to everyone

[sunflower-gurl]

hello everyone. i am new to this site and i am Thinking about getting an african grey in the near future. I prefer congos over timnehs and i think i would probably go for a young baby grey. i know how much they cost and i have done alot of research on them so i already know alot about them, what foods they eat, what dangerous things to keep them away from, etc, etc. I also know that they live for about 50-70yrs or possibly more. I know that they need a big cage so that they have lots of room to move around in, otherwise they will feel uncomfortable and cramped. They need alot of toys to keep them occupied and lots of attention from a human otherwise they will start to rip out their feathers and/or squawk alot. i know that they need lots of positive reinforcement whenever they do something good and you never, ever, hit a parrot when it does something bad.

[vitrolm]

Hello and welcome! 

[rocketrollins]

Sounds like you have been doing your homework, I am new as well and took on a possibly 10 year old male congo that needs a bit of lovin lol. You can read my thread here

[alicat]

hi and welcome. you can never do too much research into parrots before getting one, and it doesnt matter how prepared you are you will still have questions and worries as soon as you get him 
i am ali, im in the uk,  and share my life with 4 parrots and 3 dogs 

[SeanM]

Hello and welcome from Sean & Koosie, Everything Alicat said is right on the money, read the boards there is a ton of info  here, and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

[jules]

hello and welcome from jules & jasper parrot 

[dodo]

Hallo

Im also new to all this feathered stuff... But its fun and never boring.. The people here can give great advice and just reading a few of the threads here is well worth the time. You can learn loads..

[sunflower-gurl]

Yeah. I also watched a few videos on how to cut african grey wings. correct me if i'm wrong but this in one way they showed how to: leave the 1st 2 flight feathers, then cut about 5 to 7 inside flight feathers.   or is it this way: start from the 1st two flight feathers and cut 5 to 7 feathers. Also, another question, if you wanted your bird to wear a harness, how would you go about doing that?

[lisarn3]

Welcome!!!  

[sunflower-gurl]

Thank-you. Can someone please tell me if this is the right way to cut an african grey wings? correct me if i'm wrong but in this one video that i saw, this is the way they did it: leave the 1st 2 flight feathers, then cut about 5 to 7 inside flight feathers.   or is it this way: start from the 1st two flight feathers and cut 5 to 7 feathers. Also, another question, if you wanted your bird to wear a harness, how would you go about doing that?

[lisarn3]

Some groomers will leave the first 2 sor cosmetic reasons.  Be very careful trimming.  You might consider taking your baby the first time and actually having someone show you how.

[marilyn]

I agree with lisarn,do not do this until you are sure of what you are doing,just a thought but if you are wanting to harness train you bird why trim his wings. This is a sticky subject(wing clipping),as for harness training there are some posts from shanlung one of our members that will be well worth your time reading. Do as much reading as you possibly can before you get your bird. This is a wonderful site and loads of hands on information.Always ask any questions big or small.

[feika]

Hello and welcome from Ali/Captain

[alicat]

if you are considering a baby grey you wouldnt be wanting to clip his wings for the first year, as they need to learn to fly properly and need to build up their chest muscles. after this time they will have learnt how to negotiate turns around your house, how high the ceilings are etc which reduces the point of clipping them anyway.
if you do get a bird and choose to clip his wings (i keep 4 fully flighted birds) at least the first time take him to a vet or a groomer and get it done properly so you can see how it should be done.

if you get an aviator harness it comes with a 45min dvd of instructions, or if you search on youtube you may find a copy there. im not trying to be unhelpful, but its so much easier to see than to describe. if you are having a baby grey and are in touch with the breeder waiting while he is weaned you could ask him to introduce the harness to him which some breeders will do .

my grey had an aviator harness on him once, and screams when i approach him with it, yet i introduced another of them to it (cockatoo) and he loves it and can come out for a walk with me now sat on my shoulder.

[sunflower-gurl]

I haven't really decided if i want to have a harness on my future parrot yet or not. I would be a bit worried that it would chew on it and then get ripped or something when outside and then the bird just flying away. Like, i would love to be able to take it outside. I would just make sure it didn't come in contact with any other birds just in case if it caught something from a crow(for example.) But then again, if I let the bird have it's wings, I'd be afraid of it flying into something inside the house and injuring itself, so maybe it would just be better if i went to a vet and got its wings clipped.