Couple Of Grey Questions From Potential Owner

[RobertsKitty]

As some of you have seen on introductons, I currently have a Quaker parrot and after my life is alittle less crazy I would like to get my first Grey. I just have a few easy questions for all of you all.

 

First off, I would like to know if a Grey would be ok in an apartment type situation. I know that no bird will ever be TOTALLY quiet but with my Quaker he really only screams as loud as he can once or twice a day and thats normally only if I haven't taken him outside on his harness to stretch his wings. When he gets screaming loud it can be quiet noisy but since it is so infrequent I would consider him to be ok in an apartment. Most of the Greys I have been around can be loud but arn't very frequently and prefer, once they have learned, to talk and chatter as opposed to screaming outright. Is that the norm in Grey behavior?

 

Secondly, I would really like it if my Grey was socialized in a way that would allow strangers to hold or pet him. With the proper socialization would this be possible? How would I go about socializing a Grey in this way? With Griffin, he has a very outgoing personality so when I socialized him I just jumped right into a new area and he just looked to me and when I was confident then so was he but I don't think this would work for a Grey since they are alittle more cautious.

 

A few more questions will be more about cage stuff but I'll keep it together in this post

 

I know that it is generally accepted that bigger is better but is there a point that is too big? I know with Griffin I got him such a large cage I have to arrange things just so because if I don't he acts like he gets lost in it. I personally wouldn't mind getting a big macaw sized cage (assuming I can get the right bar spacing) to give him space to move around in but I don't want him to get lost in it like Griffin. What is a good size range to look for when buying a cage. I know what the smallest requirements but I'd rather have a general size range.

 

Also, Griffin lives on his 'tree' which is a ton of branches cemented into a base and he LOVES it. It is very natural for him. He never tries to leave or fly off of his tree but occasionally he does fall off so he has a ladder that allows him to climb up if he falls. When I get my Grey I would love to make him a tree like Griffins but I am not sure I can get ahold of branches that are 3/4" to 1" in diameter. Also, while I know they arn't as clumsy as they are made out to be (assuming they are allowed to fledge properly) but I wouldn't want him falling and getting hurt. Would it be ok for him to have a tree like Griffin or would that be unadvisable?

 

I already know that the two birds will never be able to play with eachother but is it ok to keep them in the same room together after the 30 day quarentine of course and while keeping them out of reach of one another or would they have to stay on opposite sides of the room? Right now Griffin has a custom cage stand.Here is a Tiny Picture of It. This cage stand prevents him from climbing onto the sides or top of his cage when he is out so that would keep him away from a cage on either side of his cage so if I put the Grey's cage a foot or two away from Griffins would that be ok?

 

I plan on harness training my Grey with the aviator harness like I did with Griffin. How soon after I get my new grey home should I start working on getting him comfortable with the harness?

 

Here are some pictures of Griffins Tree. It has changed some since these pictures but here they are anyway!

<br><br>Post edited by: RobertsKitty, at: 2008/07/06 07:30

[poppyparrot]

Im not to experienced so i will let the other wiser people on the forum answer. But ive got to say i love your tree, he must have so much fun in that!!!:lol:

[Nychsa]

That's a great tree! I think a grey might need slightly thicker branches, at lease mine would :laugh: She's a "sturdy" girl :laugh:

 

As for noise - I think there are a number of people who have greys in an appartment. While my grey is constantly jabbering about something, she really "sounds off" in the morning and at dusk. In the morning she pipes down once I have her breakfast ready. But when she does sound off it's not screeching - in fact she rarely screeches (usually only if I'm trying to take something away from her that she's not suppose to have). She's usually jabbering about something. She goes through all the sounds and words she's heard through out the day. When I leave the room she yells for me "MAMMA!!!!!!!" But it's not screeching. I've also had her with me in a hotel and there were no problems with that.

 

My little conure screeches though! Now he'll give you a headache! But somewhere I seem to remember reading that the African breeds are not as loud as the South American breeds. So, if it were me, I don't think I'd be concerned about the noise.

[dblhelix]

Greetings,

 

I think Greys would be 'OK' as apartment birds. In general you are correct that they are not screamers like some species, of course it can be an individual bird thing as well as a socialization thing. There are no guarantees about the noise possibility so you need to think about "what if" in the event its an issue once you have your bird home. As you know, all birds can and will be noisy at some times.

 

Socialization...should not really be a problem if you approach this in a well balanced fashion from the beginning. The "one person bird" is more a matter of conditioning and exposure to other people, places things etc than anything else. Of course they will likely have favorite people for certain things (cuddling, playing etc) but there is no reason you should not be able to have your bird comfortable with many people, stepping up, interacting, playing.

 

Clumsy grey? That is a myth if your bird is fully fledged at the natural time in their life. Balance skills, motor skills and brain neural development all take place at this time and it is rather important this developmental stage be allowed to occur. Optimally birds should be fully fledged, that means they become completely flight proficient able to hover, bank, fly up, down and land exactly where they intend. If after that you decide to keep your bird clipped this may be an option, but that is a subject covered on this forum extensively and for a different post!

