Adding a female congo with my 2 yr old male

[Nini]

Can I please ask 4 input on what the best age to do this is 4 breeding? Will I lose all of ziggy's love? He's 2 1/2 now. How long Should the female be kept apart at 1st if I start with a baby? Should she be fully tamed 1st? I do know a long time breeder that could guide me along.

[Timbersmom]

The long time breeder you know could probably answer your questions better than the current forum participants. As far as I know, we don't have any current participants who are breeders.

Two things that come to mind though, as I understand it, greys are particular about their mates. Simply getting another grey may not produce a pair. SRseedburners has a male and female and as far as I know they have not decided to be a "pair." So no guarantees there.

The second is that everyone I have seen talk about it says that once a two greys do become a pair, they lose interest in their humans and focus only on each other. That takes them from being companion birds to being a mated pair so I think your relationship would change.

I'm no expert though, just passing along what I have read.

[Greytness]

I have  to agree with the above. 

[Nini]

I also agree with everything said above. My breeder told me the younger that 2 greys r put together the better the chance. And there is never a  guarantee. He has a pair that just started breeding after 8 years together. Greys r my passion, so I'd like to help keep the breed going now that they're endangered. I was a documentary how they r caught on glue traps ect....in Africa and I was in tears. I had Malucan cocatoo that I tube fed, putting a tube down into it's crop, (I'm a nurse) weaned 3 greys by syringe an many other birds throughout the years. I adore this breed the most and want to do my little part of help to keep the breed going. Ty 4 ur input.

[LNCAG]

Why do feel the need to breed?  Lots of unwanted african greys needing a home already.  Would love for all parrots to have excellent homes before more are brought into this world.  Just me, I guess. 

[Nini]

That is a great question. I want to breed because they r already endangered, and we know what happens in time after this. I adore this breed and cried while watching how they're catching them on glue traps in africa. And 4 the joy of watching more being born coming into the world. 

[LNCAG]

Endangered?  Interesting.  LOTS of african greys in captivity.  New argument for me.  

[Nini]

LNCAG if u ask any pet store, they will confirm this. However, u few who responded to me have put the thought of adoption in me. I wouldn't think that there would b that many needing homes. This is something I'm going to look into. Here in south Florida, greys prices just jumped from $3500. To $4700. This grey was at Golden cockatoo where they can confirm the endangered. 

[Greytness]

You're right. The price of CAGS has gone through the roof in recent years. Love the idea of adoption!

[Nini]

Where are the greys for adoption?

[Rhubarb Pie]

21 hours ago, Nini said:

Where are the greys for adoption?

I would try looking to see if there are any rescue organizations near you that adopt out. Usually they ask that you volunteer to be around the birds for a certain amount of time first before they allow you take a bird home because they want to make sure you and the bird are a good fit. Another option is people post on Craigslist as well but these might be harder birds to work with because they most likely have a lot of baggage with them. We adopted our CAG from a lady who put her up on Craigslist and we are still working on a lot of things but we love her to death!

 

[LNCAG]

On 11/20/2020 at 2:50 PM, Nini said:

LNCAG if u ask any pet store, they will confirm this. However, u few who responded to me have put the thought of adoption in me. I wouldn't think that there would b that many needing homes. This is something I'm going to look into. Here in south Florida, greys prices just jumped from $3500. To $4700. This grey was at Golden cockatoo where they can confirm the endangered. 

I don't trust pet stores -- they are in the market of making money.

As far as "endangered species" go, it is an issue, but not one solved by domestic breeding (which never seeks to re-introduce parrots to the wild).  The goal is to make money selling parrots to private owners.  I deeply regret that I am one such person. 

In generaI, I admit, I don't trust information from pet stores or breeders -- I would never rely on their information.  When money is involved,  I consider the source.  My good friend works in a pet store, and makes minimal wage and there is zero requirement (for employment) of any training or degree, for anything beyond an immediate sale.  And breeders are involved in the business of selling parrots.  Don't confuse those who mean well with those who are actively trying to save a species (and prevent poaching) and re-introduce parrots back into the wild.  Most are trying to make a buck in the private market.   Parrots ARE a wanted commodity, but private ownership has nothing to do with preservation of a species.  It's simply a "I want this parrot" dealie.  And I am one such consumer from the 1990s. 

If I could go back in time, I'd have NEVER purchased a domestically bred parrot.  I would encourage protecting wild parrots by making poaching un-profitable.  I would rather see parrots in the wild than in cage.  But many here in this forum (like me) have domestically raised parrots and we do our best to make their lives tolerable, hopefully, and happy.

[LNCAG]

Added thought:  I will say some pet stores do have some employees very knowledgeable about fish.  I remember back in the day when the pet store was my fish vet -- also a place where you could take a water sample in for testing.  Not every pet store, obviously, but some were quite brilliant when it came to fish keeping trouble-shooting.