Outside his cage

[Bogey]

I have a 4 month old african grey, his name is Bogey.

How much time should he spend outside his cage daily?

[Jayd]

Welcome......All he can...bogey needs 10 to 12 hours dark sleep a night..[quiet] HE can spend all the rest of the time out......

[JeffNOK]

My CAG Gracie gets about 7 hours out of cage time on average. I have read that the minimum is around 3-4. I work, so I try to spend a couple of hours with my CAG before work and then 5 or more hours after work. Tell us more about Bogey. Does he enjoy getting out of his cage, or is he still trying to get used to his surroundings?

[Bogey]

We just got him a week ago, so he's still getting use to his surroundings, his cage is a mccaw cage so it's fairly big but we have put lots of toys in there to keep him amused. He does love being outside the cage.

Both me and my husband work during the day, I have made a recording of different sayings that I would like him to learn and play it on the computer for him while i'm at work, is this a good idea, or no?

I take him out of his cage when I get home from work for about an hour and then put him back in while we have dinner and take him out again after dinner for awhile before bed.

I'm am cautious of him flying off his perch ( even though he's clipped he does attempt to fly ) while outside the cage afraid he will hurt himself, Is it ok for him to be left outside his cage on a perch if i'm in another room?

[JeffNOK]

At this stage I would recommend that he only be out of his cage while you can keep an eye on him. I live in a one bedroom condo, so if I'm home, my CAG and I are in the same room. A big cage and lots of toys are good as long as he is not overwhelmed by lots of things in his cage. Before I brought my grey home I was advised to have just one or two toys in the cage at first. You can always rotate things in and out to keep him interested. As far as recorded speech for training, I think you will find most people on the forum are not in favor of such methods. Greys learn through meaningful social interaction with their people. Rather than using a recording, just interact with Bogey. Talk to him. Tell him what you are doing. Read to him. Sing to him. I think that will be more effective. Greys use words meaningfully. A recording without context or significance will likely be ignored. We are glad you are here and keep us posted on how things develop.