To those bird owners who have had both........a question

[luckies4me]

Well Dan has always wanted an African Grey parrot, and well so have I because I believe they are the smartest birds alive and oh so cute!!! :D Anywho, we have a rescue at work who makes the funniest noises. I always wonder if he lives next to a construction site, or always watched cable tv kids activity game shows lol. :p


Well a coworker of mine will have babies next month who will be ready to bring to work with her. I would be able to be involved with the raising, care and feeding of the babies, and the one I plan to get, if we do decide. This is a MAJOR decision, as these birds live a long time and need a lot of love and time spent with them. Being that it would be mostly Dans bird, I am pretty much leaving the decision up to him, but of course an throwing in whatever I want to say about it. I have a feeling I will be the one doing the cage cleaning. :rolleyes:

So I have a question aimed at people who own larger parrot type birds, and those that have had both. Can you please give me any info about what makes them different in terms of care and feeding than a smaller bird. My bird experience goes as far as Cockatiels, budgies and parakeets, lovebirds, porrotlets, grey cheeked parrotkeets, Bourkes parakeets etc. So as you can see I have never been around a "big type" bird. Since this is such a big thing I want to make sure we are really going to make the right decision here, and make sure that this type of bird would be a good match for our family. I do not want to rush into anything, and I have awhile to think about it.

I do think that it would be nice to be involved in the hand rearing/feeding of a future pet! :D Even if we choose not to take a baby, the experience is going to be so worthwhile. I rememeber when our cockatiels were young and we would play with them all the time. They were the cutest things and would eat out of our hands. :)

We plan on feeding him/her a diet that consists of pelleted organic Harrisons Course Dry formula, as well as fresh fruits, veggies and the occasional fattening nut. We have plenty of toys which we will be purchasing tonight when we go to PetsMart, and will also be browsing for cages. I figure if we decide to not take a bird the rats can always have some new toys! hehe

I also would like to know what type of litter everyone uses for the bottom of the cage. Any and all links to bird behavior would be greatly appreciated if anyone knows a really good one. I would hate to have a feather plucker on my hands. I plan on taking the bird to work with me as well, so that I can spend time with him during the day, and Dan is going to have a setup at work as well.

I look forward to hearing any suggestions, thanks in advance. ;)

[Rottieluver45]

I don`t know anything but...If I were you and I had any chance of getting an AFRICAN GREY PARROT I would take it! I love them and I was looking into getting one but they are a little to expensive. They are sooooo cute!

[captain]

Hi there,

Well, I recently rescued a Rosebreasted Cockatoo, and the person who helped me so much was popcornbird.

She sent me this link ...........

http://www.birdsnways.com

Great site to start looking through.

I am still learning with my birdie. I think I will be learning forever!!!

I will PM popcornbird this thread, and I am sure you will get a response soon!

Keep us posted on developments. African Greys are beautiful, intelligent birds ........ friends of mine had one, and he was amazing

Good Luck!!!

[luckies4me]

Thanks for the link! I just really want to make sure this is the bird for us and that we would be making the right decision. I would hate myself if the bird developed any problems.


Hurry up PCB, lol. I need advice!:D

[captain]

We resuced Jo from people who did not look after her. Left her outside in an aviary - rain, hail, wind and sunshine. She was not an inside bird, or handled very much.

Believe me, when WE got her - new cage, 2 dogs and ME - insistant on handling her, talking to her,.......... if she was going to have problems, she would have had them already I think.

I am sure you will be a great birdie mum!!

[popcornbird]

I WANT AN AFRICAN GREY!!!!!!!!!! LOL

I haven't had much experience with big birds at all, so I don't know if I can be much help. African Greys can live for 80 + years though, so its a lifelong commitment and the birdie will probably be inherited by Dylan some day, maybe even your grandkids. :eek: So it is a BIG decision. For litter, I use news paper. Its what I've found to be the best thing to use as a cage liner for birds, plus I've heard most litters aren't good for birds, as they can eat them and cause damage.

I can't find any African Grey forum, but here's a macaw one. http://birdsnways.com/chats/mtindex.htm I think you might get some *big bird* answers from there. I'm on the cockatiel section of the forum and the people there are wonderful. Many have African Greys, so you might find someone who can help. Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

[luckies4me]

Originally posted by popcornbird
I WANT AN AFRICAN GREY!!!!!!!!!! LOL

I haven't had much experience with big birds at all, so I don't know if I can be much help. African Greys can live for 80 + years though, so its a lifelong commitment and the birdie will probably be inherited by Dylan some day, maybe even your grandkids. :eek: So it is a BIG decision. For litter, I use news paper. Its what I've found to be the best thing to use as a cage liner for birds, plus I've heard most litters aren't good for birds, as they can eat them and cause damage.



