Considering a baby African grey??

[Mamawise]

Hi

I am new to this group:) I am very happy I found it.

I am considering buying a baby African Grey that I have

Been visiting at a local bird pet store. I grew up with parakeets

And a cockatiel and had a Quaker as a young adult.

Would you say that an African grey would be likely to have a

Problem with screeching or biting?

We have 2 kids at home ages 16 and 13 and a five year old

Yorkie. I would say our house is quiet for the most part. I am a stay

At home mom. These are the last of 6 kids at home so I'm

For seeing lots of grandkids visiting in the future. Do you think our home

Could be the right home for an African grey?

Thank you for your time

[judygram]

Hello Mamawise and welcome to our family.

Any bird can and will screech or bite but the African grey is noted for being one of the more quiet parrots and most of the bites are because you do not properly read their body language, after all they use their beak to tell us no or not now.

Many of the members here have children in their families, you just need to instruct them on proper behavior around the grey, no sudden movements and jumping around for greys tend to be a little nervous, no poking fingers at them in their cage and so forth, in fact having a busy household will help to socialize a young grey to be comfortable with many people instead of just one person.

Lots of members also have dogs and cats that share the house with birds, you just have to supervise any time the bird is out of the cage with the dog present for it only takes a second for something bad to happen but many times a dog helps keep the floor clean around the cage.

I can attest to having grandkids coming and going at times, she is fine with them as long as they keep a little distance from her as she is not used to them as much but I have her out when they are over and they do fine.

I think your home would be just fine for a grey if you are willing to put forth the time and effort to give your new companion the love and attention he/she needs and be sure to read thru as many of the threads here for lots of useful information that will prove handy in the coming weeks, months and years of sharing your life with one of these amazing creatures.

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Mamawise... in my opinion...you are the " ideal" parent for a grey. You already have some experience with birds, but what is most important... you have raised many children. Greys have many similarities to children. Your youngest at home are the perfect age to help.Ryan my 22 yr old was 10 when Sophie came home. He and Sean were a major factor in her training and care. Sophie loves them very much. While both are at college, they call her all the time. She misses them dearly, but knows they are off "getting smart!" Nancy

[Mamawise]

Hi !

Thank you so much for your reply:) the bird is a baby. I forgot to ask how old. It doesn't have all its feathers and seems to have a hard time standing and they feed it formula. I let it get used to my hand first then it seems happy to let me pet it's head neck and feathers. It stops shaking and seems to sleep with its eyes open. It won't be able to leave the shop until the last few weeks in May.

 

I can definitely be consistent with instructions if I understand what to do.

 

Ok great to know about the noise level. I like parrot-y noises like when I'm in the bird store. But we had an ecclectus that we adopted when he was 2. We tried for 2 years with lots of professional advice and could not get him to stop screeching. It was so loud I guess you can imagine. We live on 1 acre and our neighbor came over and asked if that noise didn't bother us. I was worried about the grand babies ears! He is now in a great home. But I was attached to him and felt like I failed. So that is why I am a little nervous about going forward with a larger type bird.

 

Got it on the grand kids being slow and quiet. At this point grandson #1'is only 8 months old and lives an airplane ride away. And grandson #2 is 2 months old and lives close and comes over often. But seems like baby bird might be the same age! They would grow up together.

 

Re: older kids. I understand your concern. I have homeschooled for the last 16 years so our kids and me are usually always together. We really enjoy each others company. I really enjoy their friends too. Nice kids. Thanks for the great warning/advice though.

 

I really appreciate you taking the time to reply. I will look thru the "what am I getting into" section.

 

Thanks.

[Mamawise]

Hi,

Thank you very much for your reply. I am encouraged. I am so glad for this website. I will definitely read through different posts and sections.

Thank you very much again for your reply

[Mamawise]

Hi

Thank you for the encouragement! Our 4th is going off to college I love the company of a bird. We had recently adopted a 2 year old ecclectus. We had him for 2 years but he had a very bad habit of screeching. After 2 years of trying to train him and lots of professional advice we gave him away. He is in a great home now. I was very attached to him and felt like I failed somehow. That is why I am a little hesitant to get a larger bird.

