Are African Greys Apartment Birds?

[Wolf]

we may not be able to save the world as individuals, but sometimes we can help to make it a little brighter place for some. One little piece at a time. But cedardave is right only you can make the decision as to how to proceed and what to do.

[JaydeParrot]

Went to see the bird again, different situations occurred and I've now written a very long rant, (feel free to use the back button to escape this very long update ):

Went to see the bird 'again', I hadn't been for over two weeks, it looked quite suprised to see me.

It's primary feathers were near entirely gone, I couldn't tell whether that was from scissors or because it had chewed them up. It still wanted a scratch but seemed almost a little broken, it sat as close as it could to me, screamed if I tried to walk away, I'd stop go back to the cage and it would either turn it's head against the bars to ask for a stroke or just stare at me and refuse to be touched.

It was still growling at staff members and I gained another idea of why it might not like them. One of the young lads working there watched me walk away from the bird's cage to look at some of the seeds. The lad walked over to the cage and stuck his sleeve through the cage, I couldn't see the reaction but I think it was in the form of a nip, the lad gave a bit of a laugh then walked over to another grey's cage (which I could see properly), he stuck his sleeve through the cage which scared the bird causing it to flap it's wings quickly fall off it's perch and hit the floor, the lad laughed again muttering 'a bit scared'. I suddenly felt very protective, walked quickly back over to 'my' grey's cage and leaned against, putting my arm over the top so it was impossible for anyone else to get close to the grey inside the cage.

I continued to stroke the grey through the bars until a very authoritarian ten to twelve year old girl walked over and told me that I wasn't allowed to touch the bird. I rolled my eyes at the pint child muttering 'uh-huh' and continuing to give the bird a stroke, she told me I'd get in trouble. I sighed and told her that if you make friends with a bird it generally won't bite you, she stared at me and walked away.I moved around the other side of the cage and the bird followed me I continued to stroke it. The girl came back and poured some seeds (no idea where she got them from) through the cage, they hit the floor and disappeared through the grate, I gave the girl a confused look, she returned an emotionless look and walked away. I continued to stroke the grey, the girl then walked back with another handful of seeds and threw them over the cage hitting both me and the bird. I gave her a dark look muttering 'well that wasn't very nice' she quickly walked away and didn't come back. I couldn't tell whether she'd thrown the seeds to try and make friends with the bird or if it was a shaky attempt at trying to punish me for not doing what she'd said, either way, this happened in full view of a staff member (who was working at a till facing me) and the girl's mother and older sister who were waiting at the till, no one wanted to get involved.

After the girl walked away and I'd slightly scolded her, I realised that I was crying, feeling embarassed I looked at the floor and forced myself to calm down. I felt sick, I know what it's like to feel caged, have people repeatedly poke at you and try to get a reaction, it felt like I'd just watched and kind of allowed that to happen to someone else.

A forty to fifty year old man walked up to the bird later and smiled at me I returned the grin, he then repeatedly poked his finger into the cage laughing and saying, 'oh you nearly got me', he eventually walked away. A young kid, 7th grader also walked over to the cage and actually got bit, it wasn't bleeding but he looked like he felt the bite.

Other non-bird related incidents were kittens for sale, it's fairly rare here to see pet shops selling kittens or puppies, infact it's the first time I've ever seen it. It especially bothers me because unlike rabbits, birds and rodents, people can tell when a kitten or puppy is an adult and also generally do not want to buy an adult kitten or puppy... So what happens to the few unsold ones who age beyond their sell by date...

I was also slightly put off by the way parents would off-the-bat decide to buy one for their kids, a pet is an individual and should be a big decision which impacts upon your entire life, yet these people were putting less thought into buying a kitten than someone at a supermarket deciding to buy a reduced price chocolate gateux. The worse one was a father who stood at the till saying to his daughter 'so did you want a hamster or a kitten?' 'Kitten! kitten!' his daughter exclaimed 'you sure you don't want to choose hamster?' he asked 'your mom would probably be less annoyed with me'.

The girl was about five, they probably went there just to have a look, she must have spotted two different animals she liked and her dad couldn't say no. I remember being a little kid and wanting anything you set your eyes on (admittedly that still happens I just have better impulse control, lol), it's short lived and generally as soon as you have the object of your affections the excitement fades, I hope if that happens to whichever unfortunate pet was chosen for the five year old, the parents have the good sense to look after it themselves.

Anyway, that's my rant finished, if it wasn't for the bird I'd probably stop going, watching the ongoings of the pet shops just enrage me.

I want to buy him but a strange reason holds me back, I've heard of greys being the most likely bird to be nicked and I worry that getting him could cause me to get targeted, dunno how silly that sounds...

[Wolf]

I wish I knew how to reply to your rant, but I honestly don't.

[marie83]

Sorry Jaydeparrot, I really don't know what to say either.

It made me really sad, very angry at humanity in general amongst other things. It's made me want to go and get that grey for you although I wouldn't because its not my choice and that poor grey will only be replaced with another poor thing.
As for the kits/pups in petshops I've never seen it either, I know it happens a lot in other countries but although I knew a few shops do sell them it felt less real than the suffering of other pets in the trade. I guess realistically all the pups from puppy mills go somewhere though....

[Harpmaker]

Many people I don't understand. Some people I don't WANT to understand.

[Pajarita]

Look, I don't mean to be unkind but if you are not going to buy the gray, I wish you would stop going to visit him because an hour of good company every two weeks does more harm than good to the poor bird. I would imagine his heart breaks every time you leave and he feels even more abandoned and lonely than before so you are not doing him any favors.... especially if you antagonize the people who are there every single day -that stupid little girl might take her chagrin out on him.

[Victor]

I wonder if the bird did damage itself. If it was because you did not go back for two weeks. If that is true. I'd say the bird truly likes you. So if you get the bird or already have great. But if you choose not to get the bird. It may be best to cut off the friendship before potentially doing mental harm.

[JaydeParrot]

I really do want him but there's constant pros and cons of getting him. As I mentioned before, the main reason I worry about getting him is because I know greys are one of the most likely birds to be nicked and I worry that getting him may cause me to be targeted. I guess reading Parrots magazine monthly which has it's own section on nicked parrots doesn't help.

Still does anyone have tips to remedy this worry?

[Wolf]

I am assuming from your usage of the term "nicked" that it means stolen. The thing is that if someone is going to steal from you, there is really very little that you can do to stop them from doing that. There are things that you can do, however to aid in the recovery of stolen items and in the case of parrots having it microchipped is one of the best things you can do to be able to recover your bird should it be lost or stolen.
It must be a terrible thing to live in fear, fear of having things stolen, just being the tip of it. I am sorry, that you must go through that. I am also sorry that this fear keeps you from helping this bird, because I can tell that you want to. Fear really is a terrible burden to carry.

[Pajarita]

That's interesting... I've never been worried that anybody would steal one of my animals. I am VERY careful about everything that has to do with them (dogs go out to a backyard with a 6ft privacy fence all around, the gate has the regular lock AND a chain with a combination lock, downstairs windows have bars on them, etc) so it's not as if I am careless but things will happen no matter how much you worry or try to prevent them. There was a real bad storm once when I live in Pennsylvania and the wind knocked down a HUGE branch from a tree which hit one of the windows in the birdroom real hard, breaking the glass and everything and some of my birds got out: 3 budgies, 2 doves, 1 Senegal. I got the Senegal back the following morning but I never got back the budgies and doves. So, you see, no matter how careful you are, things will happen so it's no good living your entire life scared that something bad will happen. Life is too short for that (and this is advice from a cancer survivor!)