Owner's Nutrition Guide · Pellets, Chop & Calcium
Here at C.A.Gs in Midland, Texas, USDA-licensed breeders Mark & Teri Benjamin have hand-raised captive-bred, CITES Appendix I Congo and Timneh African Greys since 2014 — and diet is the single biggest thing that decides whether a Grey reaches its full 40 to 60 year life in good health.
This is the exact pellet-and-vegetable plan we feed, the calcium and vitamin-A science behind it, and the toxic foods that can kill a Grey in minutes.
The short version
Formulated pellets are the nutritional foundation — never an all-seed diet, which causes vitamin-A deficiency and a shorter life.
Dark leafy greens plus orange veg (sweet potato, carrot, red pepper) supply the vitamin A and calcium a Grey needs most.
Greys are prone to hypocalcemia — offer cuttlebone and UV-B light so the bird can absorb the calcium it eats.
Fruit, nuts and seeds are enrichment and training rewards, not the meal — they are sugar and fat, kept occasional.
Change drinking water at least once a day; a Grey will bathe in and soil its bowl, and dirty water grows bacteria fast.
Hide pellets in toys and paper so a clever bird works for food — foraging is mental health, not just feeding.
Never avocado, chocolate, onion, garlic, caffeine, alcohol, xylitol, salt, or fruit pits — and never PTFE/Teflon fumes.
Both species eat the identical diet; the larger Congo simply eats a bit more than the smaller Timneh.
Join the list for our seasonal African Grey feeding reminders and first word when a hand-raised Congo or Timneh chick is ready.
Base Diet · Pellets vs Seeds
The foundation of a healthy African Grey diet is 60–80% formulated pellets, not seeds.
A pellet is a baked, nutritionally complete food in which every bite carries the same balanced vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, which is exactly what prevents the selective "seed-junkie" feeding that drives most diet-related disease in parrots.
Here at C.A.Gs every Grey is weaned straight onto a pellet base, and the veterinary fundamentals behind that choice are laid out in the LafeberVet avian nutrition basics reference we hand new owners.
For the specific brands we trust, see our best African Grey parrot food picks; this page is about the science of what a Grey should eat and why.
A formulated pellet should make up 60–80% of the daily diet because it delivers a complete, consistent base a loose seed mix simply cannot match.
Pellets stop a clever Grey from cherry-picking sunflower seeds and leaving the nutrition behind, and they keep vitamin A, calcium, and protein in balance bite after bite.
An all-seed diet is high in fat and short on vitamin A, calcium, vitamin D3, and balanced amino acids.
Within months a seed-fed Grey shows hypovitaminosis A — chronic sinus and respiratory infection, blunted choanal papillae — plus fatty liver disease and a life cut short by years. Seeds are a treat, never the meal.
Keep pellets in an airtight container out of heat and light, and use them within about 60 days of opening — the fat-soluble vitamins fade and oils turn rancid long before the food looks "off." We buy in sensible quantities so our Greys always eat fresh, and we coach new owners to do the same.
Most birds we re-home are already pellet-eaters, but if you adopt a seed-addicted Grey from elsewhere, convert it slowly and safely.
Mix a little pellet into the familiar seed mix and raise the pellet ratio gradually across 4–8 weeks, offer warm mashed pellets in a separate dish, and let your bird watch you pretend to nibble a pellet — Greys are social eaters and copy what the flock does.
A parrot's fast metabolism means withholding food to force acceptance can trigger a dangerous blood-sugar crash within a day.
Weigh your bird on a gram scale daily through any diet change, keep a known food available, and bring your avian vet in if your Grey stops eating or starts losing weight. Patience converts a seed junkie; pressure endangers it.
Vegetables · Leafy Greens
Fresh vegetables should make up roughly 15–20% of the diet, built around dark leafy greens for calcium and orange-and-red veg for vitamin A.
These two nutrients are the ones African Greys most often run short on, because Greys are uniquely prone to both hypocalcemia and vitamin-A deficiency, and the right vegetable bowl quietly prevents the most common diet-related diseases we see.
The fresh portion is where you turn a "surviving" Grey into a thriving one.
Kale, Swiss chard, collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, and bok choy are the calcium-and-beta-carotene powerhouses of a Grey's diet.
