A friend comes down for the weekend with a parrot and two small dogs. I come home from work today, the dogs are gone but the parrot is still in the living room grooming itself---I guess we now are owners of a parrot.

Can it talk? A family friend had one when I was a kid that you would swear knew what it was saying and could carry on a conversation.

The bird is only 6 months old. Very cool looking. But I'm still kind of scared of the thing. Messy. Maybe I can get it to say: SW, high tide, time to go fishing. Go fishing, go fishing, leave everything and go fishing. Habs and eels. Jig on the bottom. Any Luck?

You can teach them to say anything. If I remember correctly they can learn something like 800 words. They can and will bite very hard, my ole man had a malookan ( spelling? ) she was given to him by a petshop he did business with. The people who had her beat her with a fly swatter, she would be fine and then just snap and go nuts. He did allot of research on parrots and found out that if they are abused they develop mental problems, there is actually a parrot mental home in the UK. LOL

Slingah wants a fifty....RRAAAKK

Grays are incredibly smart parrots.
Becareful of the beak, it HURTS.

6mo's old? just a baby.

They're pretty awesome birds and worth big money.

sell Pedro to buy more fishing gear......

I'd feel bad selling the bird when it was given to me. But I think I can get over it. Toby for you special deal: Bird plus the cage, pellet food, all the carrots I've got left, and Petco info-flyer, all for $1950. The bird would look pretty cool hanging outside of the camper. ?????

throw Cooper in and you have a deal!

My parrot is driving me nuts right now, wont shut up. Doest talk much, but he mimicks every noise he hears from the phone, the door squeaking, the dog wining/barking, and many other anoying sounds.

He's bored.

Those birds need a lot of attention. When they don't get it they are self mutilating. :(

One of my wife's co-workers had one and it was a mess - plucked all the feathers off itself and so forth. Got so bad they had to put it down.

Those AG have a HUGE vocabulary - may be the best talkers I've have heard.

If it really drives ou crazy, you can borrow my George Foreman Rotisserie oven :D


Toby, I got 1st dibs on Cooper:smash:

Like maddog said, they need a crapload of attention.
Esp. at 6mo's

Worse than any kid ever.

Goose,
we have a amazon, very similar to your grey. Ask if you have any questions and I'll try to answer or ask my wife. :D

get a hook...peg leg...big sword...throw it on your shoulder and be blackbeard

Ive had an African Grey for 3 years, very intelligent, actually repeats 6 word sentences, mimics any and every noise possible. The downside is they are very high maintainence and extremely messy, pin feathers everywhere, moth eggs hatch from most bird foods (put new bird food in freezer for a few days to kill eggs), they are alot of fun but also alot of work.

Don't just feed it bird food, it isn't a complete diet for them, feed them anything and everything that you eat, except for chocolate, avocadoes and persimmons, those three are poison to most birds.
By all means feed it meat, and most parrots love the leg bones of a chicken, they'll crack them open and eat the marrow.

where were the dogs, john?

The dogs are still here. I've got two pugs. And a parrot.
Mike I've been feeding the bird lots of fruit. It loves grapes. The bird doesn't chatter that much, only when it wants to be taken out of its cage. I've built a play area for it out of drift wood, made some basic toys, and try to give the bird as much attention as I can give it. In time, after we have raised the bird, we may give it away to someone who really wants a parrot.

my aunt has an amazon its wonderful <3 that bird parrots are really amazing animals

John,
Our bird easts a lot of veggies also. Just make sure you don't feed it any of the three no-nos. Our bird also loves chicken legs and the bones from lamb and pork chops, once in a while she'll even take the bone from a t-bone steak, but that's kind of big for her. Keep offering it things and let it experiment, it'll let you know when it likes something or if it doesn't like something. Another thing our bird loves is orange juice.

John...
give it the rack of a striper, maybe it will pick it clean :D
Julie has a parakeet... I hate the thing, doesnt talk, makes noise anytime water runs, but the parrot at the pet store at salt pond is cool, at least he talks!!

the dogs are gone but the parrot is still in the living room grooming itself---

WOW - Did the Parrot eat the dogs:D

Bryan,
If you mean the green one with the blue & Yellow head, that one is the same kind as mine.

Yeah that one, little parakeetes dont do chit for me, and I have to live with one...

Goose,
Forgot to ask, is it a Timney or Congo gray? Not that it make a difference, just curious.

Mike the parrot is going to a new home. A friend in town who I went to URI with is taking the bird. She is a bird person: an actual ornithologist. She jumped on the offer for a free African Grey.
Not sure what species it is.
The bird will have a good home.

"The bird will have a good home."
And you'll have your sanity...

I've had parrots all my life, even raised some keets for a while.
Right now I've got a quaker and my daughter found a keet on a duck boat in the charles (yes thats right no typo!)...

If she changes her mind on taking it, I will take/buy it from you.
Can keep the other 2 company...

Goose,
I wish I knew you wanted to get rid of it. We could have gone nuts with two talking birds in the house, but I would have gladly taken it. If she changes her mind keep me in mind.

Parrots taste like chicken no) atleast get something out of ya troubles.