Tell me about African Greys

In My Humble Opinion
21

I second: parrots are not fully domesticated like dogs or cats. You simply must have an avian vet, and they need lots of attention!

But they’re very loving, bright, and cute.

My bird used to:
[ul]
[li]eat popcorn with me[/li][li]get mad if I didn’t give her any[/li][li]recognized the beep of the microwave[/li][li]run to me when the vet clipped her toenails and traumatized her for life :)[/li][li]lick all the water out of a watermelon slice and then leave the husk[/li][li]ignore all the expensive toys I gave her in favor of toilet paper rolls[/li][li]run to me when i looked at her[/li][/ul]

I loved her dearly.

22

What are your long term plans for South Africa?

If you ever plan on coming back to the states, is it possible to bring your bird with you?

I have read somewhere, but apparently an UL, that Churchill had a Gray ( other birds are also listed as well) and owned it for nearly most of Winston’s adult life and it outlived him by a good number of years. I am looking for a cite on it as we speak.

23

So how did all this work out anyway?

24

I decided to wait for his next batch to come out. It was hard to wait, but I figured if I forced myself to wait two months, I’d know whether it was a spur of the moment passion that would dwindle quickly, or if I really wanted one.

Still one month to go, and I still really want one, so hopefully in a month I’ll be a proud owner!

25

I love my parrot to death, but I’d discourage practically anyone from getting one. Parrots are wild animals which (unlike dogs and cats) did not evolve for thousands of years to live aong humans. They were never meant to be kept in a house. The fact that they try to adapt to humans and our environment with varying degrees of success is testament to their intelligence and ability to love (bond), but for the most part the situation is highly stressful for both the bird and the owner.

The fact is it is very hard for an ordinary person to raise a parrot without being cruel to it in one way or another. Take, for example, the wings. Parrots were meant to fly, but they weren’t meant to fly in a house. Flying in a house is extremely risky for birds and birds with unclipped wings will tend to break their necks on windows, get their legs cut off when someone closes the door they were perching on, fly into ceiling fans, into toilets and drown, into pots to boil. It’s no joke. So in the interest of safety most experts recommend clipping their wings - which is of course hobbling the bird. So there are plenty of people who refuse to clip their parrots wings because they think that’s cruel. The fact is either way is potentially cruel, because of the nature of the situation.

Then there’s the far bigger issue of bonding. Any parrot owner will tell you how much attention their parrot “demands.” Why? Well because when parrots are bonded to you they think they’re your mate. They pair-bond. And that means you’re supposed to be together or within earshot 100% of the time. They will be constantly unhappy when they’re alone. If you try to solve the problem by buying another parrot to keep yours company you’re liable to end up with two parrots who love each other and hate you or two parrots who hate each other and want to kill each other but both love you and want to spend all their time with you.

What if you decide to move and can’t bring your parrot? Parrots are bonded to you so they won’t easily adapt to a new environment and a new owner. It will be extremely traumatic to them. So you can’t just say you’ll sell the parrot when you move and have done with it.

Parrot rescues are *filled * with abandoned parrots that people found they just couldn’t manage. What are the big reasons people have to give up parrots:

  1. The number one reason is probably the time issue. Parrots require attention constantly. They are smart and they are needy. They will be shouting for you day in day out. They will pluck their feathers and develop neurotic behaviors when they don’t get attention. They don’t just want to be sitting on your shoulder either, they want to be playing and interacting.

  2. Parrots bite. The bite of big parrots like Greys can be disfiguring, especially on the face. Again, these are wild animals who can bite the person they’re bonded to (sometimes for no apparent reason) and will almost certainly try to bite friends and family that make the parrot “jealous.” It is not an uncommon story at all to have parrots chasing after family members throughout the house beak agape wings spread.

  3. Parrots are LOUD. You can’t stop a loud parrot from being loud because that’s just what they do naturally. If they don’t get attention they’re liable to scream their head off constantly. This will be heard throughout the house and even by neighbors.

  4. Parrots often pluck their feathers when kept in homes. Feather plucking and self-mutilation is extremely common among parrots. It is also extremely upsetting and extremely sad. Sometimes it’s from an identifiable problem (boredom or loneliness) and sometimes it’s for no reason at all.

There are other things you need to think about:

  1. There aren’t bird kennels and it’s not always easy to find someone who can take care of your bird. Remember a bird isn’t like a dog and will not necessarily be able to tolerate a stranger taking care of them.

  2. You’ll need to get rid of your teflon, scented candles, any zinc oxide products, etc. In fact you should do some serious research on what is and what isn’t toxic to birds, because lots of things you wouldn’t think of are (stay away from Febreze for example). If you need to paint or use heavy cleaners or anything that produces fumes, you’ll have to be super-cautious with a bird and will likely need to find a separate place for the bird to stay for a few days.

