Getting my first african grey

Hi guys and girls

im getting my first CAG next week and i cant wait , i would just like to know all the ins and outs if i can . like are they really good talker and they really as smart as what i read they are , are they a lot to handle , are they noise ???
what am i in for ??? how easy is to train them and they good with kids ?? would they be the best parrot to own ??

thanks any help would be great

cant wait to get her

Hi Stephen and welcome
Will this be your first bird?
How old is the bird?
How old are your children?
Sorry for all the questions !!!!!!

They are definitely smart birds, please do remember they are a reflection of their guardian. In other words if you are prepared to spend hours training your bird, the rewards will be endless. Not all birds will talk, there is never a guarantee.
African Greys are high maintenance birds, requiring a lot of your time and patience. Be prepared to spend a large amount of quality time with your bird each and every day. African Greys' tend to choose one "person" and can become very protected over the chosen person.

Be prepared for a messy area where the bird will be placed, a lot of noise, early morning etc. Basically you will have a "child" around for many years to come.

With all that said......
I have an African Grey Mishka, male 5 years old.
Became his guardian when he was 6 weeks old.
We have the most incredible relationship, based on love and respect.
I spend 2 hours with him before work each day, and 3 hours after work, one of which is a training session.
Weekends we spend together 24/7.
He is extremely intelligent, has the ability to have an intelligent conversation with a human.

To sum it all up..........
Mishka is my best friend, my de-stresser, my 24/7 entertainment channel

I could not imagine my life without Mishka

well, they are not known for cuddling and do not like to be touched sometimes resulting in a little nip. Yes they can speak very well just speak in a clear voice not a baby voice or the bird will be harder to understand when he/she speaks.

African greys are mostly a 1 person bird meaning the bird will bond with only one person.

Yes they can be hard at times to handle but the biggest problem is there emotional problems such as phobias(fear of hand etc) so be careful and try not to reinforce biting in an African grey ether. Now I see you owned other parrots so only you can truly answer this question.

Here is a few tricks for your birds
Always train in 1 room and never train your bird else ware a quiet room works best!
AG like to be in the action so put your bird cage somewhere in the house where they will get alot of interaction.
Never yell at your bird when it screams you are giving him/her attention and will reinforce that behavior.
Potty training is actually easy when your bird is gonna go (shift in weight) go bring her over a garbage can or towel and give her a phrase such as bombs away or potty. This may take awhile and I don't recommend rewarding your bird with a treat when he goes potty because it may make them take longer to poop.

you have a electus which has a specific diet so I don't think food will be a problem

Also when you stoped your birds screaming he will find a alternative such as microwaves because they see you run towards and give the microwave"attention" greys will do this frequently so try to find a quiet way to let your bird know how to get attention.

greys need 2 hours of attention as well and training is a must but beware too much attention can be a bad thing(or is this only cockatoos? Someone can correct me)

also parrots in the wild will spend 50-70% of daylight to forage for food so purchase some forging toys too keep your bird occupied at home while your away, and if your bird does not play with a toy you can take a knife to it > but only small slits so that his head won't get stuck and put some treats in it to teach the bird to go through all of his toys because they might find some treats!

you have to arrange your parrots toys alot switching out old ones and putting in new ones, every week I think or every 3-4 days.

If your grey feather plucks it could mean that a variety of things like his environment,or boredom or lack of space or something else! Remember great parrot owners are relentless at fixing their parrots problems!!!!!

Oh and show your grey new experiences/shapes everyday trust me they will enjoy that.

well if your having second thoughts that is normal.

Okay I got more but here is my last one because i think you know the rest.
African grey CAN NOT BE in a moist warm room because they don't have the best defenses for yeast infections and other fungal infections. Good luck ps If i am wrong feel free to correct me i am just going by what I learned because I never owned a bird.

I've never had a gray, but I wish you the best of luck! I've heard they are highly intelligent birds, so perhaps read a bit about trick training to keep him/her busy!

"Remember great parrot owners are relentless at fixing their parrots problems"

I'm not so sure I agree with this statement. It kind of implies parrots have continual problems, which they do not with the proper care. The goal is more to be relentless about keeping them from developing problems in the first place when you get them as a juvenile, or from relapsing back to negative behaviors after you've adopted them. I know this is just some info you found online, so don't be offended or anything that I disagree a little

It is okay I never owned a bird and most likely will never but I would to to know as much as possible just in case someone in my area needs help. So I need some clarity on sone of this internet information.
Thanks kiwibird!

Helpthisgrey said:

It is okay I never owned a bird and most likely will never but I would to to know as much as possible just in case someone in my area needs help. So I need some clarity on sone of this internet information.
Thanks kiwibird!

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If you are not posting first hand experience, it's fine to mention the web site you are quoting. Much better to do that than pass along incorrect info. As an Eclectus owner, I see lots of things written by people who have never ever met, let alone owned an Eclectus that just are not true.

Along that line, I did have a Grey for a few years, but I'm not sure that what I saw with her was true Grey behavior, or just her behavior as an individual. I'm always willing to share stories about her, but I hate to generalize that I really "know" Greys based just on her. She had one heckofa vocabulary and could mimic any noise she heard including farts, burps, sighs, phones, hinges, etc. My Eclectus just talk. Well they make natural Eclectus sounds too of course.