Thanks for your help

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

Mamawise... you can't go wrong with a grey. Many argue, they are NOT children. Sure...I agree... but they SURE do act like them! Not knowing a thing aboout a grey,I used my parrenting experience with Sophie. OMG! I did timeout, I treated her the same as I did with my kids. Within six months, we had a very important relationship.12 years later... she is my bestfriend. Of course our kids and grandkids come home, but they will leave. Sophie will always be here. She was young enough to " hangout" with the wrestlers, when they slept here... noone knew if they would wakeup with Sophie sleeping with them. She always found a wrestler to sleep on their shoulder.Sophie has been an important part of my kids growing up.They love her. When I broke a rib, and was struggling to clean their cages, my youngest came home from college over the weekend. I know he was worried about me, but birds needed to be tended too. He was worried about them too. Having a grey in our life, has just " enriched" it! Nancy

[JeffNOK]

Greys aren't known for being particularly loud. They are vocal and chatty and occassionally do the "Kill the toy pterodactyl screech" but this is not very often. I live in a condo with shared walls with three sets of neighbors and no one even knows I have a parrot.

[Acappella]

Welcome to the forum. You've got plenty of time to read and ask questions before baby comes home so you're off to a good start. Just make sure the store doesn't try to send home the baby too soon. Ask them lots of questions about how they wean. Abundance weaning is the way to go. Make sure they allow the bird to fledge. Do they have a policy on wing clipping, or do they let the new parronts decide? Do they do DNA testing to determine gender, or do you have to request it?

 

As for noise, I hope you like the sound of your Yorkies bark because the grey will mimick it. Like others have said, they aren't naturally screamers except during rough play or when they are in distress, but they will copy every annoying noise in your home, so educate yourself on how to extinguish those sounds. They will also be more prone to loud mis-behaviour if they aren't getting enough quiet, dark, sleep time, so it's important from the start to decide whether their cage will be in a place where you can provide this, or if you're going to use a sleep cage. The advantage with starting with a baby is that you can really set yourself up for a successful and rewarding relationship. Like in most things, it's a lot easier to prevent a problem than it is to try to solve it retroactively.

[CAGonite]

Hi Mama,

 

I cannot add anything new that all the other wonderful responders reported except to reinforce the fact that your grey should never come near that same level of audiable annoyance that an eclectus can impose. Well, they can be annoying, but I know exactly what you mean about the eclectus. That was the one characteristic that swayed me from those birds to a grey. I have heard only the female (red) make that incredible screeching sound. Was your bird a male of female? I don't mean to open up potentially old wounds, but I think you did the right thing in putting your former parrot up for adoption. An unhappy owner makes for an unhappy home. You will be happy with your grey and he/she with you!

[Timbersmom]

Excellent responses and advice here from the others. All I can add is that Timber (my TAG) rarely screeches or screams. He does make some loud noises (ones that he has picked up from things in his environment) but not constantly. That said, you have read that some of our members DO have greys that screech and are noisy. When you get a grey, you really don't know how they will be. Some are louder than others, and some of that is due to personality I'd guess not just training. Since there is no guarantee that a quiet baby will evolve into a quiet adult, please just remember this when you bring a baby home. I am not trying to discourage you in any way. I just know from reading these forums that we often have expectations for our birds that aren't met. We love them anyway of course, but I think you need to go into this understanding that is is a lifetime commitment, and things may not always go like you hope and plan. It is much the same as having a baby, you never know what they will be like personality-wise, and they continue to evolve and mature over time. Good luck

[kins2321@yahoo.com]

trancework... welcome. I suggest getting your bird off your shoulder. Wrist only. They get on the shoulder, once they have learned to " trust you!" No earlobe bites. They shouldn't get that far, nor be put in the situatation to bite your ear. Its a very simple plan. I think sometimes we as parents have an extremely complicated plan for our greys. When parents " stop, and listen"... its really not so complicated. We make it hard. The best advice I got from Sophie's owner,when she adopted me,was to " listen" to Sophie! I took the advice seriously. I " listen" all the time. Sometimes she is full of " nonsence" and I just laugh at her for attempting to get her way. I LOVE her for trying! Nancy

[aw64]

alfies not loud just started using words, odd time he will fly round the room being a bird and gives out some good noise then but this is now and then and only lasts seconds, the perodactyl noise, he chats away and whistles most of the day but not in a ear spliting way.