Coming home soon..

Hello all, I'm new to this forum and a new member of the family is coming soon and I named him/her Kris, pics . I can only visit him like 2 times a week trying to bond with him..The pet shop is still hand feeding him and will give it to me as soon as he can eat on his own..I need any advice from anyone here that would help me start caring this wonderful creature..thanks..HERE

Welcome to parrot.com! The pics of your little baby are extremely cute! Is this your first bird? What all research have you done to get prepared for owning him? One thing I would strongly suggest is letting your little grey learn to fly for at least a week before clipping his wings. If you don't , he will be more unsure of himself as well as clumsier, and as well as being more likely to get hurt, he will have missed a huge time of development. Many young greys not allowed to fledge have broken their keel bones or other such things from falling off of perches etc. Also, make sure that you realize your big responsibility as this little bird's teacher. Changing surroundings at this young of an age is not at all natural, and in the wild they stay with their flock much longer before venturing out more by themselves. I'd strongly suggest going to www.google.com and typing in "Jane Hallander" and reading some of her excellent articles on this. Many greys develop phobic reactions, plucking, or other things from being put into their new homes all of a sudden when they're not ready. It's better if a young grey stays with the breeders for a much longer period than 8 weeks, but I know that hardly any pet shops would be willing to keep one that long! It is really good that you've been visiting him. Do you have any specific questions? I have many books I'd recommend reading, but any by Mattie Sue Athan, Bonnie Munro Doane, Sally Blanchard, Maggie Wright, Chris Davis , and some others are very very good and have great advice and tips. One question I just thought of- what are you planning on feeding your grey when he comes home? Well, good luck, and any questions/stories/ whatever- post them! We'd love to hear from you some more!

thanks for the reply, I cant wait to bring this baby home..anyway the cage is ready, size 34x24x48 inches and lots of toys and I put it near a glass sliding door to my deck partial sunlight in the afternoon. I'm planning to feed him varieties of fruits and veggies..gotta fix my site tonight, pictures are 1 megs sorry..
BTW I already read and research a lot on this creature some good some bad, I have no other pet so he is going to be spoiled, my 5 year old son is very excited so I'm really educating him with a lot of things like dont feed him etc..but I really like to have the bird interact with him too..

[birdgirl]

WELCOME!!
What a beautiful baby grey.

[jackie]

i'm so jealous! i'm sure you're going to have so much fun with him about the placement of the cage...although many birds like to bathe in the sun sometimes(make sure he always has a shady part in his cage), many sources suggest not putting the cage near a window or sliding door. many times, these areas experience drafts which can make a bird sick (esp. one as young as yours). check the area for any drafts and if there are any, you may want to move it. good luck with your new baby!

Sounds like you and your five year old are going to have tons and tons of fun! As well as the cage being by the door, another potential problem is your grey seeing larger birds flying out there, which makes many birds including mine scared! Also, if he is in view of other people through the glass door, some might be more tempted to steal him. There's two excellent websites about diet and other parrot-related things which have very good information. One is http://parrothouse.com/articles.html , and the other is http://www.naturallyhealthypet.com/ . The mash diet is especially good!

Thanks again for all your replies, the cage only gets half of sunlight in the afternoon, about the draft I'm going to take care of that this coming fall not much draft in there but i will seal the side glass with silicon sealant, the view from the glass door is my property and nobody in there really wanders around, the neighbor's house is abour 1000 ft away and separated with trees which give him some privacy, I cant think of any other place that i can put him and I dont want him in the basement coz its too dark and might freak out when i watch a horror movie with surround .. if you happen to visit my site feel free to do so..
My site ..I also have a 46G salt water aquarium which I like a lot..you guys are great and thanks for all your tip..I will be going to Barnes and Noble to pick up some books about african grey..

Sounds like you're doing everything great! I can't wait until you get to bring your little baby home!!! I bet you're sooooo excited!!! (I would be too)