I have had many parrots over the years and I would say that greys require no more or no less care then any other exotic bird of their size.

Frequent cage cleaning is a must and it is best to use either a wood chip or corn cob base mix that will absorb the droppings and any excess liquids from foods, etc. I prefer not to use newspaper but in a pinch I have used plain white paper towels as a base in the bottom catch tray.

African Greys in the wild feed on fruits, nuts, leafy materials and an occasional meaty meal.

We feed our greys lots of fruits and veggies, no-salt nut mixtures, cooked chicken and of course their staple diet of a high quality African Grey kibble mixture that we purchase online.

African Greys need a bit more protein and calcium then other exotics and we occasionally give them a Tums to add even a further bit of calcium to their diets. We purchase the fruity flavor Tums and they love them.

They are also very fond of cooked chicken leg bones (they crack the bone and eat the bone marrow), cooked beans, scrambled eggs, oatmeal and low salt crackers.

Generally a grey will eat just about anything you eat, but keep in mind anything that is unhealthy for you will be unhealthy for them. So limit foods high in salt, fats, and preservatives.

CAUTION: Never feed your grey chocolate or avocados. These foods contain a toxic substance that can be fatal to your bird.

Birdie Bread Recipe

Months ago Carla stumbled across a “birdie bread” recipe on the net.  We tried it and our birds LOVED it.  We have modified it a bit to suit our birds and we would like to share the recipe with you.  We feed one ‘cube’ a day per bird, usually right after they get up in the morning.

Ingredients:

2 Packages of Martha White Corn Bread Mix (no sugar)
3 Tablespoons of baking powder
2 eggs with shells (blend together)
5 jars of baby food.  (We use lots of ‘red’ veggies such as sweet potatos, carrots plus a meat mix and fruit mix)
1/4 cup applesauce
3/4 cup peanut butter (low salt)
2 cups baby cereal (find one with the lowest percentage of iron)
1 cup chopped fresh veggies or fruit or both

Mix the dry ingredients seperately then blend with the wet ingredients. The batter will be very firm and thick.  Place the batter in a 9 x 13 cooking pan (spray will cooking spray to avoid sticking) and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until the bread is done to a cake like texture.  Cut into 1 inch ‘cube’s and feed once a day.  We seperate out a weeks worth at a time and store in the fridge and freeze the rest.