African Grey

[Xanic]

Seems like a very frustrating search but I'm looking for an African Grey, Timneh specifically. Seems there are an abundance of frauds out and about, looking to avoid that. Regardless of age of the bird, if anyone has any information on where such a bird can possibly be found, would be greatly appreciated. Respectable breeders would be preferred.

Regards

 

[ravvlet]

If you are in the PNW, Denise’s Parrot Place can get greys (both timneh and congo), but they won’t get them unless you can put down a deposit for 1/2 the total price of the bird, and last I checked they asked $8,000 for a CAG.

I know that’s a lot; parrot prices in the Seattle area have been soaring recently though.

 

[Xanic]

@ravvlet Thank you for the response! With their adoption policy of 3 visits, compounded with a 2,201 miles from my front door, probably not a good idea. African Greys are now a special order from them, which is the reason for the markup. It's a decent amount more expensive than some of the other legit sites I've found (few and far between).

I still hope for more recommendations.

Regards

 

[ravvlet]

@ravvlet Thank you for the response! With their adoption policy of 3 visits, compounded with a 2,201 miles from my front door, probably not a good idea. African Greys are now a special order from them, which is the reason for the markup. It's a decent amount more expensive than some of the other legit sites I've found (few and far between).

I still hope for more recommendations.

Regards

The visitation requirement is because parrots are a sensitive and complicated animal to live with, and to deter unexperienced owners. The same can be said of the price mark up. They get a lot of people asking about African greys due to their reputation for being very intelligent and excellent talkers and often times it’s from folks who have no hands on parrot experience.

Our other local parrot store who also takes in rescues has three resident greys who all pluck and have serious behavioral problems due to mismanagement of care. It’s not a species for the faint of heart and frankly I have visited our dusky conure we are getting from them more than ten times and we haven’t taken him or her home yet (soon!).

 

[Xanic]

No issues with visitations, at all. I'm not sure minimum 3 is enough to begin with! The 4,000 mile round trip is the issue. If I'd fly there and stay until visitations were complete then I'd most likely spend half as much as for the bird itself. That makes the bird 12,000. Think I'll just continue to be patient and wait for something a little closer to home.

Regards

 

[wrench13]

Scams abound with any high ticket item - try buying a legitimate vintage musical instrument, the amount of fraud and plain old forgery is ludicrous. Do your leg work, try alternate ways to locate your target species, use common sense in any monetary transaction and be prepared to wait! Good Luck!

 

[ravvlet]

No issues with visitations, at all. I'm not sure minimum 3 is enough to begin with! The 4,000 mile round trip is the issue. If I'd fly there and stay until visitations were complete then I'd most likely spend half as much as for the bird itself. That makes the bird 12,000. Think I'll just continue to be patient and wait for something a little closer to home.

Regards

Haha, that’s fair. I suspect prices may also be a lot lower if you’re not in a major metro area, but that also means exotics of a specific species are harder to find! Best of luck. Have you tried reaching out to any avian vets in your area? They often know of breeders etc as they’ll service their birds.

 

[ravvlet]

Are you in Louisiana by any chance? That’s where I’m originally from and it’s about that far from Seattle. I know there was a timneh grey breeder down there about 17 years ago as I had gotten a rescued timneh who was bred down there. It’s entirely possible they’re no longer active, but someone might still have their birds and be breeding them.

 

[Xanic]

@ Terry57 I have tried local aviary vets with no luck.

@ racket I’m in Indiana, well, was until about 6 hours ago.

On a mission atm the moment. Will update tomorrow, good or bad. I trust this will be good though. Cya in about 24 hours

 

[onamom]

@ Terry57 I have tried local aviary vets with no luck.

@ racket I’m in Indiana, well, was until about 6 hours ago.

On a mission atm the moment. Will update tomorrow, good or bad. I trust this will be good though. Cya in about 24 hours

I'm in Indiana. I could ask my local bird store for you if you'd like. They probably have some connections in the area.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I'm in Indiana. I could ask my local bird store for you if you'd like. They probably have some connections in the area.