Offer them most days. Spinach and chard are fine in rotation but contain oxalates that bind calcium, so don't make them the daily green.
Sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot, and red bell pepper are loaded with beta-carotene, which a Grey converts to vitamin A — the single nutrient most lacking in poorly fed birds.
Lightly steam or bake starchy squash and sweet potato for digestibility; raw bell pepper is a crunchy favorite.
Round out the rotation with broccoli, cauliflower, snap peas, green beans, zucchini, and fresh sprouts (a living, enzyme-rich food many Greys love).
Variety covers nutritional gaps and keeps a sharp mind interested — wash everything well and serve organic where you can to limit pesticide exposure.
This is the most common feeding frustration owners bring to us, and the answer is almost always patience plus presentation.
African Greys are naturally neophobic — a bird may reject a new vegetable ten to twenty times before tasting it — so keep offering, and change the format: chop it fine and mix it into a known food, clip a leaf of kale to the bars like a foraging toy, serve veg warm, or simply eat it yourself in front of your bird.
Teri's rule with every C.A.Gs family is to "never give up on a vegetable after one no" — a Grey's diet is built over weeks, not days, and the greens that prevent disease are worth the persistence.
Fruit · Nuts · Treats
Fruit, nuts, and seeds together should stay around 10% of the diet or less — they are treats and training rewards, not the meal.
Fruit is mostly water and natural sugar, and nuts and seeds are concentrated fat, so a Grey allowed to free-feed on them gains weight, develops fatty liver, and turns its beak up at the pellets and greens that actually keep it healthy.
Used well, though, a single nut is the most powerful training reward you own.
Mango, papaya, pomegranate, berries, melon, kiwi, and apple (seeds removed) are excellent, nutrient-dense choices. Keep high-sugar fruits like grapes and banana to occasional bites.
Always remove cherry, peach, plum, and apricot pits and apple and pear seeds — they release cyanide compounds when chewed.
Unsalted almonds, walnuts, and a prized whole in-shell nut give healthy fats and great foraging, but a few a day is plenty for a Grey.
We reserve nuts almost entirely for training and bonding — when a single cracked walnut means "well done," it teaches faster than any amount of repetition.
A pinch of seed is fine as a treat, and soaked or sprouted seed is far more nutritious than dry — sprouting converts stored fat into vitamins and live enzymes.
What seed must never be is the staple: keep it under about 5% of the diet so it never crowds out the pellets and greens.
In small, plain amounts, yes — cooked whole grains and legumes (brown rice, quinoa, oats, cooked beans, lentils), a little well-cooked egg, and unsweetened whole-grain pasta make wholesome additions to a Grey's fresh portion.
The line we hold is simple: nothing salted, fried, buttered, sugared, or seasoned, because a Grey's small body handles salt, fat, and additives far worse than ours does.
A bite of your unsalted vegetables shared at the table is also a bonding ritual — Greys are flock animals and genuinely value "eating with" their family.
Calcium · Vitamin D3
African Greys are uniquely prone to hypocalcemia — abnormally low blood calcium — so calcium plus the vitamin D3 needed to absorb it matters more for this species than almost any other parrot.
The condition is well documented in avian medicine; the veterinary literature on African Grey hypocalcemia and its seizure syndrome describes birds that crash with muscle tremors, weakness, falling off the perch, and seizure-like episodes.
A Grey can have plenty of calcium in its bowl and still collapse if it cannot make D3 to use that calcium — and indoors, behind window glass, it usually cannot.
Muscle tremors, weakness, clumsiness, falling off the perch, or any seizure-like episode are a veterinary emergency in an African Grey — hypocalcemic crises are treatable when caught fast, and delayed care is the main reason they turn fatal.
Have your vet check blood calcium at the annual wellness exam so a problem shows up on paper before it shows up on the cage floor.
Yes — a hen pulls heavily on her own calcium reserves to form eggshells, so a female that starts laying (even without a mate) has a sharply higher calcium demand and is at real risk of egg-binding and a hypocalcemic crash if her diet falls short.
Keep calcium and UV-B dialled in, and loop in your avian vet promptly, since chronic laying is itself a problem worth addressing.
Asking for a baseline blood-calcium value at your Grey's first wellness exam gives your vet a number to compare against later — far more useful than a one-off reading taken only once a bird is already symptomatic.
