Bryce
New member
I had been planning to wait a while longer before getting one, but I had definitely made up my mind to do so and an excellent opportunity suddenly arose.
Anyway, I got a 16 year old female CAG, Ruby. Her previous owners bought her as a baby from a pet store.
Currently she is on a seed mix diet, which she mostly picks the seeds out of. So that's going to have to change. I've got some parrot pellets to gradually transition her to, and some fresh fruits and veg to try.
I'm going to keep learning about African Greys. I'd been reading about them some since they were on my species shortlist (at the top, as of last Saturday), but there's a lot more to learn.
So far she's been great... she made just enough noise during the trip home that I didn't worry she'd died or something. Mostly smartphone beeps, and she has already learned the beep my GPS makes!
The books had prepared me for a rough time getting her out of the carrier and into her cage, but no, she took like forty seconds to come out without any encouragement beyond opening the door. She then said, clear as day, "Hello!"
Within minutes she was exploring her cage, climbing on all the nice natural tree branches I put in there for her and eating the treats I'd stashed around. (Side note: you know you've cultivated a reputation for eccentricity when people see you loading tree branches into the oven and don't question it.) She made occasional beeping sounds but has otherwise been quiet, and seems to have gone to sleep when I turned the lights out.
I know it won't always be this smooth sailing, but here's hoping for many decades to come with Ruby.
Anyway, I got a 16 year old female CAG, Ruby. Her previous owners bought her as a baby from a pet store.
Currently she is on a seed mix diet, which she mostly picks the seeds out of. So that's going to have to change. I've got some parrot pellets to gradually transition her to, and some fresh fruits and veg to try.
I'm going to keep learning about African Greys. I'd been reading about them some since they were on my species shortlist (at the top, as of last Saturday), but there's a lot more to learn.
So far she's been great... she made just enough noise during the trip home that I didn't worry she'd died or something. Mostly smartphone beeps, and she has already learned the beep my GPS makes!
The books had prepared me for a rough time getting her out of the carrier and into her cage, but no, she took like forty seconds to come out without any encouragement beyond opening the door. She then said, clear as day, "Hello!"
Within minutes she was exploring her cage, climbing on all the nice natural tree branches I put in there for her and eating the treats I'd stashed around. (Side note: you know you've cultivated a reputation for eccentricity when people see you loading tree branches into the oven and don't question it.) She made occasional beeping sounds but has otherwise been quiet, and seems to have gone to sleep when I turned the lights out.
I know it won't always be this smooth sailing, but here's hoping for many decades to come with Ruby.