I know they live a LONG time, which is why this is a BIG dicision. I already factored Dylan into the equation. :p

We used to use newspaper for out tiels, and our paper here has vegetable ink so it's pretty safe to use. I wouldn't use corncob, I was just wondering what another litter that would be absorbent? I can't put together my sentences right today lol. I'll go ahead and search the forum, thanks!:)

[luckies4me]

I just posted on macaw talk and I already have an email! YAY! I am browsing Kims Aviary at the moment and looking at her precious greys. :D


I was directed to a great group for Greys. Here is the link if anyone else wants to check it out.

:)

http://groups.msn.com/AfricanGreyOwners

[CathyBogart]

We use newspaper for our big birds at work, anything else makes too much of a mess.

Greys are wonderful birds! I've always been a big fan of Amazons, until I got to spend a lot of time around one. Amazons are very prone to loud temper tantrums, whereas our greys NEVER throw loud tantrums! If one of they greys is upset with you, they'll let you know with a firm, but not too hard, nip, after which they'll scoot away.

They aren't as boisterous as birds like budgies, but they're extremely playful and silly. Be very careful about which apliances they're around, because they'll learn to beep like the answering machine, ding like the dryer, etc. My favorite grey, Janie, loves imitating other animals. When she lived at the store she would meow at any dog that came too near her cage. ^_^

I'll be happy tp try and answer any questions you have, and anything I don't know I can ask my boss/co-workers! I'll also get you the brand and model of a great cage we have at work right now. It's big enough for a cockatoo to live in comfortably and it's very inexpensive compared to a lot of bird cages I've seen!

[luckies4me]

Great thanks!!! :D

[popcornbird]

Luckies, I responded in your thread there. :p

[luckies4me]

LOL cool I will go read it. I have been browsing Playhouse Disney with Dylan. :D

[Tweety_Pie]

My uncle has a Congo African Gray named Patty. He is a big talker;)


If you would like me to ask him any questions for you, I can always ask him. (He knows alot about birds especially African Grays) :)

[cmounsey]

The only thing different (as far as a bigger bird in my opinion) is that bigger birds take more space, bigger cages, bigger toys, more food, more one on one time. African greys are very smart. They can be great talkers and sound imitators. Invest in a playstand for your grey and it will be the best thing that you could do. Start teaching your bird how to step up right away. Be consistent. Lots of luck!

[Rottieluver45]

Originally posted by popcornbird
I WANT AN AFRICAN GREY!!!!!!!!!! LOL

I haven't had much experience with big birds at all, so I don't know if I can be much help. African Greys can live for 80 + years though, so its a lifelong commitment and the birdie will probably be inherited by Dylan some day, maybe even your grandkids. :eek: So it is a BIG decision. For litter, I use news paper. Its what I've found to be the best thing to use as a cage liner for birds, plus I've heard most litters aren't good for birds, as they can eat them and cause damage.





Werem`t we just talkin` about this? :D

[Jessica12345]

Well I dont have the biggest parrot in the world, lol. Its more like a small parrot. But like everyone has said, they live longer and its a bigger commitment. oh and dont forget bigger poops. :D LOL, the smarter they are also, the quicker they might get bored. You will need to supply lots of toys, and big toys at that, to keep his mind going. Like cmounsey had said, bigger toys, bigger cage, takes up more space. This basicly means it takes more money! ;) oh and, not trying to freak you out in anyway, they could probibly bite harder as well. :p

On the bottom of the cage i use newspaper as well. :) I find it easy, that everytime i walk by the cage, I just take off one dirty layer and leave the rest of the clean layers right under it. I Put the newspaper on TOP of the grate, because tiki LOVES to roll on her back on the newspaper and dig tunnels through it. :D

[popcornbird]

Jessica, do you put like a whole stack of newspapers and just keep picking up the dirty layers? Wow. That sounds easy. :D I usually discard the old one and put a new sheet of news paper everyday. Don't you have a grate at the bottom of Tiki's cage that goes above the tray? If not, how do you keep Tiki from walking on her poop? :o

[Jessica12345]

:)

Yes, there is a grate. I put the news paper on the TOP of the grate and i put tons of layers... like when im done reading the newspaper i just put it on layer by layer and it lasts a really really long time. ;) I use the tray for storage and i put her food and treats on it. its very easy. :D

Because there are so many layers i just pic one up almost everytime i go to see her so its clean. But tiki never walks in her poop anyways... :D im not sure if other birds would though.

;)