How much time do I have to spend with an AFRICAN GREY PARROT?

Question

I would only be able to interact with him 3 hours per day...is that enough? My mom will be in the house till 2pm and then my little sister comes home from school at 3pm so the bird will be alone for one hour. And then I will come home at 7pm and I can interact till 10 or 11 because after school I dont do anything else. Is this ok? The bird will be left alone for one hour...I dont know if thats bad.

Answer 1

African Grey parrots have the intelligence of a four to five year old human child. And need constant interaction, one hour alone will not hurt him. The more you and your family interact with him is great, they crave attention and love.  Never leave him alone out of the cage, that would be like leaving a toddler alone in the house.  

Answer 2

Having the bird be left alone isn't the big deal, mine is alone from 8-5 every day.

I'm worried about it not being interacted with until that late of day.  Most birds will instinctively have a sleep time once it gets dark out.  Pay attention next time you're outside at sunset...you'll slowly hear the birds quiet down for the day.

If you don't start playing with your bird or let it out until 7-7:30 you're not letting it have a lot of quality "awake" time.  You'll find that your bird starts to get cranky and snippy around 8:30-9pm when it naturally wants to go to bed for the night.  

Answer 3

Please get a good book on African Greys...there are many out ther, and you also can get one in the library if you don't want to buy....but you've entered a life long commitment with this bird, so buying a good guide book would have been the first thing to do....Be consistent with your bird and give it as much attention whenever you can...check out a website by googling African Greys...you will get much better, correct answers from there than on this site.

Answer 4

the impt thing is which ever amt you give them, be consistant.  So, dont spend time in the beggining that you wont be able to maintain.  This is what can cause your bird to be neurotic.