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Purchase A Baby African Grey Parrot

 Author: Azmi Adnan

The most convenient place to purchase an African Grey parrot, be it a Timneh African Grey or a Congo African Grey, is from a bird breeder near you. The African Grey is the most popular talking parrot because of its clear pronunciation and tonality. It is an extremely intelligent and sociable parrot specie too. African Greys are also smaller than Cockatoos or Green Amazons, making them an ideal parrot to keep in house.

Usually baby African Greys at the bird breeder are sold at twelve weeks old or fully weaned. By this time, they are strong enough to be handled by other persons other than the breeder. Have the bird you are going to purchase DNA sex tested with a certificate issued. You will also need to request for a hatch certificate showing the date of birth, name of parents and bird ring details. These are necessary details you will need to keep with you throughout the bird's life. These documents will need to be produced should for some reason in the future you decide to give the bird away, or that the bird flew into a neighbor's house and you need proof of ownership, or you decided to enter the bird in a bird show and the organizer's need some private details, or you need to buy insurance for your bird, or maybe your bird one day is featured on national tv and they need to have it registered, et cetera.

Also take home with you a parrot sheet diet to familiarize yourself with the type of food required for the parrot. The breeder has wide experience in diet food and you should follow his advice on proper nutrition. The list should also include poisonous food and plants and make sure that none are found in the house.

A parrot aftercare and helpline is also good to have in case you run into an emergency. Have the helpline numbers stored safely near the phone so that they are readily available when you need them. You might also want to think about the possibility of insuring your African Grey. The breeder usually has great recommendations from insurance companies that may include a possible discount if you purchase from their handouts. Do ask the breeder if they carry these forms and compare the products offered if there are several companies to choose from.

Ask a list of avian vets in your area which your breeder should have. Try different vets on different occasions and compare their prices and services. Stick to one vet once you are comfortable with the service so that your African Grey can get a more focused treatment.

Before you head for home with the baby Grey, ensure you have enough fresh food for the day and the following day and have a pet carrier to take the bird home. It would be good if you could bring another person with you to help carry the pet carrier while you drive. If none is available, make sure the carrier is properly secured and safe, because the bird in it is just just a baby.

About the author: Azmi Adnan is a writer and a bird enthusiast. Subscribe to his newsletter for fresh video clips on parrots and other bird species, ezines and interesting bird stories at his website http://www.power-to-live.com/parrot.html

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