A baby African Grey parrot can be a source of infinite joy for its owner if it is properly cared for. Unfortunately, if you’re a first time bird owner, it’s best to stay away from buying a baby African Grey. These birds require a lot of care and attention. If you’re not familiar with the behavior of African Grey parrots, you will have a tough time handling the babies.

Usually, African Grey baby parrots are cared for by their parents well beyond the time they start flying. Baby African Greys are usually not sold to new owners before this point of time, which is about 12 weeks. However, if your baby African Grey was born at home to your pet African Grey, you’ve got some serious information to brush up on before attempting to rear them all by yourself.

Characteristics of a Baby African Grey Parrot

Baby African Greys are not grey when they’re born. They’re pink when they hatch. They develop their trademark grey color, black beaks and red tails only when they start growing feathers. Usually when you buy a baby African Grey from a pet shop, it’s safe to assume that it’s at least 12 weeks old but it is best if you can buy your parrot from the breeder. That’s about the perfect time to wean baby African Greys from their mothers.

Some special needs of baby African Greys are:

- Day old chicks are really tiny, weigh less than 18 grams and require extreme care in handling
- Tiny African Grey Babies need special formula, care and a warm place to inhabit
- They’re very cute when they’re born. However, they tend to look weird for the first three weeks
- They need to be trained from an early age. At least from when they are 12 weeks old

Things to know before you decide on buying a baby African Grey parrot

Buying a baby African Grey is an important decision that one cannot afford to take lightly. It’s a commitment that can sometimes last a lifetime. Since African Greys are birds with very long life spans, you need to consider the fact that they will be around much longer than you. It’s almost like choosing a pet for life.

Since African Grey babies bond intensely with their owner, it’s not easy to give them away either. They can develop cognitive and speech skills that can match 5 year old human children at times. So you can understand how difficult it would be to give them away. African Greys tend to hurt themselves or become overly stressed if they’re separated from their owners.

If you’re buying a baby African Grey parrot, you’ll mostly get one that’s at least 4 months old. If your African Greys have hatched at home, you need to feed them special formulas, put them in brooders and generally care for them really well if you expect them to survive beyond the first few week

Yyou can read up about taking care of your baby African Grey. Since these birds require a lot of attention, love and care, it’s safe to read up a lot before actually deciding to buy them. But if you’ve done your homework and decided that a baby African Grey Parrot is what you want, you can be sure of a fun filled lifetime bird owning experience.

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The Timneh African Grey parrot is one of two kinds of African Grey parrot. The other type of African Grey is commonly referred to as the Congo. While both kinds of parrots originate from Central and Central western Africa, the Timneh hails from parts of central Africa like the western upper guinea forests, the savannahs of Guinea Bissau, parts of Sierra Leone and Southern Mali.

Timnehs are reported to be easier to domesticate and train compared to Congos.

Differences between Timneh and Congo African Grey Parrots.

First off, the Timneh African Grey parrot is much smaller than the Congo. This automatically means you get a smaller, cuter, easier to maintain bird. The Timneh mostly learns tricks and speech parts faster than the Congos do. This is partly due to their more docile nature and sharper observation skills.

Timnehs  are affectionate parrots and like to be handled.  They don’t particularly expect to be cuddled but they do respond to some sort of cuddling from their owner on a regular basis to feel good about themselves. This can be simply a head scratch, but it needs to be done once in a while to let your Timneh know it’s safe and loved.

Since they’re highly intuitive beings, Timnehs learn to predict their owners behaviors and it is not uncommon for Timnehs to even play pranks on their owners when they least expect it.  As a Timneh owner you really should enjoy communicating with your parrot because this is one of their finer features.

Some of the unique features and behaviors of a Timneh African Grey Parrot are:

- They’re the smaller of the two African Grey parrots

- They are more intuitive in nature and are able to follow complex forms of communication which is why they can be taught tricks so easily

- They need a lot of toys to keep them challenged and also to keep them occupied if you are away from the house.

- It’s after all an African Grey. Timnehs too chew a lot so it pays to keep some branches in their cage for them to chew on.

