African Gray Parrots are parrots with high intelligence and they have the ability to imitate human voices as well as surrounding noises very well. Therefore, the African Gray Parrot is very popular with birdwatchers in Saigon.
Guide to raising African Gray Parrots
1. Detailed description of the African Gray Parrot
The African Gray Parrot is average in size, with a gray tint, with a black bill and a red tail. The average weight of the African Gray Parrot is 400g, the wingspan is 46cm – 52cm and the average body length is 33cm . The Congo subspecies is lighter in color, with dark gray on both the neck and wings, while the head and body feathers are slightly white.
Due to anthropogenic effects in breeding breeding, the African Gray Parrot may be partially or fully red. Both males and females look similar.
Method of Distinguishing Male and Female Parrots: Male African Gray Parrot head is larger, eyes and tail are slightly pointed, female head is narrower and smaller, and eye rim is rounder than male’s.
The color of the Gray Parrot is similar to that of an adult Patto, but the eye color is usually dark gray or black, while the adults have yellow irises
The African Gray Parrot can live up to 40-60 years in good captivity, while in the wild the Gray Parrot can only live about 23 years. The main food of the African Gray Parrot is nuts, nectar, fruits, berries distributed in Africa.
The African Gray Parrot has an average flight technique, the feathers have a lot of chalk dust and are not as colorful as other parrots. But Gray Parrot is quite smart, just spend 15-20 hours to train the African Gray Parrot, it can imitate the phrase or maybe more. Not only has the ability to pronounce great, Gray Parrot also has the ability to understand what he pronounces. In addition, they also have the ability to imitate the voices of other surrounding animals such as cats, dogs, coughs, whistles, etc…
Gray Parrot does not need to live in a too large environment, suitable for people living in apartments and in terms of price, this Gray Parrot is not too different from other parrots. This parrot also makes noise but not as loud as other parrots. These parrots need a cool environment, with toys and a lot of communication with their owners. This is the only way to help them avoid stress.
2. How to take care of the African Gray Parrot
African Gray Parrots need to be cared for, fed and cleaned. With new born baby parrots need foods that are easy to digest and highly nutritious, so you need to let the parrot parents feed the baby parrots to grow up quickly and not have diarrhea. When the baby parrots are 1 month old, you should separate them from their parents to mold them, because the baby parrots have not opened their eyes yet, so they don’t recognize their parents so you can easily feed them and teach them to talk. talk and train as you like. In addition, separating the offspring also helps the parent parrot to continue to reproduce.
3. Instructions for feeding baby Gray Parrots
- It is best to feed young parrots from 4 to 6 hours.
- When raising young parrots, the ambient temperature should not be lower than 35 degrees. Clean the parrot’s nest daily, do not let feces contaminate, need to ensure cleanliness and hygiene.
- Around 90 days old, baby parrots can be weaned to feed on parrot food, choose brightly colored food and young parrots are easily attracted to different colors and shapes. Nutritional supplements to avoid excessive weight loss after weaning.
- Observe parrot behavior, spirit, poop
The main food of the African Gray Parrot is nuts such as sunflower seeds, peanuts with nuts imported from Europe. Besides adding nuts, you also need to add fresh fruits such as apples, pears, bananas, etc. but it needs to be finely chopped before feeding Parrot..
In addition, you can buy formula feed for Parrots. You need to pay attention to the ingredients on the product packaging to make sure that your parrot is not allergic to those ingredients, the product expiration date also needs to be taken care of. You should buy products according to the age of your parrot to ensure nutrients according to each age.
Cage cleaning and water changes are extremely important for African Gray Parrots. You need to always keep the cage clean and change the water daily for them. You should also train your African Gray Parrot to speak daily.
Periodic examination and observation of the parrot’s strange expressions is what veterinarians recommend owners to do. If you see your parrot showing any unusual signs, quickly take them to the health care center or see a veterinarian for timely treatment.
4. Growth and reproduction of the Gray Parrot
The breeding period of the African gray parrot begins at about 3 years of age. January-February and June-July each year are breeding seasons. A nest has about 2-4 eggs usually after spawning the second egg begins to hatch.
During this period, it is very sensitive to human disturbance and should be avoided as much as possible. Incubation time is about 29 days and about 90 days for hair growth. Newborn parrots are about 15 grams long and 5 centimeters long.
The small parrot’s eyes are dark black and gradually turn yellow as they age. The African Gray Parrot, raised since childhood, is easy to get along with, has a peaceful personality and is very popular with everyone.
5. Management and training of the African Gray Parrot
To establish the status of the owner, parrots are group animals and have a class nature. From the small warehouse, let it know your leadership position. If you make a mistake, you must seriously stop it and your face must be serious, because it will look at it like a child.
If you put the parrot in your hand, the parrot will probably bite your fingernails. When biting your nails, you should speak immediately, stop and say a few more times, the parrot will understand.
Don’t leave the parrot on your head, it will probably be fun, but don’t let the parrot get used to a higher position than you, and the owner’s leadership position will gradually disappear.
Parrot is a group animal, so it is cruel to leave it in a cage all day, because there is human wisdom, if nso is kept in a cage for a long time, it will develop problems behavior problems, and even become eccentric!
You can check the price here: https://petmeshop.com/vet-xam-chau-phi-african-grey-parrot/