 

Great on the harness plan. Sounds like you already have experience there. I would say the sooner you begin exposing your grey to the harness the better. Obviously start slow, introduce the harness, get the bird used to it and progress at their pace. But I see no reason not to start from day 1!

 

I also do not see any problem keeping the birds in the same room. As you already pointed out they probably should not play together, but once they both have confirmed bills of health they can be caged/kept in the same room. I also think they can play on the same stands/trees/swings etc, just probably not a good idea to do this at the same time.

 

Sounds like you are off to a great start to being a grey owner with you current experience keeping Griffin and gathering additional info about greys. Let us know how else we can help and keep us posted!!

[lovemyGreys]

you have been given great advice...here are a few links on Socialization & Harness training...

 

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/the-nursery/73094-socializing-your-baby-grey.html

 

http://www.greyforums.net/forums/the-nursery/73556-harness-training.html

[Anmlhggr]

Hello!

 

I'm glad your doing your homework before getting a Grey!

 

My Grey, Woody, lives with me in my apartment, and sometimes he can get a little vocal. He doesn't scream, but he will cycle through his small vocab of phrases. If I leave the apartment and he starts chatting to himself, and I can hear him in the hallways

 

However, he doesn't seem to bother anyone. I'd say a Grey works fine in an apartment!

[judygram]

"""I'm glad your doing your homework before getting a Grey!"""

 

Believe me Amberly, Kitty has done her homework, she is a very thorough researcher, she even has a book about greys she has wrote with the info she has gleaned from this site, she is going to be one good grey parront.

 

Kitty, I love that tree you made, it has a lot of things to keep a bird busy, but for a grey it would have to be of sturdier branches, looks great!!

[Dave007]

'Secondly, I would really like it if my Grey was socialized in a way that would allow strangers to hold or pet him. With the proper socialization would this be possible? How would I go about socializing a Grey in this way? '

 

Socializing a grey starts with getting the grey used to the owner/all members of the family and anyone else that lives there 24/7. All the people in the house have to deal with bird evenly on a constant basis and that includes feeding and chores and physical handling. Many times, people even have trouble getting the bird to be friendly with other members of the family. Greys don't take to strangers very well, especially children. Many people have to put them in their cages when people come over. The bird becomes very watchful and very quiet. They're extremely leery of lots of things. It's not unusual for a grey to bite when the bird is approached by people who are casual visitors. As a matter of fact it's not unusual for a grey to bite the owner later on for putting him in that situation. Think about socializing him with you and your family. That's an accomplishment. If you live alone, he will bwe a one person bird if no one else lives there and there's nothing wrong with that.

Greys and quakers can get along with each other depending upon their personalities. They won't necessarily 'play' with each other but just hanging around each other can be considered a plus. I have 2 quakers and both get along with my greys except for one. That quaker is intent on biting that grey's feet.

 

Of course, there's always exceptions.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2008/07/07 00:25

[Tycos_mom]

I don't see that you will have any problems with your Grey in a apartment my Grey isn't a screamer and I don't think most are they do talk however and allot to the point sometimes you'll wish you could turn them off My bird never shuts up except when we are in training then I can't get her to talk no how. They are very endearing bird and its very hard not to love them to peices. When I first got Tyco she bit the top Mandable off my Green cheeked conure he was constantly trying to pick a fight with Tyco and I guess she had enough and reached through the bars of his cage and snaped the beak right off. Well my 20 year old Daughter Hated Tyco after that want me to get rid of her imediatly. I said no that it wasn't her fault Sprout was asking for it and I was the one to blame because the doorbell had rang that morning and I didn't move the cage back so Tyco couldn't reach him. Well with in a month Tyco had won her heart and know when I pass away she wants Tyco she asked me if I would will her to her they are such good friends when Tyco sees her she gets so excited and wants to play they have a game they play together called shake and bake play for keeps. so when Tyco sees her that what she says right away and then starts bobbing her head up and down. its so cute anyway your going to love being owned by a Grey and I wish you all the luck in the world. Oh yea by the way Tyco now gets along with all the birds in the house I uess she has excepted them as part of her flock I have her my Amazon and a little cocateil all in the same room with them all out at the same time and there has never been a problem since she adapted to them all. Before I got her she was a only bird for 4 years of her life so there was an adjustment period. If your planning on getting a baby Grey I don't think you should have any problems at all with your Quaker and your Grey.

 

Pat

[Sevi]

Hi,

 

I think your potential grey will be fine in an apartment. Edison lives with my boyfriend and I in an apartment he seems to be doing fine. He generally doesn't scream or squawk unless he's, oddly enough, mimicking my mother's Quaker. Thankfully this is few and far between. It's the a-typical, pay-attention-to-me Quaker squawk. With which I'm sure you're familiar. Other than that, I'm pretty sure my neighbours just think he's a sometimes loud human, if they hear him at all. I know I can't hear them...

