can a 7 year old african grey parrot learn new words?

Question

i just recentley purchased an african grey that had 2 previous owners. how long will it take him to get used to us, what signs should i look for when hes ready to come out of his cage, and is it possible for him to learn new words? thanks for answering p.s. we have had him for almost 5 days

Answer 1

It matter how he socialize with his other owners. Feed him nuts by hand and other treats to warm up to him.He can come out of the cage after a few days at first I would just put him on a perch to look around and get use to his new environment. He will eventually pick one of the people at your house as his favorite and it might not me you. Just be patient and talk with him. He is only getting into his adult stage. They live to me 50 or more if taken care of correctly. Just talk with him constantly. My Grey's first word was peek-a-boo when I was playing with my grandson in the same room. He will pick up what words you say the most often. Mine yells my son's name "Edward" all the time. Because I am constantly telling him to come here. Now he says Edward come here. He 15 months and says 25-40 words. Good luck! Grey's are like a two or three year old very very determine to get what they want..

Answer 2

It may take him a while to warm up to you, depending on his prior owners. If they provided him with proper care, he will have no reason to distrust you and will probably warm up to you withing a few months. If he had an abusive past life or was neglected, it could take some serious time and dedication on your part. I certainly hope you have large parrot experience before taking in a older re-homed parrot. It is an extremely difficult task. It has been 2 years, and our 11 y/o amazon is just getting to the point where he will let us touch him besides stepping up (he's letting us kiss his head and scratch his neck). He was previously abused/neglected and bounced around from god knows how many houses. I have large parrot experience, a lifetime of it, and I never imagined it being this difficult to take on a bird with special needs.



Then we move on to talking. What exactly makes you think he will ever talk? Some birds do, some don't, and they have the ability to learn new words/sounds at any age (although if they aren't talking before reaching sexual maturity, about 5-6 y/o for large parrots, they probably never will). Encourage his individual talents. Some parrots are extremely intelligent in the ways of solving puzzles (not the cardboard picture kind, they will shred those). Some love dancing (our amazon). Some love talking and mimicking every new word and sound they hear. And if he isn't talking after a year or 2, don't bother teaching him. He'll have his own special talents for you to enjoy. And you never know, a re-homed parrot may have a trick or 2 up his sleeve. Our amazon didn't squawk, whistle, talk or make hardly any sounds whatsoever for the first year we had him. He was the quietest bird ever, the only noise he made was a goose like honk when he was happy. We thought he was essentially mute. About 18 months after we got him, he shocked the hell out of us. We gave him a noodle one night as a treat, and he replied with not his usual honk, but a very clear and enthusiastic birdy "thank you!". He's been talking, in context since, and actually has a very large vocabulary (around 50 words) and can "whistle" along if he hears a tune enough times. We know we didn't teach him, so somewhere in his troubled past, someone spent a very good amount of time teaching him (birds may pick up words, but learning to use them in context is a very difficult thing to teach them). You just never know with a bird. Good luck, and I hope you are up to the challenge.

Answer 3

Because African Grey's are flock birds they are closely bonded to their families. He has lost 2 families already so he has had a difficult start in life. In time he will get use to you, be patient and kind to him. I don't know how much experience you have with birds but he will be a handful for sure. A.G.'s are scatterers by nature so the food you feed him will go everywhere. Let him have freedom from the cage as often as possible, it's important for his physical and mental health. Yes, he will learn new words. People always say to repeat words to birds if you want them to learn but that is not true for Grey's. They are keen to sounds and expressions, the way things are said, that's why they have a tendency of picking up some not so nice language. Without any effort on my part, my girl has a very expansive vocabulary and incredible appropriate speech. If you ask her a yes or no question she always gives the right answer. I find it soooo strange but fascinating too. She also laughs at the appropriate time. We will be watching a sitcom on tv and they will say something funny and she'll burst into laughter. She loves to watch tv with us at night, in fact after dinner she always starts asking "wanna go watch a movie?".

Have a great time with your new little friend. PLEASE try to make this the last home for him. He deserves a good family and someone he can count on. If you are patient and kind you will truly have a friend for the rest of your life.

Answer 4

He may take several months before he warms up to you. Especially if he has had his little heart broken in the past. You can gain his trust my offering him special treats like peanuts in the shell to tempt him. Once he is used to taking nuts from your hand you can open the cage door and let him come out and explore the outside of his cage. Once he comes out you can call him to you and offer him treats and toys he can play with.



He can certainly learn new words. Just talk to him a bunch, and use his name. My parrot especially loves it when I sing songs with his name in it (like happy birthday). Talk to the bird and always tell him what you are doing. He will be curious and watching to see if you are someone he can trust. Try to be in the room with him as much as possible, and play music for him or leave a tv on when you leave the house to keep him stimulated. My bird loves to watch tv, and he will even scream and fall off his perch if something really exciting happens! All this will help build the birds vocabulary and well as keep him happy.



Today my bird was telling me "your a good bird", then he looked at me and turned his head to the side like he was thinking and said "I'm a good bird, your a good girl". I thought that was so funny, and it was the first time he had ever said that. He has been calling me "good bird" for years, but I don't know where he got the "good girl" thing. My bird is 13 years old, so they can definitely learn new words.

Answer 5

It could take quite a while for him to warm up to you. Just spend lots and lots and lots of time with him, and get him to take treats from your hand, and learn to trust you.

For taking him out of his cage-is he clipped? You should make sure he is clipped, because if he isn't he could take off across the house and it would be traumatic for him to have you chasing him!



I would wait until when you approach the cage he just sits on his pearch and looks at you (and doesn't fluff up or look nervous) once he is comfortable with you approaching the cage open the door and ask him to "step up" if he snaps at you just close the cage and walk away.



He can learn lots of new words! I have an 18 year old African Grey and she learns new things all the time. Basically anything she likes the sound of she picks up-words, whistles, household noises, songs, other animal noises :-)

Answer 6

Short answer is yes they are like children and able to constantly learn. However he may not utter a single word ever again (though unlikely if he was already talking). How long will it take him to get use to you? Again that answer varies, some will warm right up to you others can take months if not years to warm up to you IF they warm up to you. As for coming out of the cage leave the door open and do not force the bird to do anything it is not ready to do.

Answer 7

If this toddler gray is in simple terms 7 months previous and he's 'kinda' propose, there is something going on around him that he experience threatened approximately. Is he in a noisy room with lots going on? For any parrot and extraordinarily greys, you may desire to construct up a trusting bond with the chicken. Be mushy, talk softly and talk with him such as you will possibly a youthful new child. Seven months is extraordinarily youthful for a gray to start speaking. in many cases they do no longer start to talk till some million year previous. you in addition to could could desire to comprehend that no longer each and every chicken talks, even greys are often times no longer keen to assessment our language. in case you deal which includes your toddler gray with appreciate and kindness, he will bond to you extra powerful and characteristic a extra powerful possibility of talking whilst he's a few months older.

Answer 8

a 7 year old parrot became an adult at year 6 so it's quite young ,gain it's trust first don't dress in dark colors that seen to scare them , move slow don't make sudden movements, offer peanuts or a fruit of his liking with your open hand slowly and talk softly after at least a month he'll be talking again if not sooner good luck

Answer 9

How do I stop my African gray from biting every thing when he is out of the cage