Enjoying and training your African grey parrot

To enjoy and train your African Grey Parrot you will need lots of information. When you first bring him home there will be a period of adjustment for both you and him. He can really get attached to one special person in the house if you don't share him with all the family. If you don't get him aware of others in the family he will be very possessive of just you and will actual dislike others and will growl when they are near. Try to get others to help with his care such as cleaning his cage and above all playing and talking to him.

If you don't pay much attention to him and just take care of his needs he will get very noisy as this is his manner of trying to get more attention. He can become a screamer and once he starts this action you may not be able to change him. You will need to spend at least an hour a day with him, playing with him and just giving him attention. I always leave the radio on when I leave, sometimes on a talk radio program so that he will hear voices and not be lonely.

Don't be surprised if your African Gray is very vocal early in the morning at the first sign of the sun and also in the evening after the sun goes down. He may even be very vocal when you leave the room.

You can discipline your parrot by telling him no very firmly. He will associate no with doing something wrong. He will actually have temper tantrums and when this happens I just ignore him for about ten minutes or so then come back and gently talk to him. He can learn to associate your leaving when he pulls these little tantrums and realize this is not a good thing to do. When you get really used to his manner of behavior you will recognize each scream for what he seems to be communicating to you. You might even cover his cage when he is behaving badly and he will learn the cage will be covered when he screams or is behaving badly.

This type of parrot can speak better than any other parrot and has such abilities as talking, singing and whistling. I would suggest your only having one African Grey as he is more apt to say more words and talk more as he will bond with you instead of having other birds in the room or in his cage area. They are known not to talk hardly at all until around seven months and some don't talk till after they are a year old, so don't panic if your parrot doesn't talk right away.

I always start with saying his name and eventually he will begin to say it also, or perhaps a phrase that is said very slowly. Every morning when I uncover his cage I say, "Good Morning" and at night I tell him, "Good Night" and I hear him tell me the same words after I say them. Do be careful and watch your language in front of him as he might pick up on these words you don't want him to learn and you may never get him to stop saying them.

In training my bird I only train for about fifteen minutes at a time so that he won't get tired. I always look directly at him so that he can fully understand what I am saying to him. It is best to keep the area very quiet while you are attempting to train him as his attention will be on movement or noise in the room instead of on you. Be very patient, this training isn't done in a day or even two, it takes awhile but your patience will pay off when your bird is learning new words and phrases.

Sometimes even before the bird starts to say words he will mimic many sounds in the household such as the sound of a hammer or the dishwasher humming as it washes. He will try to mimic you most of all and may even eat his breakfast while you are eating yours. You will be amazed at the intelligence of your bird.

I have also used a tape recorder to train my African Grey Parrot with words I would like him to learn. I say them over and over on the tape but I don't play the tapes very often as he can become bored with hearing them. He much prefers to have me talk directly to him as he loves the attention I give to him. I also have a ledger book in which I keep a log of the date when he says a new phrase or word. Sometimes my husband will talk to him also and try to train him to say new words and he also enters this information in the log book. It is a good idea to put the person's name who trained him to say new words. There are tapes you might buy and try but I have had little success with them. I much prefer to train him with my own voice.

I have found over the years when raising each new African Grey Parrot that if I show him a lot of love and attention and care for him and keep him healthy that I receive so much love in return and so much enjoyment from my bird. Others are often amazed at the words he says and his actions but this is only possible through my love and attention.