African Grey Parrot Care Guide: Diet, Lifespan, Housing & Health

The African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus) is a advanced-level companion bird that can live around 40-60 years — a long commitment. Here is how to care for one properly: housing, diet, health, temperament and enrichment, based on avian-veterinary guidance.

Quick facts

Housing a African Grey Parrot

Minimum recommended cage: 91 x 61 x 122 (36 x 24 x 48 in) minimum footprint; larger/wider is strongly preferred for wing-flapping, bar spacing 19-25 mm (3/4-1 in). Bigger is always better — birds fly horizontally, so width matters more than height. Provide varied natural-wood perches of different diameters, and place the cage in a social, draught-free part of the home away from the kitchen (cooking fumes, especially from non-stick cookware, are deadly to birds).

What to feed a African Grey Parrot

Staple: Formulated pellets as the staple (~60-80% of intake); limited high-quality seed only, never an all-seed diet.

Fresh foods: 20-30% fresh vegetables and leafy greens, emphasizing beta-carotene sources (cooked sweet potato, kale, dark leafy greens); small amounts of fruit as treats.

Foods that are toxic to your African Grey Parrot — never feed these

Avocado (persin), chocolate and caffeine (methylxanthines), alcohol, onion and garlic (sulphur compounds — hemolytic anemia), fruit pits and apple seeds (cyanide), high-salt and high-fat processed foods; avoid all-seed diets (drive hypocalcemia and vitamin-A deficiency).

Temperament & social needs

Exceptionally intelligent and sensitive, prone to bonding with one person and to anxiety/feather-plucking if under-stimulated or its routine changes.

Highly social; needs several hours of daily interaction and supervised out-of-cage time. Under-socialization leads to plucking and phobic behavior.

Enrichment

High foraging drive — puzzle/foraging toys, shreddables, and rotated toys; regular bathing/misting; needs substantial daily mental challenge.

Common health problems in African Grey Parrot

Hypocalcemia syndrome (a grey-specific vulnerability — weakness, tremors, seizures, esp. on all-seed diets), feather-damaging behavior/plucking, PBFD, psittacosis (chlamydiosis, zoonotic), aspergillosis, vitamin-A deficiency.

Birds hide illness until they are seriously unwell — a bird that looks "off" is an emergency. Establish care with an avian vet before you need one, and schedule an annual well-bird check.

Setup essentials

• A suitably large cage
• A complete diet (pellets)
• Foraging & chew toys

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In the wild

The African Grey Parrot is also a wild bird — see the African Grey Parrot species profile for its natural range, behaviour and conservation status.