My one big worry

[Nigalius]

Hi, First of all thank you for this site. I have learnt a lot in my short time here. I dont have a grey at the moment but am thinking of buying one pretty soon but first I want to do some homework and learn wether it will be the right choice for me. I read that the birds can be noisy but think that can be controlled by covering the cage at night. Is that right?

 

I understand that they need a lot of variation with toys etc to keep ammused, no problem, I can sort that out.

 

I also understand that at a minimum, they should be out of the cage at least 3 hours a day and interract with the owner at least 45 minutes a day... Again no problem but..... The bird would be in my bedroom. As I spend most of my time in this roon on the internet I think it right that the bird could be in this room too. I think I would like to train it not to poop all round the room, is it easy to train the bird to go in one place? But my big problem is the various wires and cables here. I also have 4 tropical fish tanks here, a full size keyboard, 2 PC's c/w monitors, and there are naturally many wires around the backs of worktops and fishtanks. Do you think I would have a problem in making sure any A/G does not chew on the cables. I could not put any bird in any other room and I am only interested in A/g's due to there possible talking capabilities, bonding with the owner and just general A/G behaviour. I hope there is enouigh info here for someone to advise me. If not, perhaps another kind of Parrot, what kind would give me the best talking choice and training capabilities.

 

Thanks... Nigel

[judygram]

Hello Nigalius and welcome to the family, so glad you found us and we look forward to hearing more about you and your possible grey.

 

I thank you so much for researching and asking questions before rushing out there and getting that grey as some do and we will help you to decide if a grey is a right fit for you.

 

Actually greys are not as noisy as some birds, most are considered quiet when you consider the noise a cockatoo, conure or macaw makes. They usually have several times a day that they are vocal but it is usually them making their mimics and talking. You won't hear a peep out of them at night, when I cover mine for bed I don't hear another sound out of her until I uncover her in the morning.

 

Yes 3 hours out of the cage every day is a minimum with preferably more hours if possible but that should be supervised time. In other words don't let him/her out and allow him to go where he wants, put him on a playstand close to you so he can interact with you. I have my Josey out for over 5 hours a day but she spends that time on various playstands and is supervised so she does not get to any wires and such.

 

Greys can be trained to poop at certain places and on command, we have several threads here that will help you with that, just do a search to find them.

 

Be aware that not all greys will talk, most of them do but you take that chance when you get one that it may be one of those few, will you still love and care for it even if it never talks?

 

They do need lots of toys and they should be provided with foraging opportunities to keep them occupied and their mind busy as a bored grey can sometimes turn to plucking from boredom and neglect.

 

Hope this helps you make that decision and others will chime in with their ideas and suggestions for you too but you seem to me like you would make a good parront to a grey.

[Acappella]

Nigel, karma to you for doing your research. A grey is a big comittment, and it's one too many people make without doing this step. You can spend hours here reading about and learning from others experiences. A couple of things specific to your post. Do the fish tanks have good covers on them? With a grey around you have to make sure they are protected from landing, and possible drowning, in things like tanks and toilet bowls.

 

If your bird is going to be by your computer a lot I can virtually guarantee that he/she is going to be facinated by your keyboard and try to pick off the keys! :ohmy: Take it from one who has had a letter or two stolen right under her nose!

 

Are you going to cover it, but continue being busy in the same room, watching tv or using the computer. Some have birds that can sleep no matter what is going on as long as it is dark, but many greys are such flock animals (and nosy) that they have trouble settling down if there's still activity around them. A grey needs a minimum 10 hours good sleep a night, 12 is better. Without this they can develop problems like plucking, and just be plain grumpy like a sleep deprived human.

 

Are you thinking about getting a baby, or re-homing an older grey? There are challenges and advantages to both, and lots of advice here from people either way. If you go for a baby you can learn here how to tell if you've found a good breeder as opposed to someone in it for the $, and there are lots of those. If you decide to re-home, there's lots of info here on what you need to know and do to make it easiest on both of you.

 

Enjoy the site and getting to know about these wonderful creatures. Like anything worth while, they take some effort, but they're worth it.

[Nigalius]

Hi... Thank You for the replies. I found them very useful. The Grey I am likely to buy is 3 years old and being sold in a good quality pet shop, not just a shop that sells hamsters, guniepigs and rabbits.

 

I have been to the shop twice and seen the bird both times. It is extremely tame and likes being petted. The bird has never seen me before but was at home putting its head down for me to rub the back. It is a talker and already has a good repetoire. It is being sold with the cage and I thought I should buy the cage it is used to as that will help it settle in here.

 

There are toys allready in the cage but I will buy more. It is a female bird that is also rung.

 

I think I will cover it at night time to help with its sleep but that could be a problem as I am sometimes up until the early hours and then get up for work at 06.00 in the morning. That would give it only about 5 hours sleep, so, do you think the time through the day that I am not in would count as sleep time too. I am thinking that I could cover it as I get into bed around 01.00 and briefly uncover it at 06.00. Then when I go to work I could cover it again and it would then remain covered until I get home around 18.00. Would this period of being covered through the day be ok for it to sleep? Then in the evening it would be out of the cage early evening and put back around 23.00.

 

I am told it is used to being out of the cage and likes to sit on top. Is this sufficient as a play stand? I would have various toys strapped on the cage so that they do not fall down as I would not want it to spend much time on the floor.

 

My Fish tanks all have solid tops except one and in the next day or so I will be taking the fish out of that one to put into another. I hope there is enough info here to give me an idea as to if a Grey will be suitable for me. One final thing... Re the talking/mimicking side of things... as I said, it is already a good talker and I am sure it will learn more. What is the best way to teach it? Stand in front of the bird and keep repeating the same words or just be 'normal' and let it pick up what it wants to pick up? It is not certain I will get this bird but will base my decision on the advice from members on this forum.

 

Thanks

 

Nigel

 

PS:- I used to be a parrot but i'm ok now, i'm ok now, i'm ok now, i'm ok now... lol

[judygram]

Since you are up late at night your grey might benefit from having a sleep cage that you can put into another room where she can get the sleep she needs. Some of the other members here do use a sleep cage but I wouldn't cover her cage during the day.

 

If her cage is in the room where you will be most of the time when you are home then the cage may be all you need but if you go to other rooms for a while a playstand may be helpful to have so she can spend some time with you as she won't like being by herself.

 

Just talk normal around her, they choose what words and phrases they will repeat so even if you say a word over and over and she never picks it up means she just didn't want to say that.

[Dave007]

"""""Then when I go to work I could cover it again and it would then remain covered until I get home around 18.00. Would this period of being covered through the day be ok for it to sleep?"""""

 

That's a extremely bad thing to do. Parrots aren't meant to be covered up during the daylight hours. If they feel like sleeping during the day, they will and a cover won't cause them to sleep. If they're covered for a large part of daylight hours, they become phobic, nervous and start picking at themselves.

 

One important thing you mentioned and needs to be carefully watched is those wires all over the place. Parrots will constantly go after wires and if there's electricity in those wires, well bye bye birdie. They'll also go after the wires and hoses connected to the tanks. They'll bite the monitor and the table it's standing on if given the opportunity. Keyboards are a favorite.