On adopting an African Grey

[anwc.adam]

I am planning to adopt an African Grey through a local rescue or from a craigslist poster. Should I be looking for a bird who is younger, or will age not make a difference? You see, there are Greys ranging from age 2 to 21 and I am not sure who I should go for. Do I want to try and skip adolescence?

[cml]

I am planning to adopt an African Grey through a local rescue or from a craigslist poster. Should I be looking for a bird who is younger, or will age not make a difference? You see, there are Greys ranging from age 2 to 21 and I am not sure who I should go for. Do I want to try and skip adolescence?

Yes, with an adult bird that has gone through sexual maturity, you have a situation closer to "what you see is what you get". I realise that you might not get enough time to spend with a potential rescue to know what you are getting though .

Age will not be a problem with regards to training and taming, it will work fine either way. What it comes down to is you being persistant, consistent, and actually working your ass off! It's worth it though, trust me .

[Pajarita]

Well, actually, at 2 years of age, you would have no problem with a gray because this is the age they leave their parents in the wild and go looking for a mate so the problem is with the human that has the parental role, which is the person who owned the bird before. You, on the other hand, as a brand new human, would take on the role of flock mate so you should not have the same problem the previous owner has (they reject the 'parent' human but they never have the same issues with the new human).

[thelonelysnake]

Is it a guarantee that the Grey will reject the "parent" human? Im getting a young one in a few weeks and this is a big worry for me. I dont mind if Im not the "favorite person", but I would like to still be able to have a bond with the bird. I have gotten so many mixed answers on this question and it still makes me really nervous. Is it possible to still have a relationship with the bird after it starts maturing and "leaving the parents" so to speak? If so, what would the best way to go about maintaining a bond with the bird once it has started growing up? Lots of fun trick training and petting and playtime for the bird?

[Pajarita]

When it comes to parrots, there are no guarantees but the 'terrible twos' of the grays is one of those things that everybody goes through - at least, if there was a gray that didn't go through them, I've never heard of... It's part of their biological clock and while other species would remain with their family (like female quakers, for example), grays would leave it to search for a mate.

Now, as far as I know, they all go through it but lots and lots of owners don't get rid of their birds and just wait it out. There is a percentage that feels betrayed by the bird's rejection of them and aggression and who cannot seem to 'weather' it so they find the bird another home which takes care of the problem as if by magic because that was precisely what the bird wanted in the first place.

Now, 'weathering' it doesn't seem to be affected by games, training or any other activity, diet, schedule or anything in particular. It's just a matter of time. If you wait it out long enough, the bird apparently resigns itself to the situation and slowly begins to accept you again. Or not. The people who end up rehoming them say the bird would no longer accept them no matter what they did or how long they waited for him and that, due to their aggression, they couldn't take it out of the cage so the bird's quality of life was not acceptable (this is also a very common time for them to start plucking, too). But I don't know if this is true or not, one doesn't know when one reads something online how accurate and objective the statement is... I have no way of judging this phenomenon from personal experience because all my birds came to me as adults.

[GreenWing]

I originally found my Grey online, but later found her at a parrot shop where rescues/rehomes are sold. Her age is approximately 5 to 8 years of age. She is past the sexual maturity/terrible twos phase, which is nice.

My recommendation is to continue to visit the Grey(s) you're interested in and see if you "click" with any of them. It took a few weeks of visiting my Grey at the shop to really bond with her, and become friends. At first she was shy and wouldn't let me handle her... but becoming a familiar presence that spent time playing with her (and giving her juice!) made all the difference, and I became one of the very few she'd step-up for and handle. The clerks noticed this change with her, and I had to adopt

One of the things the Avian vet told me is that unfortunately, a lot of Greys don't make it past 30 years of age. This could be because of insufficient diet/lack of flight.

I will say that owning a Grey is an experience like no other... it is like living with a feathered toddler, complete with vocabulary (well, if the Grey talks, as not all do). Greys are incredibly intelligent but they can be really demanding (well, at least my Grey is... she is like a drill sergeant sometimes when she wants her way). They are also dusty so you'll need an air purifier.

Also, my Grey prefers me but she also likes my partner and lets him handle her, as well - a first, as she was known to hate men. All Greys are different but she had some good socialization while at the pet shop. She prefers me probably because I feed her and spend the most time with her - but this is speculation. Before I adopted her it was said she was a "girl's parrot" as she preferred female humans. Greys are known to gender discriminate but, again, this isn't always so as she likes my partner.

The male Grey that I really liked, though, did not like men whatsoever as he wanted all the ladies to himself. So, it really just depends on the bird...

[Pajarita]

I think he was talking about buying a baby, not adopting.