Training an African Grey to talk ...

[Amanda]

I just read an article from a breeder and it's quite disturbing. I wonder if this breeder is advising people who buy African Greys from them not to let the bird out of the cage often. Here is what the breeder says in their website ...

"The main reason which prevents African Grey from talking is allowing them to have too much freedom. A. Greys - quite often only talk well if they are kept in their cages most of the time give them too much freedom and they will not talk. If your bird does not make any noise at all even when kept in a cage most of the time then it may mean that it is like that by nature, it does not mean it's unhappy."

I can't believe they would give this sort of advice to their customers!

http://www.eggsoticparroting.com/eggsotic_001.htm
This is their website. If you go there, click on "species pricing" then scroll down to "African Grey's". Click on the link to "photos" and you'll see the above advice.

it is very easy to teach a african grey you just do what you do to any parrot.

1.say the word regularily at any time a day that you choose
2. do not speak like a parrot try to speak clear because the more clear they hear you speak the more clear they will speak.(they mimic)
3. while teaching the parrot put a blanket over the cage.(it works)
4.if you do not feel like talking that much or dont feel like teaching it because you are busy say the word on a tape recorder and play it while the blanket is over the cage.


you should do this daily for 4-5 hours and he should talk.


good luck!

[birdgirl]

it makes me mad that some people think that, that and parrots don't need to talk if you really love them

[jackie]

omg...i thought you must me kidding when i saw your post...i went to the site though, and it's outragous

[Shockadine]

It bothers me that a someone would incourage people keep African Greys in there cage. Such intelligent animals shouldn't be locked up all the time, or any animal for that matter. I don't find that statement to be true either from personal experience with my grey. She is only 11 months old, and doesn't talk just yet, but I noticed that the only time she mumbles and whistles and tries to talk are when she is on her tee stand in the living room with us. She gets very happy about being out with us, and thats when she wants to talk(or try to talk).

[Shockadine]

I got really upset about this, and told my mom about it just now. She also agreed with me about how it doesn't seem right. She brought up a friend of hers who also has a Timneh Grey. She doesn't take her bird out very much, which is another sad story, and her bird doesn't talk well and only says about 8 things. Not to mention it plucked all it's feathers out. I always tell my mom to ask her if she wants to sell the bird to us. My mom says we don't have room for another large bird cage. I guess I'll have to try when I move out. I don't care if it doesn't talk well. I don't care if my grey ever learns to talk. A parrot shouldn't have to live that way.

[Mrs.Birdy]

What sad advice....no parrot...from budgie to macaw should be kept constantly in their cage. They need their freedom to be happy. When a parrot is happy, they may talk. Some don't talk by nature, but it doesn't mean they are unintelligent. Some are very expressive in different ways (tweeting, whistling, cooing and their body language).

A parrot that doesn't talk doesn't mean it is unintellilgent. Let's not base their value on their talking ability.

Keep your birds out of their cages as much as you can during the day....whether on top of their cages, on playstands, or free flighted if you can. It is their inherent nature to feel they are "flying" or "free".

How would we like to be caged 24/7 and lose our freedom.

Well enough said....this is one of my pet peeves.

very true parrots deserve a lot more freedom from humans they should be allowd to fly around and stretch their wings.

i personally do not like to clip my parrots flight feathers because you are taking away what makes them diffrent from us, their ability to fly.

that sounds very true this stuff can happen
i will remember this thank you for that fact

[Amanda]

I was very distrubed upon reading that advice from a breeder! All I keep thinking about now are all the baby greys he has sold and hope their new owners knew better than to listen to that advice!

My birds are not out all day but on my days off school (during exams) or on weekends, they are out all day. Most days they are out only 3-4 hours ... and for me, that's not even enough. I make up for it by spending a lot of "quality" time where I am actively interacting with them for most of the 3-4 hours they are out.

Anyway, I considered sending an email to that breeder but am not sure if I should ...

Every one that disagrees with that advice should click on the 'email us' at the bottom of there home page and let them know what you think of the 'advice'.

I agree- we should all e-mail the guy. If even five people wrote him within a few days about that, maybe he'd at least think about what he's advising people a little bit! That really makes me sad to hear that.

This is our reply to the only e-mail we have received concerning the article:-

We are sorry that you are not happy with the advice given in the article, but we feel that this is mostly through misunderstanding.

When we sold hand reared African Grey and other parrots we would always give an information pack to the new owners and spend quality time talking about the needs of the new member to their family. We always recommended a large cage with ample room for the bird, and toys for stimulation which we recommended to be used in rotation. Rotation of the toys alleviates boredom. Of course there should be a ready supply of fresh food and water. We found that birds responded to a secure and safe environment which was solely their own area. However, if you check our pages throughout the site you will see that we also advocate free flying and quality time with your birds outside of their cages. We do not believe that parrots should be left to roam freely around a house environment with its many *hidden dangers. Would you leave a baby alone? We believe that parrots are just as dependant on our supervision during their play and fun times out of the cage. Their times out of the cage should also be a time of bonding between yourselves and the parrots.

Parrots that are cared for in the above way generally are good talkers, because their owners spend quality times with their birds. Leaving a bird out for long periods of time means the bird will be unattended for a large amount of that time, the bird will NOT be getting quality time during that time, quality time is a time of close sharing and contact. To much unattended time out will encourage the bird back to its wild tendencies which is great for breeding, but many people buy pet parrots with a high expectancy that they will be good companions and talkers. Of course, all parrots are different, but we have to advise what is best for most parrots and owners.

An article from the expert advise section of Bird Keeper May 1996 in answer to a question from an African Grey owner who wondered why their African Grey did not talk, states:
"I think the reason why it is quiet is because it has so much freedom. Greys - quite often only talk well if they are kept in their cages most of the time."
We will be placing a link to the full article on the African Grey article page.

Please note our article does not say keep an African Grey in it's cage to make it talk. It simply states that a possible cause for an African Grey not talking is because it has too much freedom. This article about African Grey parrots does not suggest they should be kept in cages all of the time. In a lot of our articles we advise owners to take their pet parrots out for exercise and to have quality time with their birds.

Thank you for taking the time and trouble to contact us, we appreciate it. We will add another paragraph to the African Grey article emphasising the importance of daily time out of the cage with it's owner under supervision for fuss, attention and stretching of wings.

*Hidden dangers in homes.

We know of a case where an unattended African Grey flew into a bath which had recently been filled with hot water, the bird was scolded and died.
Somebody purchased a Black Headed Caique from us, who allowed it out of the cage for a lot of the time. On one occasion it walked into the room where he was, then stood behind him, he stepped back and crushed the bird to death.
We know of numerous events where pet birds have flown away through open doors or windows, mostly resulting in the birds not being recovered.
A large parrot can fly long distances with correctly clipped wings, wings which allow the bird some controlled flight. The only way to avoid a parrot flying is to severely clip it's wings, stopping the bird from flying at all!! This is totally un-natural and causes stress to the bird!
This list could go on and on!

Our aim is always for the welfare and safety of the parrot, this is paramount in our thinking.


The Editors
Parrots are Perfect Pets[B][U]