Would you trust having a Grey in your house if you had 2 children?

[autte]

I have 2 children 7 & 4 years old. The bird we are interested in is 12 weeks old and would come home soon. Do you have children with your Grey or is your house strictly only Grey Babies? Thanks for your opinions.

[Dave007]

Greys don't usually do anything to children first. Usually, it's the other way around. Poking at the bird, running around quickly and erractically around the bird will startle him/her. Basically, the kids have to be taught that they need to slow down around the bird so that it relaxes. In general greys don't like kids who don't slow down but they can eventually get used to kids. If your kids have friends of the same age over to visit, the bird needs to be put in an area where it'll feel secure and those kids must be told to not go near the bird. Greys are leery of kids who aren't shown how to deal with the bird. It's up to you to decide about having a grey. You know yoour kids and how they are. Can they be taught how to deal with a parrot? That's the secret to having greys and kids in the same house.

[Luvparrots]

I live alone but I have several grandchildren. It all depends on how well each grandchild is disciplined as to whether or not they can interact with my grey. It also depends upon whether or not Ana Grey "likes" a certain grandchild. My oldest grandson (21) has a good relationship with Ana Grey and she will fly to him. My 10 year-old grandson and Ana Grey have the same type of interaction. When two of my grandsons 5 and 8 are over Ana Grey stays in her cage as they are not calm and disciplined children and Ana Grey senses this and does not really want to be around them. Ana Grey does not like my other pets, if I am carrying around my ekkie or pug, she will dive bomb them and try to peck their heads and claw them. She is very jealous. But when my year old grandson is over she will sit quietly on the back of my chair while I rock or feed him. She seems to know that he is a helpless person. So I guess it all depends upon the personality of your grey and the discipline of your children, in my opinion.

Edited August 2, 2010 by luvparrots

[Keywe]

I have a 1.5 and one on the way... It's how the children are raised to be around the grey... Keywe is used to Syd, and we are teaching Syd respect for animals, and especially ones with beaks!

[Cheshire Cat]

I have three young nieces (aged 5, 9 and 10), although obviously they don't live here but Tui seems alright with them. She lets them stroke her. I say she 'seems' alright with them as they've only seen her a few times because I haven't had my Tui all that long. I'm more cautious with Tui around my youngest niece, but the older two know how to behave around her and what to do/not to do.

 

I'm sure if you raise your bird with your children around, they should all get used to one another.

[Chris and Matt]

Between the two of us we have 3 kids. They're 5, 6, and 10. They've all been told how to behave with Maggie, if they don't listen they're sent out of the room to play somewhere else and they get the idea. We also have rats though and they're pretty used to the "slow and gentle" idea behind small animals. The 5 year old is the only one who lives with us full-time, unfortunately, but I think as long as we continue to remind her of proper interaction with Maggie we'll all be alright.

 

This is Maggie with the 10 year old

[danmcq]

I have 7 grand children, each depending on age interacts with Dayo my grey and Jake the Conure differently. When Dayo came home at 16 weeks, they were all excited and happy to have pictures taken with Dayo on their shoulder. As a baby, he was very well behaved and posed no threat. This was of course only the children over 9 years old. The younger ones were afraid of him.

 

As Dayo aged over the months and years, he became more independent and also demanding. He dislikes the youngest children because of their fast and unexpected movements, along with their unprovoked teasing like a young child does. At one point he would growl at them if they got within what he considered HIS space. They learned quickly by my severe verbal reprimands and Dayos own growls and fluffed feathers.

 

The older teens, got to where they did not want Dayo on their shoulders, because he scared them when he would beak lightly on their ears for attention. Dayo will fly and try to take food from any child with a plate. Scares the hell out of the young ones, but they soon learned to duck and cover their plates and Dayo would just fly in a circle and wait like a hawk to swoop down and grab some food if the opportunity arose. They older teens though, are fine with Dayo landing on their laps and sharing food with them.

 

They all know the rules in my house, yet when those youngsters get to playing excited, then sometimes I have to put the hammer down quickly before someone gets hurt, which would probably be a bitten youngster.

 

I could go on with several more examples and how the interaction changes with age of both, but I believe I have said enough for you to get the picture. Only you can decide if you are willing to share you house with a Grey and make the rules and adjustments that will need to be made for decades of you parrots life span.

 

Oh, I do need to say they love the conure and the conure loves them as well. He perches on their shoulders, never bites and loves kissy sounds and the attention he can have full-time with no jealousy or threat from Dayo.

