bird no matter if he talks or not. lets be honest with ourselves that the talking factor made you decide to have this bird. i myself told the breeders i spoke with that i want a bird that will leran to talk and not loud. i know they are not cuddly as the cockatoos.

not to hijack this post but is there a way to know if a baby parrot will be a talker? like is there any signs to watch out for?

well we've decide to get a baby...and he's home now! Thank you for your words of wisdom.

Not really the eagle but the African grey! Please welcome the newest member of our family...Simon. We've just picked him up this morning from a breeder. There are four that are for sale, two males and two females (probable guess by the breeder). The two females are a bit shy and immediately go to the corner of the cage when they saw us. The two males go near the door of each respective cage. The breeder asks us what gender we are looking for and explain things about the greys. We've decided on a male, so he put the two males on a stand and let me take my time choosing which one I like. I gave both birds a scratch on their head and the one we like is more responsive and friendly. From there we decided which one to take. Between the two males we took is the smaller one. Sad to say the wings are clipped. When we got home we put him in his cage and he started checking every corner of the cage and the toys inside it. We left the door open and put the play stand near the door and he perched on it. His eating the frozen vegetable the breeder gave us and mostly playing the seed and pellets mixture we brought from the breeder. So far so good, I can give him head scratch, not too long but I think it is a good start. He is making small quacking sound (almost like a seal sound) and keeps on running following my hand then will lower his head. Well here are some of his first pics. Post edited by: raleej337, at: 2009/09/29 01:10<br><br>Post edited by: raleej337, at: 2009/09/29 03:25

Sorry I can't help since I'm just getting my bird later today but all I can say for now is welcome to the board. You'll definitely going to learn a lot from here. People here are very friendly and always shares their experiences. I miss Bahrain, I worked at Bahrain Duty Free as showcase designer back in 1996.

yeah 3 is ok but if you can add two more just to make sure they have enough sample to use for DNA testing the better. I hate to pluck those feathers but in a way it is more less painful than cutting the nails to bleed just to get few drops of blood. Good luck on finding out the sex of your bird.

I wish that will happen to my cockatiel and my to be grey.

We're getting ready for possible arrivl of the newest member of our family. We're going to the breeder this coming Monday to look at the baby greys ready for new homes and if we feel one of those babies are right for us we'll be going home with a bird. I am excited and a bit afraid. This will be our first grey. We have experiences with cockatiels and finch but of course this one is way deifferent. Have been reading and re-reading lot of posts here to prepare myself. I'll post pics if we decided to bring one on Monday.

Feather is less painful I think. My two male cockatiels was sexed via feather. Blood is cheaper than feather. Avianbiotech does a good service.

ok thanks for the words. at least now i know.

this is an old cage that I have, I dont have the grey yet, we might pick it up sometime his weekend or early next week. Definitley he'll be out most of the time. I supposed to buy a new cage but some more important expenses came up and have to deal with it first. I know the minimum is somewhere like 36 x 36 x 40 and with a thicker wire. We've already made a deposit on the bird so we can't pull out.

Will this work as a temporary cage for my baby grey? Size is 30"L x 17"D x 33"H (cage only), bar spacing is 1/2", my actual problem is the wires. This will be the greys cage for maybe 2 - 3 months until I have enough budget to buy a new cage. The bird is newly weaned.

I just recently got this from the one who posted the grey adoption. By the way the grey is 18 months old according to her and this is the story why the bird is up for adoption. " The first owner was a man who got him when he was 6 mo. old and had him until 2 weeks ago. He lives alone and his job will be taking take him out of the country a lot. He was worried that his job will keep him away up to a month at a time. No issues he is a good bird, but if you just came over tried to pick him up from his cage he will bite. I am working with him to know he can trust me not to hurt him. He has come over to me even scared to hold him at times. But I have only had him about two weeks, so we are still getting to know each other." And this is what she said in her CL post: "18 month old DNA large male Congo African Grey Parrot. 2 lg. Cages toys, books and other items to go with him. This is a very special and most well rounded Grey I know. If you have had or know about them, then you know why this is the best age to get him. and you will be surprised how easy going he is. Not overly afraid of people or new toys. He was owned by a male and yet if I kept him any longer he would bond to me, a female. Even though I have had him only a couple of weeks, he will let me scritch his head and hold him, but I think at this point though he would still prefer a male. If I keep him much longer this would change. As you should know Greys have a fine powder and can make a room dusty in a week. The best thing to have is an air cleaner to help out. This boy needs someone who will love, understand and respect him. I have personal reasons for re-homing and is not due to him. Please do not bother to ask me to give him away. If you cannot afford him don't email me. I have seen people ask much more, but have all kind of issues to overcome.This is just about the most perfect Grey you could ask for. I need someone willing to keep it that way." What do you think, is it worth getting the bird knowing that it'll be my first grey. Any more concerns should I know of?

what are the pros and cons of adopting a grey instead of getting a newly weaned bird?

Thank you for the help, I really appreciate the word of advice and for the experiences you've shared. Well I still have 4 months to research and learn.

Thanks people for sharing your thoughts and experiences. This will really help me decide whether to get a grey or stick with my cockatiel. We might see the breeder tomorrow. Well I stil have 4 months before getting the bird.

How safe it is to have a grey when you have a 4 y.o. or should I ask the other way around. Anybody who have experience with children and grey? Thanks!

We are planning on buying a grey but I'd like to know how loud are they when they are screaming or vocalizing? I live in a fourplex apartment (townhouse style, 2 storey) and I don't want to bother my three neighbors. In range of 1 to ten, 1 being the softest and 10 being the loudest in what range do they fall? TIA

Hi just joined the forum today. I don't own a grey yet but planning on having one. Currently I owned a cockatiel. I always wanted to have a pet parrot but can't decide which one. Lately I have been searching the net and trying to look for a companion parrot. I am being torn between a Rose Breasted and the African Grey. I have discussed things with two local breeders, one breeder prefer the Rose but asked me to decide and the other breeder suggests the Grey. Both give their thoughts about the two species. They asked me the same question: what do you want from this bird? Told them that I want a bird that talk a lot, tamed, can be pet, will sit with us, active and not loud all the time. I have a 3.5 y.o. girl and she loves birds, actually she always play with our cockatiel. I do work in the house so I can vouch for a long quality time with the bird. I am leaning more on the Grey (obviously thats why I came here...lol). So I wanted to know a lot about their behaviors. I don't know exactly what to ask but if you could give me bits of general ideas about the greys based on your experiences I would appreciate it. How safe are they with kids? Will a lot of interactions help them to be more tamed and not bite a lot? How can I socialize my bird with other people since there are only 3 people in the house (me, my wife and daughter)? Oh by the way I might go to the breeder next week to see the chick. It is a 2 week old chick and I have to wait maybe 5 months before I can get it, so I have plenty of time to read the posts here. But of course I have to decide by next week if I am going to get the bird or not. Thank you in advance.