Aim for fresh vegetables and a little fruit to make up roughly 20–30% of the daily intake, with formulated pellets covering the rest — enough fresh food to deliver vitamin A and variety, not so much that your Grey grazes the pellets aside.
A heaping bowl tells you nothing — what matters is what actually goes down. Watching how much your Grey eats versus scatters is the only reliable read on whether the portions are right.
Pellets can stay available all day, but fresh food is best split into a morning and an early-evening offering — it mirrors a Grey's natural foraging rhythm and keeps perishable veg from sitting out and spoiling in the cage.
Remove uneaten fresh food within a few hours, especially in warm weather — spoiled produce is a common, avoidable cause of crop and gut trouble in pet Greys.
No — Greys are neophobic about food and a sudden switch can make a bird refuse to eat entirely. Convert to a new pellet or fresh item gradually over one to two weeks, mixing old and new while you watch the bird's weight hold steady.
Each C.A.Gs Grey goes home already eating its pellet base, and we send a starter supply so the bird's food never changes on moving day — you only adjust once it has settled in.
Usually not — formulated pellets are already fortified, and stacking a vitamin supplement on top can push fat-soluble vitamins like A and D into harmful territory. Add a supplement only if your avian vet specifically advises it.
The exception is a bird transitioning off a seed-only history or a laying hen — there we work with the owner's vet on a short, targeted calcium or vitamin-A plan rather than a permanent daily additive.
This is exactly why, here at C.A.Gs, we raise our Greys with UV-B lighting and vitamin D3 support from the start and wean them onto a calcium-rich fresh diet — the routine that prevents hypocalcemia is already second nature by the time a bird goes home, and we walk every buyer through keeping it going.
The full lighting setup lives in our African Grey care guide, but the diet half of the equation starts on this page.
Foraging · Schedule · Portions
Feed pellets free-choice, serve fresh food in the morning and remove it after a few hours, and make your Grey forage for as much of it as you can.
In the wild a Grey spends a huge share of its day searching for and processing food, so a bird handed a full bowl of pellets with nothing to do is under-stimulated — and a bored Grey is the one that screams and plucks. How you feed matters almost as much as what you feed.
Hide pellets in foraging toys, wrap them in paper, tuck them into cardboard, or skewer veg on a kabob so your Grey has to work for the meal.
Foraging turns feeding into the mental exercise a Grey is built for — start easy so the bird doesn't give up, then make the puzzles harder.
Keep pellets available all day, serve the fresh "chop" of veg and a little fruit in the morning when appetite is highest, and pull perishable food after 2–4 hours so it can't spoil.
A predictable food rhythm steadies a Grey's mood as much as its blood sugar.
A Congo eats roughly 1/4–1/3 cup of pellets plus a similar volume of fresh food daily; a Timneh a little less.
The real gauge isn't a measuring cup, though — it's the scale. Weigh weekly, and let a stable weight, not a guessed amount, tell you the portion is right.
Because a Grey is a prey animal that hides illness, weight is your earliest warning system — a loss of even 10–15 grams (around 2–4% of body weight) can flag disease in a bird that still looks and acts normal.
A cheap kitchen gram scale with a perch, used at the same time each week, turns "I think she's eating less" into a number you can act on.
We send every C.A.Gs bird home with its current weight on record precisely so you have a baseline from day one, and we stay reachable when a reading drifts and you want a second opinion.
Water · Hydration
Fresh, clean drinking water must be available at all times and changed at least once a day — more if your Grey bathes in or soils the bowl.
Parrots routinely dunk food, drop droppings, and splash in their water dish, and standing water at room temperature grows bacteria quickly, so a once-a-day minimum is the floor, not the goal.
Clean, accessible water is the quietest, most overlooked half of good nutrition.
Use a sturdy stainless-steel or ceramic bowl (or a no-drip water bottle, kept scrupulously clean), scrub it daily with hot water to remove the slimy biofilm that plain rinsing leaves behind, and place it away from perches where droppings fall.
Filtered or bottled water is a sensible choice if your tap water is heavily chlorinated or high in minerals — what a Grey drinks should be as clean as what it eats.