- Compared to Congos, Timnehs can become stressed more easily and need extra attention. For this reason talking toys are good because you can record your voice and it helps keep the parrot relaxed.

- They fluff their feathers when stressed. When the Timneh is stressed or scared he flares and fluffs up his neck feathers. In case the bird will expect some form of comforting from its owner.

Owning a Timneh

The Timneh African Grey parrot is quite a high maintenance bird. They aren’t really expensive to maintain, but need a lot of investment in the form of your time and care. If you’re someone who just likes to stash his bird in a cage and show them off to curious visitors, please spare yourselves the horror of destroying a Timneh’s life.

Timneh Greys need to be free and able to roam about a small area with a lot of toys. They like to play and are very curious creatures. Since they chew a lot, it’s also advisable to leave a lot of chewable items around their play area. It is also very important to actually have a play area if you own a Timneh, for obvious reasons.

A Timneh Grey parrot has a darker red tail than its Congo counterparts. It also has darker feathers than the Congo grey. Timnehs are also supposed to be way naughtier than Congos and are more agile when they’re in a playful mood. So don’t buy a Timneh if you don’t like to run around chasing it at times.

Timnehs are known to be avid speakers. They pick up on various kinds of common phrases, words and sentences heard in your household and throw them at unsuspecting visitors and friends alike. You can almost guarantee that they will embarrass you at some time with their phrases or behavior traits. So, it always pays to be extra careful while talking to your Timneh African Grey parrot.

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The Congo African Grey parrot is one of two kinds of African Grey parrots that currently exist. The other African Grey parrot variety is called “Timneh African Grey” Parrot. Both varieties of African Grey parrots carry remarkably similar physical and behavioral characteristics.

However, the African Congo grey parrot is much larger than the Timneh. The color of the African Grey Congo parrot is also lighter than the Timneh variety which is slightly darker by nature.

The Congo African Grey parrot originates from regions of central and central western Africa. Native African Congo Grey parrot populations are concentrated around the South East of the Ivory Coast till Western Kenya. They’re also found in Northwest Tanzania, the Southern parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Northern parts of Angola. The African Grey Congo parrot is currently also found across many parts of the world due to extensive breeding and their wide popularity as pets.

Sometimes these pets get free and breed in the wild so they are not found in many places that are not their natural habitat.

What are the characteristics of the Congo African Grey parrot

The African Congo Grey parrot is known to be very mischievous and playful in nature. It’s also one of the most intelligent species of birds known to mankind. It is said that when you buy an African Grey Congo parrot, you buy a friend for life. That statement is largely true.

Congo African Greys have:

- Amazing speech skills
- Very high levels of intelligence
- Learn skills above average for a parrot and perform relatively complex tasks
- A playful and mischievous nature which allows it to interact with its owners
- An ability to understand and respond to human speech
- A very long lifespan
- Can get stressed easily
- Grey feathers, black beaks and red inner tails

While Congo African Greys are easily stressed, they’re also emotionally dependent on their owners. This simply means that Congos need your attention a lot more than other species of birds. This is a significant factor for most people in deciding whether to buy a Congo African Grey or not. They’re simply ‘high maintenance’ creatures in terms of time and effort.

Tips on deciding whether you want to buy a Congo African Grey or not.

As already mentioned, the Congo African Grey parrot is a high maintenance bird. If you’re not the kind who would pet your bird, cuddle it and say a lot of nice things to it, an African Congo Grey parrot probably isn’t for you. However, if this is what you want in your parrot then Congos can be a source of great joy. They interact well and become very attached to their owners.

The African Grey Congo parrot has a very sweet nature. Although it can learn to adjust to its environment and its owner’s likes and dislikes it is important to get a Congo African Grey when it is young as the older birds can be hard to train to your liking.

So if you’ve decided that you’re going to buy a Congo African Grey parrot after all, you’ve made a wonderful choice.  It is common for many Congos to outlive their owners because of their long life spans. Overall, the African Grey Congo parrot is one of the world’s most loved and popular pet birds because of its learning abilities and amazing intelligence allowing it to befriend its owners.

