7 year old African Grey won't talk or mimic

[ashleymariepaquette]

My husband and I just bought a 7 year old African Grey from another family
who couldn't give it the attention it needed. We've had her for a week and she seems very happy and adjusting well. She adores my husband and wants to be held be him all the time. The only call or sounds she makes are grinding noise with her beak and whistling. Her previous owner said she would say a few words and mimic other noises, so we know she has spoken before. She is around me and my kids all day and is out of her cage more than she is in it. But she won't say anything...any suggestions?

[wildirish]

She hasn't been with you long, some take longer than others to feel comfortable enough to talk. Just be patient LOL! We have one who for 7 months barely spoke at her previous home, and 2 years later is a chatter box!

[str8gone]

Patience is the key here. Some greys will be abnormally quiet when placed into a new environment. Keep in mind that all greys do not talk. Their ability to talk and mimic are what sets them apart but not all of them speak readily (although it is very unusual for them not to speak). Parrots mimic what they see going on in their environment and they soon learn that speaking is the way humans communicate. Once your bird discovers that speaking will go a long way you may not be able to shut him up. My Coco, who is 15, was given to us and didn't speak for a couple of days. Soon he became comfortable (I don't know if he became comfortable quickly becasue we have another grey and 3 sun conures in our home). But once he learned that talking will get you everywhere he hasn't looked back!

[4HAND]

The first time I heard our blue crown conure speak I was in the basement and I think he thought I was gone.I listened to him chatter for five minutes or so and then called out his name.He clammed right up!Now if I want to hear him talk I haul out the vaccume,something about the sound of it gets him going.
Tena

[huntress]

I have one grey that I helped raise for a time and he was a chatterbox at his home. When he came to me he clammed up for months. Now he wont shut up,lol. I have another grey I rescued that spoke to me from his carrier on the way home from the airport. Some days he wont say a word and other days he talks AAAAAAAllllllllllll day. Give it time.

[featherduster]

Yes, the greys are picky about talking, that's for sure!
I have lived with 3 CAG's and 2 TAG's. The one female CAG never spoke a human word, she was a wild caught bird. The other female, she spoke alot from her pervious home. Swearing in spanish! I had no idea what she was saying, but learned real quick (thanks to friends). The other was a male, and he spoke constantly, when he thought no one was around. He did get stuck on "the word of the day" alot....repeating te same word all day long.

My male TAG talks alot. Even in front of humans! Mixing and making up his own sentences. He's a hooT!

Me female TAG, basically quit talking once the male came here. She had a vocabulary of over 25 words. Now, she prefers to work on her whistling skills.

[Kathy E]

Yes I agree with the other post that it does take time for adjustment.
But I do want you to beaware the I own a 4 year old CAG that I
purchased 1 year ago that we just found out is deaf.

I kept thinking Payton needed time to adjust or that my talking bluefront Amazon, Tee Jay that was in the cage next to him might be the problem.

But the vet comfirmed his deafness.

Kathy

Canton, Ohio

[Lisa B]

wow, Kathy, that is something we dont often hear of.

I have a little girl of 5 who just has nothing to say

[huntress]

My new female says nothing but whistles some mostly normal grey sounds and she is 12 and I was told she has never spoken. Her mate talks to her.

[Laurenandraja]

Hi, I purchased a grey from a family a few days ago. Appearantly he is a great talker but since we brought him home he only whitsles (loudly) and has only said "hello Raja" to me. He wont talk to anyone else except for the odd, barely audible "hey". He has been making progress though as far as nerves go. Each day he gets a little more comfortable so I'm hoping he will warm up.