Ten fantastically successful tried-and-tested tips for training your pet parrot! How i trained my bitey little monster african grey into a playful sweetie. A frantic mom's hilarious, but tough-talking truth about how she tamed her mother's bird.
The African Grey Parrot Makes A Wonderful Pet
Category: African Grey Information
The African Grey Parrot Makes A Wonderful Pet
Copyright (c) 2010 Kaye Dennan
The African Grey parrot has many endearing qualities and parrot lovers looking for a pet parrot will find that an African Grey Parrot is one of the easiest parrots to keep as a companion. They are very popular with parrot owners and with good reason. Their exceptional talking and cognitive abilities means that they interact well with their owners and are a joy to have as a favorite pet.
Given the time, these parrots will develop a large vocabulary and it has been reported that they communicate well with their owners if given the incentive.
The appearance of the African Grey?
The African Grey would fall into the medium sized category for parrots as he is about 10 to 14 inches fully grown and which makes him an ideal size for a pet. Not surprisingly, the male is larger than the female, but not by much.
Although very similar in appearance, there are two different types of African Grey. One is the Congo African Grey which has a light grey body color, very light grey to white on the side of the head and with a brilliant red tail. The other African Grey parrot, the Timneh, has darker greay feathers on top, a light grey chest with a maroon colored tail. The general body build of both of these parrots is much the same with both sexes, but the female does tend to have a slightly narrower head and a more slender neck than the male.
The African Grey, like many parrots does have a long life span so to take on the care of an African Grey the owner must give a long committment. Many live up to 60 years of age, which is quite a long time for a family pet.
Keep the African Grey parrot happy and healthy.
This parrot is a very intelligent parrot and if he is not kept amused he will become bored and then could suffer from health problems. A bored parrot will develop some bad habits and quite quickly too, which could be hard to reverse. Keep a look out for any of these signs if you think he is bored:
- Feather picking
- Grumpy and unfriendly
- Biting
- Self-mutilating
From the pet parrot’s point of view, one of the habits that will cause him harm is that of feather picking. If you ever notice your parrot pulling out feathers get on to this problem straight away because it is not good for him to have bare patches where he has plucked out his feathers.
Another problem is that they can become very grumpy if they are bored and this will make him an unpleasant friend. He will most likely start biting and be quite nasty to those around him. If really distressed, he will even self-mutilate.
Just like any intelligent animal a pet parrot needs interaction with its owner on a regular basis and needs stimulation to keep it happy. This does not mean that you need to be playing with it for hours a day, but your pet does like to have a certain amount of freedom and play with its owner.
The African Grey do train beautifully so enjoy the process and teach him some tricks that he will love doing and people will love doing with him. Also hang some toys in his cage so that he can play with them when he is on his own.
Be ‘one of the flock’ to your parrot.
In his own environment, the African Grey would fly in a flock of parrots so it is their natural instinct to treat their owner as one of the flock. Because of this the parrot will often enjoy having the side of his head rubbed and a bit of a scratch there too, but he will not enjoy his body being handled. You will often notice with a group of parrots that they tend to smooch around each other’s head. It is a habit of parrots.
If you are going to let your pet parrot ‘kiss’ you, do take care not to let it be around your mouth as human bacteria can be extremely harmful to a parrot.
If being kept by a family, children need to understand the personality of a parrot because if they do get bitten, it does hurt as the parrot’s beak is very hard and sharp and is designed for cracking seeds and nuts. If a child aggravates a parrot they could get bitten, even by a placid parrot.
African Grey parrots will entertain for hours, but only if they are carefully looked after with the right diet, social needs and housing. Enjoy teaching the African Grey to talk, because he is good at and also to perform tricks as they really are natural ‘show offs’.
Have lots of fun with your African Grey pet parrot as you teach him new parrot tricks and at Pet Parrot Secrets you will also learn how to take great care of him so he is around for many years to come.
The Essential African Grey (Essential (Howell))
The Essential Guides have all the facts that the new or experienced pet owner needs for a successful relationship with his or her pet. Packed with interesting sidebars, the books discuss the special characteristics of the pet; bringing your new pet home; the optimal way to feed your pet; and how to properly groom your pet. Also included are comprehensive chapters on health care and how to train your pet like an expert.The many vibrant and descriptive photos in the Essential Guides are taken by a professional photographer, and each book contains perforated fact cards with lots of helpful care tips. Consulting Editor Ian Dunbar, Ph.D., MRCVS, is the founder and an ongoing member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. onsulting Editor Pamela Leis Higdon, an aviculturist of long standing, was an associate editor for Bird Talk magazine and the first managing editor of Birds USA.
Rating: 
(out of 9 reviews)
List Price: $ 7.95
Price: $ 4.60
Review by Philip Scala (phlmmc@prodigy.net) for The Essential African Grey (Essential (Howell))
Rating:
The book was very informative. It is the revised edition in softcover of The African Grey A Guide To A Happy and Healthy Pet. The text is bsically the same and less expensive.
Review by Todd A. Moore for The Essential African Grey (Essential (Howell))
Rating:
I must say that the reviews that I read here on Amazon.com prior to me purchasing this book were right on. “The Essential African Grey” is wonderfully done and extremely informative. It is very easy to read with its subheads. This book not only covers the basics which are important, but also touches on possible diseases of African Greys, and details “what to look for” in a number of scenarios to help ensure your grey’s health. This book is something you must own and perused again as situations may occur with your bird. And remember, greys (parrots) have only been domesticated two generations which still leaves the tag of wild for quite some time (way beyond our lifetimes), so we will always be learning and adapting new techniques, finding diseases (and hopefully proper vaccinations in the future, etc., etc.). This means that you need to check future books for more up-to-date methods and treatments in the future (as this author clearly spells out).
Review by Jennifer Fretwell for The Essential African Grey (Essential (Howell))
Rating:
This book provides a good general overview of caring for an african grey. You’ll need other books that go into more depth for behavior management, etc., but this book is a good starting point. While the book is current and up to date for the most part, the author does recommend giving your parrot a nut and bolt as a toy. Surprisingly, she does not warn that you must be careful that it does not contain zinc. The nut and bolt would have to be made of stainless steel to be safe, otherwise your bird could get heavy metal poisoning.
Review by Rivera for The Essential African Grey (Essential (Howell))
Rating:
If you are looking for a very good beginers book on african grey parrots, this book is for you. Gives great information about food, ilnessess, etc etc. I just wish it gave more information about the size of cages and other cage stuff. The pictures are great, and the book is very easy to understand. Up-to-date information is inculded which was very nice. I would recondmend this book to people who are interested in buying an african grey parrot.
Review by for The Essential African Grey (Essential (Howell))
Rating:
I would recommend this to any first time owner. Well worth the price