[tarm]

I have 7 grand children, each depending on age interacts with Dayo my grey and Jake the Conure differently. When Dayo came home at 16 weeks, they were all excited and happy to have pictures taken with Dayo on their shoulder. As a baby, he was very well behaved and posed no threat. This was of course only the children over 9 years old. The younger ones were afraid of him.

 

As Dayo aged over the months and years, he became more independent and also demanding. He dislikes the youngest children because of their fast and unexpected movements, along with their unprovoked teasing like a young child does. At one point he would growl at them if they got within what he considered HIS space. They learned quickly by my severe verbal reprimands and Dayos own growls and fluffed feathers.

 

The older teens, got to where they did not want Dayo on their shoulders, because he scared them when he would beak lightly on their ears for attention. Dayo will fly and try to take food from any child with a plate. Scares the hell out of the young ones, but they soon learned to duck and cover their plates and Dayo would just fly in a circle and wait like a hawk to swoop down and grab some food if the opportunity arose. They older teens though, are fine with Dayo landing on their laps and sharing food with them.

 

They all know the rules in my house, yet when those youngsters get to playing excited, then sometimes I have to put the hammer down quickly before someone gets hurt, which would probably be a bitten youngster.

 

I could go on with several more examples and how the interaction changes with age of both, but I believe I have said enough for you to get the picture. Only you can decide if you are willing to share you house with a Grey and make the rules and adjustments that will need to be made for decades of you parrots life span.

 

Oh, I do need to say they love the conure and the conure loves them as well. He perches on their shoulders, never bites and loves kissy sounds and the attention he can have full-time with no jealousy or threat from Dayo.

 

 

It probably shouldn't be but that is so amusing and funny . I got a good chuckle imaging that. Picturing a kid ducking under the table and a little Grey flapping for all he is worth trying to fly off with a full slice of pizza. Like a helicopter with to heavy a hoist load to get altitude.

 

Cheers,

 

Tim

Edited August 4, 2010 by tarm

[GoDiego]

Although I don't have a grey, I do have an Amazon parrot who lives very happily with my 3 and 5 year old. Before bringing Diego home, my husband and I really involved our children with the home coming, explaining what was going to happen, how they should act around him and although they will be excited with having a new family member, they have to take it easy around him as he will probably be a little uneasy at first.

 

Since having Diego at home, the boys and Diego are getting on great guns. Especially my youngest who seems to have developed a real bond with Diego. My eldest seems to be the only one in the family who can talk to Diego and get instant replies from him. The 3 of them often play together on the floor with toys or a ball and Diego loves all of the attention he gets from them. However, as with most parrots, Diego does have his off moments where he can be a little grumpy. My boys already seem to understand his body language and quietly leave him alone when Diego does not want to interact with them.

 

My only concern with having children in the house is the patio doors, although they know that when Diego is out and about, all the doors must stay closed. However, my boys are only young so often forgetful which is normal, so I do closely supervise all 3 at all times. After all I'm the adult and therefore responsible for all of there welfare.

 

Another thing I do is to get the boys involved with lots of things for Diego, whether it's making some foraging toys for him, drawing a picture of him that I can put on the wall next to his cage, feeding him, cleaning his drop tray and even training him. My eldest sometimes with my supervision does target training with him and my son loves it when Diego responds to him.

 

All in all, I have no worries about having children with Diego but this does not mean that I would ever become complacent after all children are children and a parrot is an animal just one step away from his wild ancestors.

[rbpittman]

Hmmm, depends on the parents, not the kids if you ask me. I have a 21 yr old and a 14 yr old in my home and the eldest is afraid of the birds - so she stays away from them. Sterling (U2) loves to chase her down the hall and into her room - he's figured her out big time. The greys really don't care either way. Dixie loves my husband and son, Beau only has eyes for me. If you raise your children properly around pets of any type, it shouldn't matter their ages. Dogs, cats or birds are all prone to children tormenting them, so again, depends on the parents.

 

Robin

[tarm]

What Robin said but I still would not trust a 3 or under in the room unsupervised even if only lightly as in being close enough to be within very clear ear shot with periodic visual check-ins.. I was very blessed with very obedient children especially when it came to serious matters. I would not have had to worry about mine with a parrot once the rules were laid out.

[GoDiego]

I still would not trust a 3 or under in the room unsupervised even if only lightly as in being close enough to be within very clear ear shot with periodic visual check-ins..

 

I think this is absolutely right, although my 2 boys are very calm and understand that Diego is not the same as our cat and dog I would never leave them unattended or unsupervised with Diego.