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African Grey parrot food refers to an ideal set of foods that African Grey parrots prefer eating compared to normal bird food. The natural African Grey parrot diet mostly consists of food that is typically found in its natural habitats along with some improvisations. In the wild, African Grey parrots consume large amounts of various kinds of fruits. They also need copious amounts of water to survive.

What you can include in your African Grey parrots diet

Because they love fruits so much, you can make fruits an integral part of your African Grey parrot food on a regular basis. However, you also need to remember that African Greys tend to pick their own fruits in the wild. There may be some fruits that they genuinely do not like. This doesn’t mean you should stop giving them fruit altogether. Just diversify the kinds of fruits for a more well rounded natural African Grey parrot diet.

Try different kinds of fruits and your African Grey parrot should be able to find the ones it likes most. Mostly the tropical fruits have the best results. Over time, you will know its preferences and its dislikes. You can adjust fruit servings according to your parrot’s likes. Ideal African Grey parrot food consists not only of fruit, but a healthy number of vegetables and organic bird food pellets as well. It’s best to include bright colored vegetables in an African Grey parrot diet as the birds seem to prefer them over other food items.

African Greys parrots usually favor:
- Fresh Fruits
- Brightly colored vegetables
- Organic Bird feed pellets (these have infused minerals and vitamins for their good health)
- Boiled or cooked eggs (excellent for protein)
- Cooked chicken or red meat (excellent for protein)
- Yogurt
- Bird Seeds

While your African Grey parrot loves the above mentioned foods, you can’t really stereotype their tastes. Some African Greys may prefer a few foods that aren’t in their favorite list at all. While deciding on the ideal African Grey parrot diet however, it pays to know what to keep off the menu.

The intricacies of African Grey Parrot food

More than knowing what to give your African Grey parrot, you need to know what not to give them. African Greys are particularly sensitive to Chocolate, Rhubarb and Avocado. Chocolate is quite the culprit because most of us like it and a visitor always decides it’s cute to give some chocolate to the bird in the corner.

Junk food and processed meat foods are a huge NO when it comes to African Grey parrot’s diets. It’s not safe to give them morsels of your own food since African Greys have unique nutritional requirements. Of course, it’s imperative to avoid anything that contains Caffeine or Alcohol. Also, avoid colored bird food pellets. They simply contain way too much sugar for parrots anyway.

When you give your African grey parrot boiled eggs, it’s best to give the egg to them along with pieces of the shell. It’s sometimes best to give it to them along with the whole shell. This is to help their calcium intake. African Grey parrot food must typically contain the food that they prefer to eat. They’re finicky eaters and need to be fed with care. Overall, African Grey diet requirements are simple enough to master and follow. Giving your bird the right kind of African grey parrot diet will ensure it grows up to be healthy and strong.

You want to make sure that it does not get parrot sour crop and this is quite common with baby parrots if they are not fed properly and have their feeding monitored.

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There are a lot of breeders of African Greys because they are such a popular bird so if you make inquiries nearby and at bird shows you should be able to find one that breeds very good parrots.  When they are babies, parrots are very susceptible to ill health and stress so buying form a well known breeder means you will either eliminate these problems or minimize them so that they are not a worry.

You are buying a pet for a lifetime when buying a parrot so it pays to make sure you get a good healthy parrot at the beginning.

If you have to move your parrot around once you have it you can look for these stress symptoms:

- lethargy
- restlessness
- frequent ruffling of feathers
- plucked out feathers
- a pale frightened look

If you notice any of these stress symptoms when you are looking to buy your bird then it’s either unhealthy or has been bought from questionable sources. It’s cruel to treat birds like that, and many Central African Governments have banned their capture in the wild.

However, illegal trade in the birds continues because of high global demand. It would be a shame for you to buy and rear a pet that has been mistreated like that. So it’s always useful to research where to buy an African Grey parrot.

When buying an African Grey your safest bet is to place an order at a local pet
shop but only if they can guarantee a quality breeder and wait for your bird to arrive if they don’t have one already.  Alternatively do your own research and find a reputable breeder. The most ideal purchase would be a 3-4 month old baby.

