Any African grey parrot owner on board?

johnvu713 · #1 03/06/2006, 05:55 AM

I was at a LFS and someone brought in their AGP to have its claws clipped. The owner of that bird said his is 2 YO is very bright and could talk. I didnt get to hear it say anything because the whole time it was crying from the top of its lung. But as soon as his claws was done he started to walk over to the owner as if it knows who's who. I thought only dogs and a few other animals have this great of an awareness. Anyhow i'd like to own one and was wondering if someone can share his/her experience. I did a little research and found out they can sometime put sentences together and know exactly what that sentence mean. SWEET!!!!! The owner also mentioned when there's thunder he'd call out his name because he was frightened. And when the garage door's opened he know his master came home from work. BTW i have a small dog (pomeranian) that love to chase bird. Dont know if that would be a good combination or not. Probably not! But if i could keep the stupid dog at bay maybe i could keep one ?

Here's a list of what i know..Feel free to add personal experience.

1 Love to bathe
2 Live 30-50 years
3 Need lot of attention
4 Can be neurotic

Thanks ebibodi

dinoman · #2 03/06/2006, 06:31 AM

There are a lot of parrot people here, I know Shanna specifically has kept grays before

. I'll point her this way if she doesn't see it...

Amazing animals!

johnvu713 · #3 03/06/2006, 06:35 AM

thanks..please guide her here with a torch if you have to

emilye2 · #4 03/06/2006, 07:21 AM

keep in mind i've been told they have the mental capacity of a five year old child. My five year old knows a LOT of stuff.

MOstly what I mean is that mental stimulation is VERY important in a lot of the parrots. Bored parrots make things up to keep themselves entertained. And you aren't going to like the mess it makes!

TheBimbo · #5 03/06/2006, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by emilye2
keep in mind i've been told they have the mental capacity of a five year old child. My five year old knows a LOT of stuff. MOstly what I mean is that mental stimulation is VERY important in a lot of the parrots. Bored parrots make things up to keep themselves entertained. And you aren't going to like the mess it makes!

Beautiful birds and yes they are very smart... But keep in mind, birds can be a handful and are pretty messy as well... Atleast I think they're messy... You've got to have the time to attend to them, they are alot like a child...

TheBimbo...

crzy4reefs · #6 03/06/2006, 07:45 AM

I took in leo a african grey 3 yrs ago, he came from a bad situation, he was neglegted and so he became a feather plucker.....he was fearful of a lot of things......after i rehibiliated him i found someone to adopt him that know's parrots that said........

They are great birds, the congo is a lil more nerotic than the Timneh bot both can become self mutilators and pluckers if they are not mentally stimulated all the time. it is like having a 3-5 yr old around for about 50yrs.

they do tend to bond with one person only as do alot of parrots.....i feed my guys a pellet diet and then i add in fresh fruits and vegtables, pastas and grains......they should misted if not every day every other day, mine loved to go in the shower with me.

Also keep in mind that not all african greys turn into great talkers, leo talked very lil but did imitate sounds......but i didn't care i didn't take him in just for that talent alone.........also birds can get very tempermental when breeding season arrives.......your bird will let you know when he/she want's to be left alone.

greys will make a growling noise when they are afraid of something.....most birds don't like brooms or vacuums, or change to their enviorment at all. so if you hear him do this just back off what you are doing.....some times you can desentize them to these objects.

here's some more info on them.......if you have any questions please ask

http://www.wingscc.com/aps/grey.htm
http://www.aviannetwork.com/africangreys/
http://www.avianweb.com/africangreys.htm

catdoc · #7 03/06/2006, 08:02 AM

My best friend has one--she and her husband got it as a wedding present over 20 years ago. Just keep in mind, it is a long-term committment as they live many decades and may outlive YOU. Her bird says a few things, mimics a lot. The funny thing is, he says the phrases at the appropriate times. He'll scold the dogs (in his owner's voice) when they get rowdy, he knows the going away routines for the family and will start saying good-bye as they go. He also rings like the telephone, just to get people to come answer it!

He is a one-person bird and tends to bite everyone except my friend. He chases her husband sometimes when he's barefoot and goes after his toes! LOL, I can just picture that! I'll ask her for more details today at work.

johnvu713 · #8 03/06/2006, 08:44 AM

Quote:

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what do you mean? Mess as in AGP makes a lot of mess or you meant the bodily function mess?

I have the feeling you mean the latter

crzy4reefs · #9 03/06/2006, 08:47 AM

parrots are messy due to the fact that greys especially shed this down feather stuff, and they can throw food everywhere and if it's out side of it cage can poop everywhere, and like all parrots will chew everything in site........so they need to be suppervised when out fo the cage.

johnvu713 · #10 03/06/2006, 10:18 AM

i didnt know that...the guy i saw at LFS said his is purdy well behaved..only poop around or in the cage. I guess he's one of the lucky one

PoukieBear · #11 03/06/2006, 10:26 AM

I'm a bird nerd. I'll admit it.

Shanna has given you a lot of good information. A bird is no easy task to take on. The most common problem with birds and thier owners is that the owner doesn't realize how much attention the bird needs.

Parrots, espicially the larger ones need hours of attention EVERY DAY! Like Shanna said, if they don't get the proper attnetion, they become pluckers, and they start pulling out thier feathers.

Like any animal that you are thinking about getting, do your research! Read all you can about these birds. Please please please don't rush into a comitment this big.

And if your dog chases birds, then I honestly don't think it's a good combination for your household.

If you want a board like RC related to birds, check out www.birdboard.com It's full of information and experts to answer all of your questions. I'm a member on there too.

johnvu713 · #12 03/06/2006, 11:31 PM

Thank you all.. i'll think i'd wait up on getting a bird. Maybe sometime down the road..a year or 2 from now...too bad not all AGP are talkative..some might say just a word or 2.

crzy4reefs · #13 03/07/2006, 06:31 AM

yeah it's definatly a misconseption that all AGP are good talkers......sometimes most don't talk till they get older like around 5-10yrs of age.........but good luck in what you decide.........since you are thinking about waiting to get one, it'll would be a great time to do all the reading a research you can do.

also this is just another idea......you could get a rescue agp but just becareful some of those don't make good pets and are very neruatic.........but you may find one that's a perfect pets........usually the foster parents do a great job in paring up people with parrots......

Ira NZ · #14 03/07/2006, 08:42 AM

Of course grays are smart. Here's mine getting ready to do some research on corals for me...

crzy4reefs · #15 03/07/2006, 08:53 AM

thats cute