It would seem to me that there would be a lot of greys at rescues/shelters since many people find them difficult to handle and lose Interest in trying. I don't know about Timneh greys. They aren't as common here as Congos but I hear they make "better" companion birds. Perhaps the greys from rescues are too far gone emotionally to adopt out. Baby Greys are VERY expensive. I wish you luck in finding one to give a new lease on life like saxguy64 did when he found Avery.
Even though breeding greys would appear to be very profitable few breeders are doing it. Maybe greys are hard to breed. If it was easy you would think breeders would jump on it for up to $8,000 a chick vs $800 for a GCC which seems to breed like bunny rabbits. (I love GCCs). Handfeeding a baby parrot to weaning age (except for the largest macaws) only takes a few months of intensive work and baby parrots are so incredibly cute that I hardly look at the process as a chore! Selling baby greys would seem easy since there are so few available and they're so desirable.
BUT- Part of me is happy greys aren't being bred much. Very few people are truly prepared for the commitment of owning them and so many fail, condemning the poor birds to miserable lives.

If a trip to southern California is not too difficult the bird expos held there are great places to shop for parrots because breeders set up booths. I bought a beautiful baby Goffin's cockatoo at one many years ago. At the very least a connection can be made. Always attend the first day because the most desirable birds sell first. I'm sure Florida also has big bird expos. Just google Bird Expo for dates.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Seems like a very frustrating search but I'm looking for an African Grey, Timneh specifically. Seems there are an abundance of frauds out and about, looking to avoid that. Regardless of age of the bird, if anyone has any information on where such a bird can possibly be found, would be greatly appreciated. Respectable breeders would be preferred.

Regards

In fact there are many Exotic Bird Expo shows scheduled between now and the end of the year in the west coast and Las Vegas. Even if you don't acquire a Grey at one they are a lot of fun.

 

[Tinabell]

Seems like a very frustrating search but I'm looking for an African Grey, Timneh specifically. Seems there are an abundance of frauds out and about, looking to avoid that. Regardless of age of the bird, if anyone has any information on where such a bird can possibly be found, would be greatly appreciated. Respectable breeders would be preferred.

Regards

I sent a pm

 

[Xanic]

Well it seems the luck was good. The gentleman Jean Pattison connected me with had Timneh African Greys, x 2. So, I proudly have a new avian partner.

The better news, I will get the other on Monday (the bank was already closed by the time of appointment Saturday, needed them to extend daily limit). So, grabbed a couple days at a hotel to wait until Monday.

She’s spent the past 4+ hours flying between the mrs, me and the brand new perch. Very tame and social bird! But doesn’t seem to like bedtime, threw a little fit as was putting her in cage.

 

[ravvlet]

Congratulations!

 

[texsize]

That’s fantastic, glad your search was successful.
gives hope to other perspective parrents.

 

[JinPicaJest]

Congratulations an the new flock members! Beautiful bird. I love Timnehs.

 

[Xanic]

Anyone have suggestions for an African Grey bird cage, with space for 2? I had an eye one from a local pet store with plenty of space but turns out it is used and not in a good location in store, not well taken care of and quite dirty. No chance

Looking on Amazon now at one with height of 63 inches and another of 68.5 and the company is Yaweetech. Any suggestions with something better would be helpful

Regards

 

[Xanic]

A little ornery at times but great girls!

 

[DonnaBudgie]

Anyone have suggestions for an African Grey bird cage, with space for 2? I had an eye one from a local pet store with plenty of space but turns out it is used and not in a good location in store, not well taken care of and quite dirty. No chance

Looking on Amazon now at one with height of 63 inches and another of 68.5 and the company is Yaweetech. Any suggestions with something better would be helpful

Regards

How wide are these cages? You may want to get one that has a center divider in case the girls decide to squabble. You know how girls can be when they have to share a bedroom.