  3. This is potentially a loooong commitment. Larger parrots like greys can live for decades. It’s like being responsible for a permanent toddler.

  4. Assuming you can tolerate the noise, if you live in an apartment, your neighbors may not.

  5. Parrots poop incessantly and can’t be toilet trained. They will poop on you and they will poop on your sofa and they will poop on your floor and on and on. My parrot poops about every five to ten minutes.

Again, I love parrots and am amazed by parrots and I have a parrot who’s practically my best friend, but in the end I’m with PETA on this one - parrots aren’t meant to be pets and shouldn’t be bred to be pets. Many of the more difficult behaviors can sometimes be “modified” with patience and care - but you can’t train them like you can train a dog because parrots weren’t bred to please and obey. The parrot’s instincts are stronger, and if it does try to change it will only do so because it loves you and because it’s smart enough to try to adapt. But there’s no guarantee either of you will be successful.

If you do buy a parrot in the end I’d encourage you to please buy one of the many abandoned parrots from a parrot rescue so that you’re not supporting parrot breeders and keeping the cycle going. In any event you should certainly read everything you can about parrots and visit a parrot rescue to learn about parrots and their problems firsthand.

26

I’ll disagree with a few points here. My experience is anecdotal and comes from my Yellow Nape Amazon (Cleo) and my brother’s Gray (Smokey).

The wing clipping doesn’t seem to affect the quality of life either way. Smokey’s wings are not clipped and he does not fly around the house. If he wants to leave his cage, he climbs to the bottom and jumps the last 10 inches. Cleo’s wings are clipped (I do it myself with bare hands, he doesn’t mind at all) and his behavior is the same as Smokey’s. I leave the last two pin feathers per wing, so if for some reason he was to fall from any height, he can fly enough to cruise to a safe landing. Neither bird appears to miss flying and both love nothing more than running (waddling) around the floor and climbing stairs.

When we had parakeets (Budgerigars) we clipped their wings when they were young but let them grow in. It was like having little fighter jets cruising the living room. If I lay on the couch reading and ignored them, they would buzz my head, flying between the book and my face! We never had a problem with windows, mirrors, or toilets, but we didn’t let them out when we weren’t home.

Parrots are naturally playful and can easily pass time by themselves if given plenty of interesting toys to play with and destroy, and you switch them regularly. Every couple days I cut three inches off a 2x4 and wire it to Cleo’s cage and he goes to town on it. Different breeds of parrots have different attention needs, some, as one of my parrot books puts it, “prefer to be admired from a distance”.

Parrots do bite, but not for “no reason”. If you are chilling with your bird and someone suddenly enters the room, he may bite you to “alert” you that there may be a threat. Cleo used to do this frequently, but over the past year even this has stopped. Most biting situations can be anticipated and avoided if you observe your birds behavior. My avian vet told me the only nasty facial bite she’s seen was an Amazon that was sick (Amazons, btw are notorious for being the most feisty, aggressive breed).

Feather plucking in grays is common, but again, it’s never for “no reason”. It may be because of stress, boredom, second hand smoke, or sickness, but there is always a reason.

I don’t want to downplay the dangers of household chemicals, but they are usually exaggerated. Throwing away scented candles may be a bit over the top. I know the horror stories of people using oven cleaner and their birds dying, but mostly these are the exception and not the rule. It’s up to you if you want to ditch the teflon, but if the bird is several rooms away, you have decent ventilation, and you don’t let the pan overheat, you’ll be fine. Personally, I limit my use of teflon 'cause I’m a worst case scenario kind of guy. If we got our carpets cleand, Cleo would definitely be spending a few days at my parents house.

As for “pooping incessantly”, are you sure your bird is healthy? I know the 'keets pooped every 15-20 minutes, but Cleo and Smokey poop every two to three hours, and Cleo has never, ever pooped on anything but the cage or his portable T-perch (which we have since learned to always keep on paper).

I also want to say that while parrots are wild, not domesticated, they are highly trainable. Understanding why they do what they do, patience, and routine will go a long way towards behavior modification. Cleo used to fly at my wife and try to bite her, now she can get him to hop up on his T-perch, sometimes without his lunging at her. Baby steps, here. He occasionally snaps at her when she walks by (always at her back, not her front. I guess he’s a bit of a coward!). We’re making progress.

I’m kind of all over the place here, and I mostly agree with uglybeech, but I don’t want to discourage motivated potential parrot owners. The rewards are enormous. They are tougher and more resilient than people give them credit for. Cleo was captured in a South American jungle in either 1959 or 1960, spent 40 years with my caring, but largely bird-ignorant grandparents, shuffled to the corner of a nursing home for 18 months, then came to live with me. After a few mis-steps on my part, and lot’s of patience, he’s as happy and healthy as a parrot can be!

27

Isn’t clipping the wings really just clipping the feathers? Isn’t that just like cutting a few pieces of hair?

