Hi there,

Me and my wife have been looking at getting an african grey but the only thing we are worried about is that we are both out of the house for around 8 hours a day.

I am thinking this is not good for the parrot as they need lots of attention.
should we be waiting till we have more time on our hands.

Any help would be appreciated.

Aaron

Have you thought about getting 2 so they have company?

It is still feasible to have one grey, but from a young age which would be easier to get it into a routine. As long as you don't end up doing lots of overtime and the periods the bird is on it's own could be more.

I work Mon-Friday 8 hours a day and own a cockatoo, she is very happy and has never suffered because of this.

She gets a good 1.5-2 hours every morning with me, then she is out all evening with me and has me every weekend.

Its very important to have a large cage with plenty of toys to rotate so the bird never gets bored.

Good luck!

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I personally would never suggest anyone getting a grey that is out for 8hrs a day. Why not consider a couple of cockatiels or even a couple of parrotlets they are superb little birds with huge personalities and 2 would keep one another company

I would suggest joining one of the parrot forums and having a chat with them on there Parrotlinks

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Chinchilla rescue and rehoming http://www.chinsrus.co.uk

ive never had just 1 parrot so i dont know. i know theres a couple of members on the link below with Greys.

Please don't buy any bird from a breeder or pet store when there are so many unwanted birds already. Go to a bird rescue and help a needy bird. Bird breeding is HORRIBLE and CRUEL. Go to youtube and check the videos or check with the rescues to see how much these poor animals suffer. A good site is the manhattanbirdclub .com

Educate others about the cruelty of the bird breeding business and about how birds mutilate themselves due to boredom and being forced to live in an unnatural environment. Animals shouldn't suffer due to our selfish whims.

Be a part of the solution by educating yourself and others and by adopting and not buying.

There are quiet a few rescue's where you can adopt a bird, I am the ACO South East for the UK Parrot Rescue.

The only down side with adopting a rescue bird is that most do come with problems, so unless you have a good knowledge base and experience with problem birds it may not be advisable, although we do try and give as much advice as needed.

If you want to get a bird into a good routine, i.e. due to work commitments it is always good to get a young bird. Sadly it is a fact of life that most of us have to work, but that doesn't mean you can't give a bird a very good home. Unless your work commitments involve overtime and long hours, then this would not be fair.

You are doing the right thing by doing this research which is admiral, no bird is the same but certain species do have certain traits.

When getting any bird it is important to set a good routine. I wish you every success in finding your companion when you feel you are ready to take on such a huge commitment.

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