| Hi Jeanne,
Re: grit. I don't give any of the large birds any grit, but they do
get the iodine/mineral blocks. Grit does not dissolve...it helps some
birds to grind their food by staying in the gizzard (the place the
food passes through, if I am remembering correctly). There is no
'nutrition' in grit. Mineral blocks dissolve and the 'nutrients' are
thus able to be absorbed into the bird's system. Grit blocks
can sometimes aid in keeping the beak trim (small birds, anyway).
Mineral blocks are relatively soft, so it is less likely they will
help with the beak. Just to confuse things, I know of others who
have perfectly healthy birds of the same types I have and they give
the birds grit and no mineral blocks! Side note: I have read/heard it
said that birds under stress sometimes consume too much grit and this
causes more problems than it solves. I give the canaries a small
portion of grit a couple of times a month for a few days, then remove
it.
Q: Do Timneh's live as long as Congos?
They are basically the same bird, with coloring that is a variation on
a theme (description below), so to speak, so _yes_, they should have the
same life expectancy, for the same type of bird. To be clearer:
wild-caught, imported birds of any type are said to have a shorter life
_expectancy_ than a domestically bred and raised bird. Since Congo
greys are readily available as domestically bred and raised babies, and
Timnehs are more often imports than domestics, if you compare a
$200-500 imported Timneh with a $900-1200 domestically bred Congo grey,
the Timneh would be said to have a shorter life _expectancy_. If you
compared an imported Congo with a domestically bred Timneh, the Congo
in that case would have the shorter life _expectancy_. If you compare
two imports with each other or two domestically bred birds with each
other, at least theoretically, both greys in each set would have
relatively speaking the same life _expectancy_. There are always
exceptions to be found, of course.
The notion here is that imports go through hell before you purchase
them, generally speaking, and domestically bred birds have been to
heaven, generally speaking. The domestically bred has always known
'captivity' -- the wild-caught has to adjust and adapt, and adjust and
adapt, and keep on adjusting and adapting as it is passed from tree to
net to holding area to shipping crate to cargo area to a legal (I hope)
quarantine station on one of the coasts to some retail depot, etc. etc.
and to who knows how many places and pet stores before you see it
locally.
Possible Scenario A: The wild-caught's price may seduce many first time
buyers into purchasing the bird (Congo or Timneh), who may not know how
difficult it is to tame a wild adult parrot. At least the bird is
affordable and they _think_ they have the time to spend with the bird.
Things may or may not work out. Parrots are messy and noisy, often.
They have moods just like the rest of us, so may not want to be trained
or played with when the owners have the time or feel like working with
the bird, so frustration on both parts builds up. Boom. Things 'don't
work out'. The bird is put up for sale, and so the next hopeful brave
soul purchases the bird with the best of intentions. Maybe this person
will be lucky because the chemistry is right (birds choose us, not the
other way around). The trust factor is dominant here, or rather the
non-trust factor. The domestically bred bird, especially a hand-fed
bird, has been able to count on the humans around it for food, play,
cuddling...nice, pleasurable things. The wild-caught is often
terrified of hands and gloves and anything that looks like a stick
(sometimes of hats!). They bite. Hand-feds can bite, but they seem to
nibble and nip before they bite hard enough to draw blood. The
hand-fed babies I have had the pleasure of observing seem to want to
please. _You_ have to 'please' the wild-caught first, get its trust,
then see if it will do something you want it to, like step up on your
arm. Many imports turn into wonderful pets, but it helps to have the
patience of a saint and a willingness to go at the bird's pace, not
your notion of how fast the bird should be 'getting tamer'. It
probably goes without saying that the younger you can get the imported
bird, the better off you are.
Possible Scenario B: Someone saves up or has enough money to buy the
domestically bred bird the first time out. Lots of expectations.
All that money spent.... The bird is demanding, having been used to
lots of attention during the months of hand-feeding. The novelty
is waring off now. The young bird is not played with as much as before.
Perhaps about now the 'teething' stage starts (seems all parrots go
through this near their first molt, from cockatiels and lovebirds on
up in size). The bird is seen as being 'difficult' to work with....
what happened to 'my sweet baby'? Nothing a little time and patience
won't cure. Maybe because of the financial investment, pride, love
of the bird, whatever, the owner sticks it out through the first molt
and is persistent and consistent in the training and time spent with
the bird. Voila' - a wonderful pet, but maybe not as easily obtained
as the owner had thought. Young imports may be equally lucky to have
an owner who sticks it out through the tough stage, but it seems more
'second-hand' birds are imports than domestics. I suppose there are
a lot of reasons for this besides my conjectures above.
Q: Do Timneh's talk and mimic as much as Congos?
Yes, IMHO, based on my experience directly and comparing notes with others.
Under the FWIW category, we had two males that are now with a breeder
who had two hens.....with luck, they will have chicks and everyone will
be happy! ;') Anyway, while we had them, one of them mimicked my voice
and my husband's voice, all kinds of sounds from Nintendo games (picked
up before he came to us), whistles, conure parrot noises he learned
from other occupants of the aviary, etc. The one bird's talking ability
far exceeded several Congo greys I had heard 'talk' in terms of clarity
and variety of inflection, not to mention precise copying of pitch and
tonal quality. The other male never said a thing. When the two were
kept in separate cages in the same room, the one who talked didn't
(talk) anymore. The people who have the two now say they have not
heard either talk. (I have also heard Congos with as much mimickry
ability as our one Timneh.)
Q: What's the average price of a hand-fed Timneh?
A hand-fed Timneh may go for almost as much as a Congo, since the
work involved is the same. Because the Congos are better known and
many prefer their looks over the more subdued coloring of the Timnehs,
they may be able to command a slightly higher price. I have seen both
Timneh and Congo babies in the $1,000 range, give or take a hundred or
two, depending on where you buy them. Retail pet stores have the
highest prices, but are the easiest place for most people to buy birds.
Again IMHO, as Timnehs 'catch on' and more breeders take the time and
trouble to try breeding these birds, they will gain in popularity,
which means --usually-- that the price will go up. I am basing the
above on the market here in New England, so check your local papers
and call a bunch of pet stores that specialize in birds to see what
the prices are in your own area if it's not New England.
Physical Differences:
You may already know this, but here goes anyway: The Timnehs are
generally darker grey in color than the more popular and therefore more
expensive Congo grey. They have a maroon tail with dark brown/black
edges, in contrast to the lighter grey overall color and light red
tail of the Congo. Some people call the Timnehs 'Ghana' greys.
Forshaw's "Parrots of the World" lists three subspecies for Psittacus
Erithacus - P. Erithacus Erithacus (often called the 'Congo' African
Grey), P. Erithacus Princeps (similar to P. Erithacus Erithacus, but
generally, the plumage is darker than the so-called 'Congo' or P.
Erithacus Erithacus), and P. Erithacus Timneh, described above at
the beginning of this paragraph.
Good luck in your search! Finding the right bird for you, import or
domestic, is worth the time and waiting. If you are in the MA/NH/CT
area, the WANTADvertiser weekly publication has a large section of
birds for sale (it is sold at drugstores, supermarkets, and some
bookstores--you can't subscribe; I tried!)
Other noters: If you made it this far, even though I wrote a lot, that
doesn't mean it is all correct or the only information that Jeanne
needs. I hope others will reply too! Disagreements welcome.....
that's half the fun of Notes!!
Linda
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