Take your time to deeply consider where to buy an African Grey parrot, because the bird you buy will be with you for a very long time.

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If you’re looking for information on where to buy an African Grey Parrot, you’ve come to the right place. African Greys are highly intelligent creatures that add a lot of fun to their owners lives. This is because their intelligence can sometimes almost equal that of a 5 year old child. Apart from their intelligence, African Greys are also known for their ability to quickly learn phrases and parts of human speech.

Where to buy an African Grey Parrot

Their many desirable qualities make African Grey parrots a much sought after species. Since African Grey parrots are originally from Central and Central Western Africa, some of the purest breeds yet are found there. However, the best option is to choose from domestically bred African Grey parrots that any decent pet shop can arrange for you.

When you buy from a licensed pet shop there is a high possibility that your African grey is a healthy, domestically bred, tame bird that is easier to train. When you buy from questionable sources, individual sellers or online sellers, there is a high possibility that your African Grey has either been hunted and caught in the wild or smuggled into the country in unsafe conditions. Both these methods are undesirable and also highly illegal.

You can safely buy healthy African Grey parrots from:

- A reputable breeder
- Your neighborhood pet shop but find out about the breeders
- Reputed Online Pet shops
- A friend or neighbor who breeds African Greys
- Websites that exclusively deal in selling African Greys

Be careful not to buy from any breeding factory where the parents are not cared for or checked for health problems and where the early feeding days of the parrot may be lacking in vitamins and minerals that the young parrot needs.

Now that you know where to buy an African Grey parrot, you can also consider buying from online sellers if you’re convinced that they’re domestically bred. However, ask to see and examine the bird in person before you purchase it if you want to protect yourself from fraud.

There are many instances of unscrupulous online resellers thumbing off distressed and sick birds to unsuspecting customers. Since African Greys are hunted worldwide because of their value as pets, it’s better to cross check their exact breeding.

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If African Grey parrot facts were widely known, perhaps some long held misunderstandings about these beautiful birds wouldn’t exist. In spite of their drab looks, African Greys are some of the most intelligent and enthusiastic parrots you can come across in the whole world.

African Greys are matched only by ‘Eclectus’ parrots in learning skills. Once you get to deeply understand them, you’ll realize that African Grey parrots offer a much richer parrot owning experience than other more colorful varieties of parrots.

Now let’s get to know a few amazing facts about African grey Parrots.

Most African Grey Parrots have a bright red tinge on the inner side of their tails…

This is what helps identify African Grey parrots from amongst other grey parrots worldwide. Of course, an expert wouldn’t find it difficult to differentiate between the two. Unfortunately some pet shop owners are known to thumb off ordinary grey parrots as African Greys to unsuspecting customers.

The red in the inner tail is a rule of thumb to be used in identifying African Greys. They also have a trademark black beak.

Probably the most amazing amongst all African Grey Parrot facts is that there are two kinds of African Greys. If you were thinking that the African Grey parrot referred to a single variety, you may have to think again. There are two distinct varieties of African Greys:

• Congo African Grey
• Timneh African Grey

There are however, distinct differences between the two:

The most marked amongst the variations is the huge difference in size between the Congo and Timneh parrots. Timneh African Greys look significantly smaller than Congo African Grey Parrots. Some of the most prominent African Grey parrot facts are mentioned below.

- African Grey parrots have a bright red inner tail
- Their fluffed up feather defense mechanism is quite unique
- Their intelligence far surpasses all other parrot varieties
- African Greys are the best speakers among all the parrots combined
- They can reproduce whole phrases and sometimes even whole sentences
- Most African Greys live longer than their owners
- They chew a lot!
- African Greys are true friends for life provided you train them well

The most well known fact amongst all the other African Grey parrot facts is that African Greys are much more intelligent and understanding than other parrots…

Though training parrots is a nightmare, African Grey Parrots usually form very good bonds with their owners and are known to be extremely adept at learning tricks and repeating human speech. This behavior vaguely relates to the disproportionate amount of time that African Grey parrot babies spend in their flock before they leave. Their intelligence might be directly related to the longer time they spend learning from their flocks.

