by merlin » Tue Jan 17, 2012 4:21 pm
Dear Sid,
How nice to hear from you in India. African greys can handle about the same temperature levels as humans. In the home, they need the A/C (air conditioning) when the temp is 80 to 85+... and they need heat when the temp is as low as the 60s and 50s. They can handle cool outside temps as they DO have feathers, but a pet grey would need to be acclimated to the outside cold very, very slowly. If you have a grey outside on a hot day, ALWAYS keep him in the shade and never leave in direct heat. In a car, never leave any pet unattended. Again, you would need to judge it according to your own comfort level.
I do want to note that greys CAN get overwhelmed in high heat situations. If you have an overheated bird, get him in a cooler situation immediately. You can spray him with water and you can put his feet in cool (room temperature, not cold) water to help his body heat cool down more quickly. You can pour room temp water on the bird's feet to help cool quickly. Parrots can die very easily in overheated situations, so never, never stretch the limit on this issue, please.
I'm sure there are good breeders somewhere in India... please avoid purchasing one that is wild caught (taken from Africa). The ones who are wild should be respected and allowed to stay in the forest of Africa where they were born. We need to respect this from all over the world. We must allow the wild animals to stay where they were born/hatched.
I see that you are an animal lover... but please don't get a grey because of an "addiction." If you have the time and the interest in putting in the time to care for one, that's one thing. But if you get a grey and pay no attention to him, you will have lots of problems. They are incredibly intelligent and they need lots of care and attention in order to be happy.
If you do get a grey, he must be introduced to your other animals very slowly and closely supervised. Cats and dogs are natural predators to birds. You must make it clear to your dog and cat that they must NEVER mess with the parrot. A dog bite or a cat scratch or bite can be deadly for a parrot. Be VERY careful.
You need to read a book... or many pet books on greys. I'm sure you can get a copy of my Barron's pet book on Amazon. It has a lot of very, very good info. It also helps you understand the behavior of greys and how to work with them. Here is the address on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/African-Grey-Parrots-Everything-Nutrition/product-reviews/0764110357/ref=cm_cr_pr_redirect?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0
Good luck!
Blessings,
Maggie-
PS: Your first dog had a LOVELY name, Maggie!