Sunken or dull eyes, sticky or stringy saliva, lethargy, and dry, scant droppings can signal dehydration in a Grey — and because birds compensate until they are quite unwell, any of these warrants a same-day call to your avian vet.
A bird that suddenly drinks far more than usual deserves a vet check too, since increased thirst can point to kidney or other illness.
Toxic Foods · Never Feed
Avocado, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, onion, garlic, xylitol, salt, and fruit pits are all toxic to African Greys — and a Grey is small enough that a single exposure can be fatal.
The independent LafeberVet African Grey information sheet reinforces the same toxic list we hand every C.A.Gs family, and we'd rather a buyer over-worry about this one section than learn it the hard way. The deadliest hazard isn't even a food — keep reading.
Every part — flesh, skin, pit, and leaves — contains persin, which causes cardiac and respiratory failure in birds. Even a small amount can be lethal, and there is no safe quantity. Keep guacamole and avocado toast far from your Grey.
Theobromine in chocolate and caffeine in coffee, tea, soda, and energy drinks cause vomiting, tremors, seizures, and cardiac arrest. Both act fast in a small bird — no sip of latte, no crumb of cookie.
Both contain thiosulfate compounds that destroy red blood cells and cause hemolytic anemia — raw, cooked, or powdered. That rules out most seasoned, sauced, and takeout human foods for your Grey.
Even trace alcohol causes neurological and organ damage; xylitol (in sugar-free gum, candy, and some peanut butters) triggers rapid hypoglycemia and liver failure; and excess salt overloads a small bird's kidneys. Read labels — xylitol hides.
Cherry, peach, plum, and apricot pits and apple and pear seeds contain cyanogenic glycosides that release hydrogen cyanide when chewed. The fruit flesh is fine — just always core and pit it before it reaches your bird.
The kitchen danger nobody warns you about, and it isn't a food at all. Overheated non-stick cookware releases airborne PTFE particles that are odorless and can kill a parrot within minutes.
Retire non-stick pans, self-cleaning ovens, and aerosol sprays from any room your Grey breathes in.
Beyond this list, treat anything heavily salted, sugared, fried, moldy, or seasoned as off-limits, and when you are unsure about a new food, leave it out and ask your avian vet first — "when in doubt, don't" has never harmed a single Grey.
If you suspect your bird has eaten something toxic or breathed PTFE fumes, that is an immediate emergency: call your avian vet or an after-hours animal poison line right away rather than waiting to see what happens.
No — the nutrition is identical; only the portion size changes.
Both our Congo African Greys and Timneh African Greys thrive on the same pellet-based diet, the same calcium and vitamin-A-rich vegetables, the same UV-B-supported D3, and the same toxic-food rules.
The larger Congo (400–600 g) simply eats a bit more than the smaller Timneh (275–375 g), so you scale the bowl to the bird, not the recipe. Here is how our two Greys line up side by side.
Compare Diet · Congo vs Timneh
Here at C.A.Gs we hand-raise both, and we feed them the same way — an identical pellet base, the same calcium-and-vitamin-A vegetable rotation, UV-B lighting, and the same never-feed list. The only practical difference is that the larger Congo eats a little more than the smaller, calmer Timneh, which also tends to start talking earlier.
| Feature |  Congo African Grey The classic, dramatic talker |  Timneh African Grey Calmer, earlier to bond |
|---|---|---|
| Species | Psittacus erithacus | Psittacus timneh |
| Size | 12–14 in · 400–600 g | 9–11 in · 275–375 g |
| Tail color | Scarlet red | Maroon / dark crimson |
| Lifespan | 40–60 years | 40–60 years |
| Talking ability | ★★★★★ exceptional | ★★★★☆ excellent, earlier |
| Talking onset | ~12 months | ~4–6 months (earlier) |
| Temperament | Confident, dramatic | Calmer, steadier |
| Best for | Experienced owners | First-time owners |
| Price (from C.A.Gs) | $1,700–$2,500 | $1,500–$1,600 |
| Available now | Roys · Amie · Bery · Jins/Jeni | Elad · Evie |
| PCR DNA sexed | Yes | Yes |
| CITES docs | Appendix I, captive-bred | Appendix I, captive-bred |
This Week's Aviary
Every Congo and Timneh African Grey we hand-feed here at C.A.Gs is weaned onto the exact pellet-and-vegetable diet this guide describes, PCR DNA-sexed, examined by a board-certified avian vet, and CITES Appendix I-documented — and each one goes home on the food it is already eating, with lifetime feeding and care support from Mark & Teri.