Most African Greys in the wild tend to spend most of their lives with one partner. Though this may not be applicable in cases where African Greys are flocked together in confined spaces, they generally express strong monogamous tendencies at all times. In the wild they’re known to nest in tree holes.

Another interesting fact is that the most important defense mechanism amongst African Greys is the habit of fluffing up their feathers to look scary to predators. This is their natural reaction to threats even if they’re tamed and docile. Now that you know all the basic African Grey parrot facts, you might understand them well enough to decide whether you want to buy one or not.

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Parrot Play Gyms are artificially constructed play areas that are meant to let domesticated parrots play, frolic and exercise their natural physical behaviors outside the confines of their cage. More than flying around, parrots in the wild tend to spend a lot of time perched on trees and playfully jumping from branch to branch. It’s one of the ways they keep themselves occupied when they’re not out hunting small mammals or foraging for insects.

Why your parrot needs a Play Gym

Every parrot whether large or small requires a play gym at some point of time. They’re happy with their cages and swings while they’re very young, but as they grow older, their urge to hop and play in places outside their cages becomes apparent. Parrot Play gyms are essential for the healthy all round growth of all kinds of parrots.

Good play gyms let parrots enjoy a fair amount of freedom outside their cages. They’re the perfect solution to the problem of keeping parrots occupied when they’re out of their cages. A well equipped play gym ensures that your parrot doesn’t try to fly out of the window as soon as you open his cage. This is because all your parrot ever wants from the outdoors is already right there in the play gym in front of him.

Really good parrot Play gyms:

- Come with various toys and perches
- Are made of washable wood
- Are resistant to chewing or have chew toys on them
- Are classified according to parrot size
- Make it easier for you to rotate chewed out toys on a regular basis
- Are designed to keep your parrot well occupied
- Have well planned layouts to reduce risk of injury

What you need to know while choosing a play gym for your parrot.

Play gyms are always tailored to the size of the parrots that will eventually use them. For example, if you have a parakeet and a macaw, there is no way that a single parrot play gym will suit both of them. Macaws require larger and sturdier play gyms because they tend to chew a lot and forcefully at that.

Smaller parakeets on the other hand will find themselves at ease with play gyms that are much smaller and have toys and perches that are fitted to their size. A parakeet would find it very difficult to swing meaningfully on a swing designed for a macaw. Therefore, the size of your parrot is the first thing to be acknowledged while choosing a play gym for it.

Parrot play gyms are mostly placed outside cages. It’s not uncommon to find play gyms inside large cages, but the whole point of a play gym is to give your parrot a sense of the wild and a little freedom outside its cage. One has to ensure there are no fans or electric cables near a parrot play gym. You don’t want a parrot flying into a fan or chewing up a live wire while he’s playing.

It makes sense to never screw a play gym into its base or on to the floor. Play gyms tend to get messed up over time and it’s easier to clean them when they’re not fixed tight to the floor. If you manage to find Parrot play gyms that fit all the above requirements, you can rest assured that your parrot will grow up to be a healthy, intelligent and happy bird.

It makes sense to never screw a play gym into its base or on to the floor. Play gyms tend to get messed up over time and it’s easier to clean them when they’re not fixed tight to the floor. If you manage to find Parrot play gyms that fit all the above requirements, you can rest assured that your parrot will grow up to be a healthy, intelligent and happy bird.
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The Grey African Parrot is a native of central and central western Africa. It’s considered one of the most intelligent birds amongst all the other parrot varieties out there. Certain studies put the intelligence and learning skills of the African Grey parrot almost near or slightly above the Eclectus parrot. African greys are much sought after worldwide because they make great pets. Their most prominent qualities are their intelligence and their ability to learn and repeat complex phrases and sentences.

What are the special qualities of an African Grey Parrot?

As already mentioned, the Grey African parrot is a native of Central and central western Africa. But it’s very common to find African Grey parrots in almost every part of the world because of their widespread popularity as pets. African Grey parrots learn quickly and are very good at mimicking the voices and languages of human beings. It’s one of their most prized qualities.