 

In terms of the Quaker and the Grey getting along, they should at least tolerate each other. There was a period where Edison lived with my mother's Quaker. They didn't necessarily get along, but they were okay together. As long as you keep an eye on them while they're out it'll be fine. If anything Edison was afraid of Max (the Quaker), who is incredibly feisty and a few years Edison's senior. From my experience, and what I can gather from other member's posts, they will tolerate each other.

 

I love the tree, and I think Edison would love me more if he had one! Edison has a perch and had a playstand but it broke and I haven't replaced it :blush: As Judy said, as long as the branches are larger and thicker, it would be perfect for a grey. For Edison specifically, I would decrease the sheer number of branches. He is a little clumsy while climbing, but he has his moments of grace. At least he can land where he intends to, despite it seeming like his big feet get in the way when he tries to do anything else.

 

I don't know how large your apartment is, but mine is a standard, Torontonian 1-bdrm and a Macaw cage would just be too large to fit any of my other stuff inside. Edison's is 23"Dx32"W and 40-something inches for interior height. It stands about 5ft or so tall. As far as I can tell, it seems standard for a grey, and it gives him enough room to climb, stretch, flap, sleep and play. Oh, and eat also. BUT, if you can fit both the cage for your Quaker and a Macaw cage with appropriate bar spacing in your apt. then go for it!

 

I can't give you much information or advice regarding the harness training. I tried when Edison was a baby, but it just seemed impossible. You could flip him upside down, wrap him in towels or blankets, but the harness just would not fly. In this situation, I'm a firm believer in the "it-depends-the-bird" school of thought. Generally, it's the younger, the better, for harness training. I'd give him/her time to get comfortable with their surroundings before you spring the harness on them.

 

Also, Edison doesn't like to be handled much by others, but he'll come out and observe. Sometimes he'll perform for them too. He used to LOVE my boyfriend, but since a recent move he's not enjoying his presence so much. The boyfriend is pretty upset, but I think the bird'll come around again. As long as you expose them to a fair number of people while they're younger, and keep it consistent, they'll do okay in slightly larger groups than they're used to. BUT I would never expect the bird to be very congenial to visitors. I make an effort for visitors to try and ignore him as much as possible. He doesn't like new people "in his business," but if he sees them frequently enough he starts to care about what they're doing.

 

Best of Luck!

[RobertsKitty]

Thanks for all the wonderful replies everyone!! I'll probably come around with another few questions but right now it is 1 a.m. here so I'm off to bed!

[Envie]

Hi RobertsKitty, you're like me in that you're educating yourself for a future grey. I had a conure many years back, but had to get rid of him when we were moved overseas for military duty. IF I still had him, I'd be worried too about introducing a Grey when I have read they sometimes don't adapt well to other birds.

 

I do have something to show you - after looking at your great home-made "tree" for your little Griffin, I went and looked for an image of the kind of tree I have for my future parrot. I'd take a real photo but its dismantled in storage right now until I actually get a grey.

 

This is an amazon size "Java Tree" on rolling stand:

 

 

Mine is GREAT and its the perfect size for a grey, amazon or cockatoo. After seeing how expensive they are brand new, I'm so lucky to have found one only slightly used at a local sale - maybe you could find one too! You can also search for just the java tree or branches and perhaps make your own base to save on cost!

 

Hope this helps with the tree thing, wow your little guy is sure spoiled that's a LOT of toys LOL!

[Anmlhggr]

A book?! WOW! That's awesome....

 

So, are we all getting commission then?

[RobertsKitty]

lol thanks. I actually wrote a book for my Quaker. I have it typed up somewhere I'll try and find it an post a link.

[Raposa]

Jenna is my first grey, and I got her when she was fully weaned, so I am far from an expert. But she will not let anybody pick her up but me, and she won't even let me handle or cuddle her much. She does love company, and enjoys being around people if she can stay either on her play gym or cage top, or with me. Greys are more shy then some, so I feel no need to push her to be outwardly friendly with others.

 

That being said, my last bird was an eclectus (he died at Christmas time). I got him when he was 2 months old and finished out his handfeeding myself, and he was taken EVERYWHERE with me. He got quite used to being around people and being handled from the time I got him home. He would go to just about anybody, and he loved to be cuddled, but I don't know if that was breed specific or bird specific, although I've been told that eclectus are not cuddly in general. Maybe it was just that I had him from such a young age? I really don't know.

 

So it is possible that your baby will have a more sociable personality and like being held or handled by other people, but it is more likely that she/he will not, from what I understand about greys!

 

If I am wrong about this, somebody more experienced please speak up!!!

[zooman]

I agree with most of you, I truly believe a grey will be as loud as the environment thats sorrounds him/her. Zuri my Timneh is quiet as a mouse when the apartment is quiet and im reading etc. Other than the time when i first bring him out for the day or when he cant see me and wants to know where i am the most i hear is him talking and him eating and playing. When the tv is lud then yes they want to be heard and become louder still not as loud as my alexandrine not even close actually. as for the socialization they are rpone to be one bird persons but with time they can be receptive of others my girlfriend is still trying and hes better but i agree that constant attention from other humans will help/