African Grays: How Difficult are they?

Davii

Hey, I have no experiance with birds whatsoever.. well, a budgie..
But I was thinking in getting an african gray for the family.
They a difficult pet to look after?
Ive seen them and they make alot of noise, do they settle down at any point?
How much and what do they eat?

A general caresheet from someone with a AG would be appreciated.

I coooould google it but im far too lazy and I trust this site more that the rest of the world (y)

Thanks in advance =)
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Davii
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Tegster · Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 2:25 pm Post subject:

My aunt had an African Gray. What a character Bennie was. She had him for many years and truly loved him. But because he was so noisy, she had to move from her condo. He was disturbing the neighbors while she was at work all day. He would scream like a woman being tortured.

She started leaving the television on for him during the day. It was during the summer Olympics. The U.S. was cleaning up so he learned to sing portions of the Star Spangled Banner.

Eventually, her work as a narcotics detective consumed more and more of her time. Bennie became more and more unruly. He would punish her for being gone all day by screaming the entire time she was home. She of course had worked all day (or night) and had other things to do when she got home. So she couldn't give him the attention he demanded.

She eventually gave him up to someone who's passion and life was devoted to these types of birds. It was very good for Bennie but very hard for my aunt.
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Renee

Davii · Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:38 am Post subject:

ah, doesn't sound like they simmer down at all then..
Cause there is a gawjus red one at my local pet store.. but the sqarking makes me jump out of my skin.. every time lol

Shame.. because they are such beautiful birds.. Im guessing it would stress the reptiles as well all that noise.. maybe not so much Iguanas that live in rainforests.. but beardies.. I dunno.

Maybe birds are not the thing for me.
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Davii
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Ben3233 · Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:47 pm Post subject:

My parent had a beautiful Umbrella Cockatoo (unvailable to buy now). What an awsome bird, he was a real baby, always need attention. The big parakeet need a lot of attention if not, they do a big mess.

Do birds are good pets for you? look at this!

1) Are you ready to give them a lot of attention? Because these pet are very jalous and possessive.

2) Are you ready to clean all the mess that they do?

3) Are you living in a house ?

4) Do you have the money because these one in Canada cost 3000$ (i don't know how much they cost in USA)

If you answer all yes, that means that birds are maybe for you!
good luck!
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Ben
0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Uresaii)

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mistery, but today is a gift...that is why we call it the present". -Tortoise Oogway

Knight05 · Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 4:21 am Post subject:

I have a Congo african grey female named chloe. I got her about 2 months ago. She is now about 11 months old. I love my grey and I wouldn't turn back my decision to get one here is some pro's and con's to influence your decision to get one. I too am a first time bird owner and jumped into all this without much info on the species or how to take care of them. Keep in mind all greys are NOT the same and results do vary per bird although my pros and cons are mainly generalized on the average grey.

Pros: Extremely friendly, Social, love to play, Can say up to 1,000 words on average, sing and make noises, mimic you and sounds it hears, Self cleaning, outgoing (meaning can take almost anywhere with you), the best parrot for your buck in my opinon. Will entertain itself while you are at work. Products such as poop-off will dissolve and sanitze bird poop with relative ease no mess left over and no stains. Cheap cost for litter such as newspaper etc.

Cons: Can be loud and screechy although uncommon, extremely expensive rough prices include... food 7-12 bucks every 1-2 weeks, cage 300-400 dollars for anything nice, toys 10-50 dollars per toy and these birds MUST have a lot of toys if you do not interact with them most of the day as they get extremely bored and that can lead to plucking their feathers out until they have bald spots, expect to spend 200 dollars on your first vet visit for a physical, sexing, tagging (they put a micro chip in the skin so if it's lost you can find it) or they tag its leg with a bird "doggie" collar type device and possible medications. They are extremely messy water food and cage must be cleaned every other day at a bare minimum.
While they can be potty trained they poop about once every 20 min and usually without training anywhere they want you must accept be pooped on or furniture being pooped on as a normal thing. Biting is possible but not usually likely, these birds bond to ONE person. Meaning it will love you to do death and be your best friend but it might not let your family friends, girlfriend/boyfriend hold/pet or interact with it. Mine loves me but ignores my room mate. Last thing is bird's must be cleaned and showered every few days (misting with water bottle is fine too). They are also VERy sensative to many human things, for example anything teflon coated such as pots and pans gives off teflon fumes and those are deadly and will cause respitory issues with you bird and kill it quicker than you can say "WTF?!". Avocado, alcohol, chocolate and other things can kill your bird just as easy do your homework first! And NEVER buy from a pet store. Pet store birds suck and usually come from second rate breeders, buy directly from a local breeder but first meet them talk to them, learn from them then make a choice and meet your bird of course too the younger the better

GL!

That's all i can think of right now, I know the cons seem over whelming in spite of the pro's but the pro's are all VERY rewarding in comparison with the many small con's which are not as big of a deal. My over all opinon is good first time bird, look into it before you buy, make a educated decision if you want to spend 50 years with a bird which might never talk ever and will most likely only bond to you. Anything you want it to do can be trained but it takes time and patience. You cannot punish a bird like you would a dog or any other animal. They understand right and wrong but not as easy as you would like. You ignore bad behavior and reinforce good behavior with treats and praising such as "good bird!". Males are generally larger and better talkers than females but females are usually the more "chill" of the two and a tad smaller it's all about prefrence and luck. hope this helps.

P.S. www.greyforums.net best website online for extremely supportitive community with lots of grey knowledge and help, check it out