However, an African Grey won’t start speaking as soon as you begin talking to it. Most of their behavior is learned from their owners.  They will pick up words and noises quite quickly but  it may take years to train them to the level of speaking complex sentences. Though African greys are drab looking except for their bright red inner tails, they’re one of the most coveted and sought after varieties amongst parrots.

Here are some facts about the Grey African Parrot:

- African Grey parrots are of two varieties, “Congo” and “Timneh”.
- The Timneh is slightly smaller than the Congo and has slightly different features.
- All African grey parrots have a trademark bright red inner tail.
- The tail and their black beak are their most prominent features.
- African Grey Parrots ruffle up their neck feathers as a defensive measure.
- They are remarkably intelligent creatures.
- They need constant care and attention without which they panic and start plucking themselves from anxiety.
- They chew up stuff all the time.
- They can form really personal bonds with their owners.
- They have such long lives that they’ll mostly outlive their owners.

Why you should buy a Grey African Parrot

African Greys are amazing creatures. If you want a bird that adorns your courtyard and keeps screeching and squawking all day, you’re probably one of those people who like colorful parrots. However, if you really need a companion you can sometimes have intelligent conversations with , African Greys are a great choice.

Their amazing learning skills and intelligence make African Greys excellent companions for older people and those who love solitude. In fact African Grey parrots are so much in demand across the world that central African Governments have had to ban or severely restrict their capture and trade. Hunting and capturing amongst the wild African Grey parrot population has severely depleted their natural populations.

However, the bans have started working and more African Greys can be found in the wild these days. This is a really good thing because, wild African Grey parrots hold the key to the genetic continuity of the species. It would be very sad indeed if wild African Greys disappeared one fine day just because everyone wanted to have one.

African Greys have been bred and interbred domestically to form many different sub species and varieties. You can find the whole range from Albino African Greys (a totally white African Grey), to Blue African Greys (with a slightly white tail). But if you’re looking to buy an African Grey, do buy a domestically bred and reared bird. Make sure that your purchase isn’t an illegally captured Grey African Parrot because then you’d be helping to protect a lot of wild African Greys.

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A good African Grey parrot cage has to have some added equipment in order to meet the unique needs of your African Grey parrot. Put simply, African Greys need cages that are constructed exclusively for them. They will not survive or cope very well if their cage doesn’t suit their behavior and play requirements. In order to really understand why African Greys need unique cages, you’d need to know a little more about their behavior.


Why African Greys need special cages

African Greys are large birds. If you own a Timneh African Grey, you’d need a smaller cage than would otherwise be required for a Congo African Grey parrot. This is because Timnehs are smaller than Congos. However, African Greys are generally very sensitive birds that are very keen on having the right surroundings.

Apart from being quite large, African Greys are also very playful. They remain active most of the time they’re awake and they spend most of their time playing in their cage or strolling around restlessly. If you see them strolling around restlessly, it’s a sign that you have to let them out for a while.

An ideal African Grey parrot cage must:

- be two and a half times larger than the bird and allow free movement.

- have swings, perches and other play equipment.

- not have sharp edges or weld points against which the birds can rub.

- have attachments inside that can be fitted with interchangeable chew toys.

Although it is ideal to let your African Grey parrot play outside its cage in a special play area, most times it’s neither practical nor is it convenient. In today’s fast paced lives most owners can’t let their African Greys out for more than a few hours at a time.

What should an African Grey parrot cage ideally be like?

It’s ideal to have most of the play material and equipment inside the cage so your parrot doesn’t get bored while it waits for you to come home. You can also consider cages that have fixed food/water bowls included in them so your parrot can be kept fed even if you’re out for a longer time than usual. The little things in its cage are what keeps an African Grey really happy.

There are various kinds of cages you can find in the market place. Some cages look like standard cages with basic attachments. Most African Grey cages however, have play tools and equipment inside them. There are even quite elaborate cages that are large and include special play areas both inside and outside of them. These are usually the most expensive African Grey cages you will come across.

Also, buy a cage with bars that are smaller than your parrots head. You wouldn’t want your African Grey getting stuck between the bars. If you’re in doubt, you can ask the pet shop owner about which African Grey parrot cage will best suit your bird.

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