Advice Please: Looking at 2 Greys

[Karigan]

Hi,

My brother-in-law has always been a... compulsive buyer. He is up in Northern British Columbia, about 12 hours away by car, and he claims to have spent $8,000 on a pair of greys, a male and a female. He says that if my husband comes and gets them that they're ours free.

That said, could anyone take a look at these photos and tell me their opinions on the birds?

They share a cage, what is the best way of transporting them? I have a dog carrier that will fit them both, but it maybe a little too confined. We could put their current cage on its side and have them travel in the back seat thusly, but remember it's a 12 hour drive and I know from research the sensitive nature of greys.

I think they're congos, but aside from allegedly being a male and female, I don't know their relationship to each other; sibling, mated, etc... They are supposed to be four and a half years old.

I do have parrot experience. We have a ten year old Senegal who we love dearly, and our two cats don't bother her unless she's outside (we always supervise)

We were looking at getting a grey down the road, but is two more work than one? I know they can keep each other company, but is it more work then to keep them tame?

Bottom line is that if this gift is legit, that knowing his temporary life style, that he would eventually get rid of the birds anyway, and I know that if they came home with us that they would be offered a good, permanent home.

I would really appreciate any help you all could offer.

-Karigan

 

[Mayden]

Ouch, a twelve hour drive.

Personally, I'd invest in two seperate travel cages. You don't want them to have too much space in case of an accident and two cages means they can't attack out of fear at each other and have their own space etc.

We'd love to add a grey to our flock. (They're congo's by the way!)

Having two birds is always more of a handful and if you spend enough time then I'm sure you'll do fine. Grey's arnt known for being the most cuddly of birds, so I'm sure it'll work out fine anyway

 

[sonja]

They are beautiful, and yes, I agree they are congos. Is $8000 the going rate in Canada? That seems really, really high compared to US pricing.

That cage also looks small to me for 2 greys.

But, they are beauties, so if it is something you want to do, I'd say go for it!

 

[Davinchi]

Wow. $8000 seems a large sum of money to pay for two greys.

 

[Karigan]

It is, but its hard to get things at the north end of bc. Its snowy there 9 months of the year
. It also includes cage, books etc... usual cost is $1000-2000 a bird. The south here we only see wnow 2-3 months with 100 degree summers.

 

[Wulfgeist]

I definately second getting a second cage. It's hard to tell by the pictures but it appears their eyes are still silvery. From what I've read their eyes turn straw colour between 2 and 3 years of age. Mine is only 9 months so I can't state that as a fact.

That is a long drive but heck I'd probably do it if it were me. Greys are incredible companions.

 

[PortaPerch]

They look like a great pair.

Before I transported them, I would get their flight feathers trimmed. You never know what can happen on a trip. You would spend at least one night in a motel, right? For that it's better to have two smaller cages. The one we use for travel was on the order of $30 from Petco. We added a softwood grid with tie-wraps. Greybeard has traveled about 8K miles on top, and he has seldom fallen.

Ignore this 2007 date: it was 22 Jul 2012.

 

[Karigan]

They're suposedly 4 1/2 years old, making me think they're siblings. We'll drive day one, sleep, and pick up the birds and drive back down day two.

 

[4theBirds]

They look beautiful. I'm glad that they will have a good home. They will take a lot of time. I agree they each need their own cage. How much time will they be spending out of the cage? Make sure they have plenty of toys. When it comes to parrots, they are the most intelligent and require a lot of entertainment, both with you and by themselves. LOL

 

[Karigan]

Hopefully about three hours a day min out of cage with an hour of direct interaction.

 

[4theBirds]

Hopefully about three hours a day min out of cage with an hour of direct interaction.

That's a great start -- I can tell you that our two take a bit more, especially to avoid jealousy. Even though, Babu is mainly my bird and Bindi's my wife's, they demand "equal time." It's tough with the 12 dogs, who have to be "quarantined" when the birds are out. We have baby gates and a big yard. What is even better...my wife is a professional freelance writer, who works at home. She can spend some quality time with our babies. I get them before I go to work...Bindi and Babu come out "to make and have coffee" when I get ready for work. Then there's evening time, before we go to bed and the dogs go out.

 

[Karigan]

I'm thinking I'm going to name the male "Teo", which means gift, but I'm still thinking of girl names. Perhaps "Thea"?