African Grey Parrot

Congratulations!  The African Grey is one of the most talented birds of the parrot family  .  The bird you are purchasing from Wonder Sea Fish is about 10  - 12 weeks old.  They are not wild caught birds.  They have been captive bred by a renowned breeder in South Africa.  The bird has a closed metal band on one of its feet with details indicating the year of birth, initials of the Aviary and a serial number.  The bird has been vaccinated and medically checked for all types of Bird and Aviary diseases.

                         The unique ID number of your Parrot is: V.V.02-02-00

           It can be seen on the parrot’s ring. Date of birth of your parrot is: 01.01.2000

Take the bird home preferably in a cage or box.  Avoid disturbing the bird during its journey.  Select an area in the house that is clean and is free from Air-conditioning draft.  A climbing tree or in perch close proximity to cage will keep the bird in a natural and allow it to exercise.

  Always approach the cage slowly.  Do not shout Allow the bird to get used to its new surroundings.

N       FEEDING -Important – Things not to feed the African Grey

  Never feed your bird avocado pear, never feed your bird chocolates, and feed peanuts very sparingly sometimes it contains toxic substances and in any case it is not good for the birds feathers.   Do not feed oily or fatty foods or food, which is very sweet or salty.  Never leave soft food for more then 10 hrs in the cages to eat.  Soft food can be harmful when old and moldy.   Do not feed only the food the bird likes.  Birds need a balanced diet to stay healthy.

  ·         WHAT TO FEED:- A mixed seed mixture

  Many commercial mixtures are available containing sunflower and other mixed seeds & pellets.  This can be fed on a daily basis but make sure that the birds do not eat selectively and leave the other food.  Always keep this food dry, as moist food can grow moulds which is harmful to the birds and potentially dangerous.

·         A BALANCED NUTRIENT DIET

This normally takes the form of pellets of course and is a dry meal.  There are many brands on the market and stocked by Pet shop or chain stores.  Always make sure this food is fresh (it should have a date of manufacture on the packet and can last up to 6 months) this type of food is very important as it contains all the necessary vitamins, minerals, and trace elements in the right proportion.  Never add any vitamins etc to these mixture as it may cause imbalances to the different vitamins etc.

·         FOOD OFF THE TABLE

Your bird can live just as well with food off the table but then you will have to add vitamins, minerals, and trace elements occasionally most of the food people eat is acceptable to the birds.  But avoid fatty or oily food; avoid salty or sweet food in excess.  Food such as boiled rice, maize green beans, green peas, boiled potato carrots boiled or raw, toasted bread (without butter or fat) hard-boiled egg is also very good for birds.  To this food you can occasionally add multi vitamins etc.  in the food already.

·         VEGETABLES AND FRUIT IN SEASON

  All types of fresh vegetables and fruit but never avocado pear. Carrots, spinage, green pepper, red pepper chili’s apricots, pear, guavas, grapes, paw-paw, oranges, melon etc etc.  Do not over do the fruit and the vegetables as this may cause loose dropping etc.

  ·         TITBITS :-  such as small pieces of cheese , chicken breast, meat bone (no fat) but do not overdo this ( fish steamed or boiled is also good )

·         GENERAL TIPS ON FEEDING

  Start the first food for the bird in the morning a slice of Apple, or Guava, or Papaya, plum chopped in say ½ cm pieces. You can also add if available a fresh red chilly (not the dried variety).   The afternoon feed can consist of a some boiled vegetable and rice or pasta.  Alternatively you can also soak overnight, say 25grm of mixed Lentils such a red kidney beans, white & green peas, channa as available in the local super market. Boil for about an hour, cool well and then feed the bird. Evening  / night feed a mixture of Sunflower and other seeds.

·         FOOD & WATER BOWLS: - Must be scrubbed clean every day to avoid fungus and germs breeding.

·         VITAMINS: - The African Grey needs vitamins and other supplements to keep it healthy like ACIDO PHILUS put 3-4 drops in the birds drinking water 3 – 4 time a week.

·         GENERAL CARE: -If you stick to the above you should have no problem in raising these birds very successfully. Remember these birds need a lot of attention the more attention you give them, the more pleasure you will get from them.  People will tell you that if a bird plucks his feathers it is because of a vitamin deficiency, our experience are it is because of stress or boredom.  Do not make drastic changes to the bird’s way of living as this may put it under extreme stress and could lead to feather plucking.

  A bird like a bath so gives it the opportunity to bath in a reasonably big dish with water that is not too cold.  You can also spray it occasionally with water containing a special shampoo or conditioner

  ¨       TALKING TECHNIQUES: - Start by repeating the name you have chosen for your pet.  Every time you enter the room, say  “ HELLO” (WITH THE NAME) for example.  It is important to capture the parrot’s attention for training purposes.  Similarly, when you first draw the curtains or blinds in the morning, you can repeat “GOODMORNING OR SABA AL KHAIR’’ along with bird name.  The activity, combined with your presence, should help the parrot to learn this simple phrase quite rapidly.

  When you are teaching your pet, try to avoid obvious distractions in the room such as the presence of a dog, as this is likely to upset your bird’s power of concentration.  Grey parrots, although talented mimics, are often shy, and so may refuse to respond if their routine is disturbed.  For this reason they are not always good at performing in front of strangers.

  Grey’s will also learn to whistle simple tunes quite easily, probably because whistling is similar to the sounds of their natural call notes. You can use either pre-recorded cassette tapes or records to reinforce the teaching periods.  Indeed, if you have to leave your parrot alone for much of the day, give it the companionship provided by your voice on tape or a radio. 

  ·         TAMING: - Part of the pleasure of keeping a pet parrot, especially a Grey, is the companionship which can result from having a tame bird, aside form its powers of mimicry.  If you start with a hand – raised youngster, such as the one you purchased from us, you can be certain that it will already be tame and relatively fearless.  It is than a matter of encouraging these traits, before you let the parrot out into the room.  You will need to be able to pick the bird easily within the home, rather than having it flying around freely, and proving almost impossible to catch.

  The first step is to persuade the parrot to perch on your hand in the cage.  This can be accomplished quite easily by positioning your hand horizontally against the perch, and then gradually moving it over the top. Touching the parrot’s toes as necessary.  It is vital to move slowly and deliberately at all times, so as not to frighten the bird.  By gently prying the parrot’s toes off the perch with your fingers.

  Once you have accomplished this stage, be certain to give the parrot a reward, such as a piece of fruit.  Repeat the technique until the bird has no hesitation in perching on your hand from the cage, encouraging the bird to follow you through the opening.  This part is trickier, especially if the door is relatively small.  If necessary, you may be able to entice your pet to come out by offering a favorite titbit of fruit.  Always try to encourage the parrot to take such items by hand, even through the sides of the cage, as again, this will reinforce the bond between you and the bird.  Only if such items are refused after five minutes or so should you leave them, to see if the parrot will eat them by itself.  Once the parrot leaves its cage readily and perches on your arm, you have a tamed pet.

                    All the best, have nice time with your African Grey Parrot

 Prepared by

H.E.F Antwerpen

A.V. AVIARIES.

SOUTH AFRICA