28

Yes, it’s painless. I think the “cruelty” is denying them flight. Clipping the wings is to keep them from flying into windows and mirrors. When Cleo (my Amazon) has his wings fully-feathered, he is sometimes more aggressive and flies at my wife. Clipping his feathers stops this.

29

Hi Sleepy. My feeling is if a person wants to try to rescue an abandoned parrot or already has bought a parrot I’d encourage them with success stories like yours and to do everything they can to try to train and understand their parrot. I do agree that these are wonderful animals and if you’re motivated to understand and work with them they *can * make wonderful pets.

*But * the reality is that any time a first time owner buys a parrot there’s a very strong possibility the situation will not “work out” for any number of reasons. And in much too a high percentage of instances it will end tragically - the bird given to a rescue, escaped to die in the wild, dead, or eventually shut away for most of the day in some side room where it’s not bothering anyone and is miserable. These things happen even with the most well-intentioned owners. There are just so many things that can go wrong.

Sure many parrots adapt to being alone a lot, but many don’t and never become fine. In any event almost every parrot demands a great deal more attention than the first-time parrot-owner expects. Parrot biting can be understood and steps can be taken to minimize it, but realize to the first time owner there are going to be a lot of bites that seem “out of nowhere” because it takes a lot of time to understand a bird. And some parrots will always be agressive and even dangerous. In fact, all parrots (even the most friendly) are liable to bite unpredictably at some point. Any good parrot behaviorist will tell you never to be complacent that your bird would never do that. Parrots can survive some fumes, but some don’t and if you read any parrot message board and you’ll find plenty of heartbreaking stories of parrots dying suddenly which is probably the result of some kind of poisoning. As for the pooping - I haven’t had a really large parrot myself, only small to medium sized parrots - but several times an hour (at least) is pretty standard for small to mid-size. I currently have a quaker parakeet for 10 years who has always pooped every 5 to 10 minutes. Maybe the large parrots are way different. Although from my friends who have had them it doesn’t sound like that’s the case. They’re certainly not pooping though once or twice a day like a dog. It’s going to get everywhere.

No, I would never encourage anyone to buy a parrot. I think parrot lovers want to share their love and minimize the difficulties and they want to encourage people who are struggling with parrots to keep finding solutions (which is good). But people who are considering being owners *have * to know everything they may be in for - not just how it can work out - but the many, many ways it may not. It shouldn’t be sugarcoated. And I am very much with PETA that parrot owning is so fraught with difficulties that it’s basically inherently cruel to birds and should eventually be phased out. I don’t want to support the breeding of parrots for pets myself. Although anyone that wants to adopt a parrot from a pet rescue has my full support. They’re overloaded usually.

30

I’m surprised that no one has mentioned the blood feather issue. While it’s true that mature feathers are similar to our fingernails in that it is painless to clip them, when the feathers are growing out after a moult (and moulting happens) the shaft has a blood supply, and if a feather is injured, either by an accidental knock, the bird plucking it, or a human trimming accident, the blood is everywhere and the bird may die if the bleeding isn’t quickly stopped. A middle of the night startle from a parrot causing it to damage a blood feather is an emergency, and a rather frightful one to boot, and it is not that rare of an occurance.

Egg binding - a female, under the right light-to-dark ratio will lay and lay and lay, which will deplete her nutritionally. Frequently a female will become egg bound, which is when an egg has formed but cannot be passed. This is a life - or - death situation, and time is short.

I once rescued a 'tiel, a neurotic, abused little bird who plucked himself bald from his neck as far as he could reach, his breast was naked, and he even bit his back feathers off where he couldn’t get a good enough hold to pull them out. He pulled his wing feathers for so long they never grew back in right, and at best he could climb and then glide to where he wanted to be. He was about five years old when I was “given” to me by the owner. He had been on a seed diet, which parrots cannot thrive on. It took me six months to convince him that I wasn’t trying to kill him with the foods I cooked, along with the raw veggies and fruit, and he was certain that the pellets were an enemy. However once he finally accepted the real food diet he had a major moult, and from that point until the day he died, he was fully feathered, (with the exception of his flight feathers) beautiful, healthy. He was a hellion when he first came to live with us, biting anyone within reach and drawing blood. He bonded to me, but eventually accepted the rest of the family, and would tolerate non family members. It broke my heart when my 'tiel died, and I would love to get another, but I have to look at my age and health and I don’t really think that it’s the best idea right now.

There is more to giving a parrot a good life to be aware of, but the best advice is to do your homework before you bring your bird home. A parrot’s longevity is a critical issue, and, imnsho, there should be someone willing to take the bird (for life, and be willing to be well aquainted with the bird prior to any change) should something happen to you. It is also my belief that the person who will take the parrot should be so named in your will.

However, all the scary stuff aside, parrots are wonderful company, greys are one of my favorites, and I wish you the best with your new bird!