Favorite Grey Books

[Dave007]

I'm using the # 14 as a hypothetical.

 

1---look for a breeder who has a decent reputation.

2---make sure the breeder will fully wean the bird and will also say that the bird isn't quite ready for sale because it needs to be weaned a little more.

3---Don't accept a bird from a breeder that says it would be nice for you to finish weaning at home and tries to convince you to do that. . That's a common mistake that people make.

4---If you are picking out a chick, ask if it's possible to visit the chick once or twice before being sold.

5---Make sure you get good paperwork concerning warranties/guarantees/ refunds in case of problems.

6-- make sure the seller will allow you to have the bird examined after sale in case there's problems. That's called a *well check* The breeder may also do this before sale but it doesn't have to include the sexing of the bird. Males and females are alike.

7--Don't buy from large pet shops. They don't know the actual origin of the bird and the health conditions of the breeders. They buy their birds from brokers ( middle men)

8--Don't buy a bird that has be to shipped by plane or other transportation. That's buying sight unseen and if there's a problem, the buyer is the loser.

9--Don't purchase a chick that's already been clipped. The bird will have a hard time building up natural muscle that can only be had by flapping and test flights.

10--if you're having problems or have decision problems, go to a bird board that you trust and experienced people will help you with advice.

 

Most breeders are reputable but there are scumbags out there. Some people here can tell you about them. They've had run ins with them.

[Popsicle]

That's great advice, Dave. Copied it to a file. Thanks!

 

Unfortunately I'm in the UK and parrots are no longer popular pets here. Therefore it hasn't been easy finding breeders. I have found a few though. But I have no idea how I'm gonna find out whether they have good reputation or not. I purchased a Parrot Society Uk magazine with a list of "trusted" breeders. Might be receiving it soon. Hopefully it will help a little bit more. Do you happen to know anyone who could also help me with that? I'm in London.

[Dave007]

I didn't know they were not popular. You're the first person to say that about birds in the UK. We have members here from the UK and they never seem to have problems finding a parrot and they never said that peroots were not popular.

 

One thing I can say is that you don't have to worry about getting an unweaned bird. It's against the law to sell unweaned parrots in the UK.

 

I can't help you as were to find a breeder but you can do this

 

Go to the GREY LOUNGE here.

 

Click on NEW TOPIC

 

Type in Looking for Breeders in the UK.

 

Give a little history of your situation, your part of the UK and see if you get responses.

[Popsicle]

I'm originally from Brazil. Parrots are as popular there as they are in the US. Even though I have been in the UK for a year only people I talk to don't know anyone who owns a parrot. And they all seem very surprised with our choice to have a parrot as a pet. I find it weird but my husband is British and he's the first to say they are not popular here. But God knows. lol However I have seen some people from the uk in the forum. So I will do what you suggested. Someone might be able to help.

[Zen's Mom]

Just to clarify - while I am fascinated with Irene Pepperberg's work, I am also not 100% sure she treated Alex with as much possible love and attention that he should have had. And poor Alex. Because of how our scientific community insists that we produce accurate data, she had to ask Alex to repeat lessons over and over and over again to gain enough statistics to prove her results. There was more than one occasion where she has stated herself that Alex would respond in a sarcastic way that made it obvious that he totally understood the task, had mastered it and was really annoyed that she kept asking him to do it again. That can't have been fun. - Fortunately I can use Irene's techniques to teach Zen as much as he is willing to learn, without taking the FUN out of it - because I have nothing to prove, nor do I need to in order to get a grant from the university to pay my bills. Talk about pressure!

[Popsicle]

Well said. Agree it's fine to use her techniques as long as we don't force our parrots to learn against their will. Making them comfortable and happy should always be our main objective.

[jdmjr1]

Which book should a new owner read first ?

[Kylon]

I want to thank everybody for their input. It looks like a few books are very popular among you guys, so I'm going to look into finding those ones to expand my knowledge.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

I'm going to say something different. NOT books that I have enjoyed.... but books that are Sophie's favorite. " Thomas the tank engine" cloth book. She can quote the book. Its her favorite bedtime story. Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss, she LOVES all their books. The " Sound of Music"... when I play those songs on the piano.... she loves to dance. Especially the song " Do, Re, Me". Nancy

[JanMarie]

Hi..the cheapest I have found the book For the Love of Greys is $139.00 USED! on Amazon. Any other places on line you may know of? Thanks Jan.

[danmcq]

The problem is "For the love of greys" is out of print. People are asking crazy amounts of money for that book. Truthfully, there is nothing in that book thats not presently available information wise online in forums and other sources. Much in that book is bobbi's thoughts and ways of how she raised greys. I wish I had a copy, I would just ship it to you. But, I gave it away years ago.

[Timbersmom]

Yikes! A few simple searches didn't yield a better price. Have you tried your local library? Apparently the publisher (lucky books) is no longer in business. The book must be out of print?

[Dave007]

Hi..the cheapest I have found the book For the Love of Greys is $139.00 USED! on Amazon. Any other places on line you may know of? Thanks Jan.

 

Many things have changed since 2008. Unless you're a breeder, the book really isn't that special. If you're a new grey owner, there's many books on the market that are in the $25 to $30 range. Bobbi Brinker's stuff is based on second hand knowledge. She's also a copy cat. There's loads of writers now a days that're printing out the same stuff. I really don't know what kind of info you're looking for but I can tell you that when a book has a lot of material in it concerning breeding, my opinion is tht the book isn't that great. It's pretty bad when people get the idea to breed just from reading a book. A good idea is to look up the different books that Mattie Sue Athan and Dianalee Deter have put out. They cover a wide range of subjects and most importantant of all is that they're jammed packed with lots of common sense---A good example is The African Grey Parrot Handbook. Costs about $15. Lots of places have them.

[SRSeedBurners]

I have the book 'For the Love of Greys'. I agree, not that special - will probably sell it online. One of the best books I have read that I compare other books to is by John C. McMichael PhD 'Caiques - Their care Breeding and Some Natural History'. Granted it's not about Greys but he does a really good job of not simply regurgitating the false information that's out there. I wished he had experience and would write a book about Greys. I so often see people just propagating misinformation because it's so often quoted elsewhere (guilty as charged here). Examples are parrots and chocolate and similar. Greycie decimated a chocolate bar the other day that was left out and we couldn't tell a thing with her. I swear she ate half the bar, the wrapper and piled the rest on the floor. She's also gorged herself on my wife's coffee that was left out. Milk - she's been into that constantly. I don't know what's true and what's just being parrot'd because it's popular to quote. McMichael addressed the lactose topic in his book and basically went on to say that he gives his birds a half inch cube of cheese per day. Greycie will do anything for cheese, it's her absolute favorite. Read it on the internets though and you're led to believe you're poisoning your bird with lactose.

 

Anyway, a good book is a must. I have that African Grey Parrot Handbook mentioned by Dave. I'll have to break it out and read it. I quit reading For the Love of Greys about 1/4 of the way through.

[lakers]

Oh thats a tough one to read. I love Alex and have read Alex and me, along with 2 dvd's I've purchased through the alex foundation. I have this book also, but I can't get through it.