Got new African Grey Approx 1 year old

[Wolf]

Right now, I would start trying to give your Alex some other fruits and vegetables other than just tomatoes. Parrots need to eat a wide variety of different fresh, raw vegetables and fruits in order to remain healthy, these foods provide the regular nutrients that we all think of but they also provide what are referred to as phytonutrients which aid in digestion of their food. Later, when you have him eating a larger variety of fresh raw produce, you will be able to reduce the seed mix that you are feeding twice a day to once a day.

Dowels are the totally round wood perches that are in the cage that you have in the pictures of Alex that you posted here. Perches that are totally round will eventually bruise the parrots feet and cause sores and even bone damage because when the parrot perches on them they always put pressure on the same place on the foot. For this reason perches made of natural tree wood with the bark left on are by far the best perches that you can have for your bird and you can often get the branches for free and make your own perches, They must be made from a wood that is safe for your bird. Here is a link that contains a listing of various things that are safe and toxic for your bird that you should copy and keep handy. It tells you safe and toxic woods, foods, plants and much more. http://www.parrot-and-conure-world.com/ ... birds.html
By the way that is not a parrot cage. The bars on a parrot cage will run horizontally on at least two of the sides of the cage. The horizontal bars are better for them to climb around on.

[mustafarangoon]

Nice to hear from you wolf. Can you please do me a favour? Please provide me a link of dowels you are talking about. Any online store link would work (amazon, Ebay etc etc). Here in mumbai these people doesnt have much toys or dowels etc. Today also i went to Crawford Market to buy dowels and toys but they dont even have those. When i see online then i get mad there is alot...I think your exprience can help me to get the good one. I would also appriciate if you suggest me foraging food toys...I have looked in amazon and have ordered 3 layer round screw type and one crystal round shape forage.

[Pajarita]

I don't know, Paj, the tail looks like it might be dark edged. Those grey eyes look like the eyes of our 18-month-old.

They look to have a yellow tinge to them already, John, but you might be right and the bird might be around 18 months old. But, in any case, even if it's 18 months old, it's still not a baby.

[Pajarita]

Nice to hear from you wolf. Can you please do me a favour? Please provide me a link of dowels you are talking about. Any online store link would work (amazon, Ebay etc etc). Here in mumbai these people doesnt have much toys or dowels etc. Today also i went to Crawford Market to buy dowels and toys but they dont even have those. When i see online then i get mad there is alot...I think your exprience can help me to get the good one. I would also appriciate if you suggest me foraging food toys...I have looked in amazon and have ordered 3 layer round screw type and one crystal round shape forage.

You don't need to buy perches, just look at the list that Wolf gave you of wood that is not good and get branches from trees that are not on the list, wash them carefully (try not to scrub the bark off) and bake them in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

And, if I were you, I would not worry about foraging toys yet. I would concentrate on switching the bird to a healthful diet first - that's going to be hard enough as it is without adding the foraging toy to the equation.

[mustafarangoon]

Recently i have shifted Perch to one block upper side...now the food plate is down side and he is not able to eat from perch so he comes down to eat. Is it ok?

[Pajarita]

Well, I feed my free flighted birds from paper plates and some of them are on the floor so, as long as he is eating from it, it's OK. But all my caged birds have their bowls up high so they don't end up pooping on the food and, taking into consideration that your bird has a cage too small for a gray, I would think that if you put it low, he will end up with poop in his food.

[Wolf]

You do not want dowels they are bad for your birds feet. Dowels are the round wooden perches that you already have in the cage, not good. Use the safe woods listed to make your own perches for your bird.

[mustafarangoon]

I was watching youtube channel and found out a video of DIY Perch from PVC here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6l3DkTOrls I was thingking to make such but in Big size PVC for my Grey. Is it ok? Or not?.

Also wanted to know what if i want to go for holiday? Can i go? I am alone at home and sometimes i need to go out for 2 days. what preparation i need?

[mustafarangoon]

Just now i cleaned alex beak. He was eating corn and it was all around his beak. I went in there and started cleaning his beak, he started showing biting signals but i waited for 2 mints and then tried ...He allowed me to clean it properly. I gave him his treat for good behavior.

[Navre]

PVC is kind of lousy for perches. The bird needs something it can chew, something that has an irregular shape.

You could have one PVC perch, but you need to have a multitude of different perches and sizes.


I make perches out of 2x4s and 2x3s every week. Regular kiln dried 2x3s should be safe. Don't use pressure treated.

I just cut it to length, grind off any printing on the wood, and use stainless steel hanger bolts, and stainless steel washers to attach the perch to the cage. It costs about $8 for the first one, and $3 for each replacement one, as the stainless steel hardware is reusable.

The wood is soft, so the birds will chew it into irregular shapes that are good for their feet. The chewing is good for them, too.