Help with new African Grey

[KareemaR25]

My boyfriend recently got an African Grey and we name him Buddy. After we got him we found out that the breeders sold him too early to us. He is about 2 months and 2 weeks old. So far he's been doing great. He grinds his beak before going to sleep and I read that this actually means they're happy and comfortable.

I have a few questions though and was wondering if you would be able to help me.

We know for a fact that Greys need a lot of attention. My boyfriend works from 6am to 5pm and during this time Buddy is in his cage for the most part. His sister who's home will sometime look over him and give him some food but she has her own things too do. We leave the radio on to keep him entertained plus he has some toys. Then we spend all evening with him. We're wondering if it's okay that we're not around so many hours of the day. Also what we notice was that he doesn't sleep through the night. He wakes up for a minute and goes back to sleep and wake up again. Is this normal? Thanks so much in advance for your help.

[judygram]

Hello, Kareena, and welcome to the family.

Yes greys need a lot of attention but what you are giving him sounds like it is enough. I leave mine alone in her cage from 7:45 am until 4:30 pm and sometimes a little later and she is ok with that. I leave a radio on and she has toys to occupy her time.

 

She comes out after I get home and plays on her playtop and I have her on my shoulder some also for some one on one time.

 

Do you cover the cage at night? How do you know she wakes up in the night? I cover Josey's cage at night and I don't hear anything out of her until morning. Of course she does not sleep in my bedroom, she is in her cage in the family room, so I wouldn't hear her anyways.

 

Sounds like you have worked out a pretty good routine and if you have any other questions please feel free to ask us anything.

 

The breeder should not have sold you a bird that was not weaned, and a 2 month, 2 week old was too young to be weaned, but if he is doing fine then it worked out for the best.

[KareemaR25]

Thank you so much Judygram for your prompt response. I actually feel more confident hearing from you. I found out about his sleeping behaviour because we initially cover his cage but then my boyfriend was wondering if he's sleeping under the cover and he doesn't want to put the light on and check cause that might startle him. So he decided to not cover the cage and that's how we notice the sleeping and waking up thing. I guess I should let you know that it's only 3 nights since he's with us so we're still trying to figure out what works for him and what doesn't. We try putting a night light on thinking maybe he's scared of the darkness.

Do you have any other tips being that he's not yet weaned? The breeder give us some baby formula which he doesn't hesitate eating. I fed him carrots which I boiled a little and he loved it. I also fed him corn and apples as per the breeder.

When I first got him a toy I thought he probably might get scare but he immediately started playing and nibbling at it.

My boyfriend and I are very worried as we never had a bird before. Thanks again for your help. We greatly appreciate it.

[Tari]

As long as he wants to be feed keep feeding him. Force weaning is bad for parrots.

Many birds wake up at night that is ok.

Check out the food section that is several post about what you can feed your parrot. I even posted a picture of what I feed at the barn where I care for over 60 breeder parrots.

Please also introduce yourself in the welcome area so we can greet you properly.

[judygram]

My Josey is 15 months old and she still eats a hot oatmeal and baby food breakfast and as long as he enjoys it I will continue for her lifetime.

 

I do cover Josey's cage since she is in the family room and we are up later, so I don't know if she wakes up during that time before we go to bed or not, but I don't hear anything out of her so I assume she is asleep. I think if they are in a room that people are up in after they go down for the night it is best to cover them. I wouldn't worry about a night light, I don't have any kind of light on and I live in the country so there is no street lights either, it is dark.