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Feeding Your Pet African GreyPellet diet specifically formulated for your African Grey is recommended in order to meet their recommended dietary nutrition. This also prevents the African Grey from becoming too picky. Enriched seed mixtures designed for your African Grey are also great as long as your African Grey isn't only eating his favorite seeds and discarding the rest. To supply calcium, your African Grey should have a Cuttlebone in it's cage at all times.Although pellets can provide your African Grey with the ideal nutrition you should also be sure to include variety in your African Grey's diet. Giving your African Grey a variety of foods will inspire them to eat. African Grey love fruits, nuts, beans, legumes, grains and vegetables(no avocado). You will enjoy seeing them flurry excitedly to their dish at each feeding time.Your African Grey should have water readily available at all times.African Grey Health TipsAfrican Grey droppings should be removed daily and the bottom of the Cage disinfected at least weekly.Use Gravel Paper already cut to size and made especially for bird cages. This is the cleanest and easiest low maintenance way to go. It will absorb spilled water and droppings.Once a month you'll want to disinfect the walls of the cage to protect your African Grey's health. The Water Dispenser and Feeder Bowl should be rinsed out daily and disinfected weekly. This helps protect against harmful bacteria. Cage Cleaners disinfect and dissolve hard dried-up droppings.Trim your African Grey's nails and beak. Wing clipping is also recommended if you want to limit or eliminate the bird's flying abilities. If you do not feel comfortable trimming or clipping, an avian veterinarian or breeder will do it for a small fee.A Pet African Grey's PersonalityAfrican greys are extremely intelligent birds. Greys are excellent mimics, and many are excellent talkers, with a capacity of over 2000 words. Greys have a unique capacity for putting their words and sounds into the right context as opposed to simply repeating them, showing their intelligence.Their intelligence makes the African grey a very demanding pet. You must absolutely be prepared to spend lots of time with an African grey, providing social contact as well as mental stimulation. Biting and self mutilation such as plucking can be the result of lack of stimulation, boredom and need for attention.You'll need a large cage for these guys. We would recommend a minimum in the area of 3 feet by 2 feet by 4 feet tall, but bigger is definitely better. The cage should be placed in a part of the house where the bird will have lots of contact with people.A good varied selection of perches and toys should be always available. Also invest in a good play gym, and plan on having your African grey spend a significant amount of time outside of his or her cage daily.Origins of a African GreyThe African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) is a medium-sized parrot endemic to primary and secondary rainforest of West and Central Africa. Experts regard it as one of the most intelligent birds. They feed primarily on palm nuts, seeds, fruits, leafy matter, and have even been observed eating snails. Their overall gentle nature and their inclination and ability to mimic speech have made them popular pets.
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