Baby Boy Midland, TX
Male · 4 mo · Congo African Grey
"Already weaned onto pellets and greens."
Hand-raised male, 4 months old — eating a full pellet-and-vegetable diet before he ever leaves us.
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
New Arrival Midland, TX
Female · 3 mo · Congo African Grey
"Forages for her pellets like a pro."
Premium hand-raised female, 3 months old. Weaning onto the same foraging routine this guide describes.
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
Best Value Midland, TX
Female · 1 yr · Congo African Grey
"Loves leafy greens and bell pepper."
Soft temperament, easy to handle. 1-year-old female, fully established on a varied fresh diet.
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
Timneh Midland, TX
Male · 5 mo · Timneh African Grey
"Smaller appetite, same complete diet."
Hand-raised male Timneh African Grey, 5 months old. Eating pellets, veg and a little fruit daily.
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
Timneh Midland, TX
Female · 6 mo · Timneh African Grey
"Calm eater, ready to come home."
Hand-raised female Timneh African Grey, 6 months old. Fully weaned onto a balanced pellet-based diet.
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
Must-Go Pair Midland, TX
Pair · 4–6 mo · Congo African Grey
"Two birds, one shared food bowl routine."
Unrelated pair, must be adopted together. Jins (male, 6mo) + Jeni (female, 4mo). Both weaned and eating well.
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
Diet Questions
A healthy African Grey eats a base of 60–80% formulated pellets, around 15–20% fresh vegetables — dark leafy greens plus orange veg like sweet potato, carrot and red bell pepper for vitamin A — and only a small amount of fruit, with a few nuts or seeds as treats. Never feed avocado, onion, garlic, chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, or fruit pits, all of which are toxic. We send every C.A.Gs Grey home on the exact diet it is already eating to prevent digestive stress.
A Congo African Grey eats roughly 1/4 to 1/3 cup of pellets a day plus a similar volume of fresh vegetables; a smaller Timneh eats a little less. Offer pellets free-choice, serve fresh food in the morning and remove it after a few hours, and weigh your bird weekly — a steady weight is the best sign the portion is right.
Yes, but in moderation. Mango, papaya, pomegranate, berries, melon, apple (no seeds) and kiwi are great choices, while high-sugar fruits like grapes and banana are best kept as occasional treats. Always remove cherry, peach, plum and apricot pits and apple and pear seeds — they contain cyanogenic compounds toxic to parrots.
Never feed avocado (every part contains persin), onion and garlic (cause anemia), chocolate, caffeine, alcohol, xylitol, salt, or fruit pits and apple seeds. Just as dangerous is a non-food: PTFE (Teflon) fumes from overheated non-stick cookware are airborne and can kill a parrot within minutes, so keep your Grey well away from the kitchen.
African Greys are uniquely prone to hypocalcemia (low blood calcium), so calcium matters more than for most parrots. Offer a cuttlebone or calcium block free-choice, feed calcium-rich greens daily, and provide UV-B light so your bird can make the vitamin D3 it needs to absorb that calcium. Only add an oral calcium or D3 supplement on your avian vet's advice — too much is harmful.
An all-seed diet is high in fat and deficient in vitamin A, calcium, vitamin D3 and balanced amino acids, so a seed-junkie Grey develops hypovitaminosis A, chronic respiratory and sinus infections, fatty liver disease, and a shortened life. Seeds belong in the diet only as occasional treats, not as the staple — pellets and fresh vegetables are the foundation.
Convert gradually over 4–8 weeks: mix a small amount of pellets into the familiar seed mix and slowly raise the pellet ratio, offer warm mashed pellets separately, and let your bird watch you 'eat' a pellet. Never starve a Grey onto pellets — birds have a fast metabolism and can crash quickly, so weigh daily and involve your avian vet if progress stalls.
Build the fresh portion around dark leafy greens (kale, Swiss chard, collard, dandelion and mustard greens) for calcium and around orange and red vegetables (sweet potato, butternut squash, carrot and red bell pepper) for the beta-carotene a Grey converts to vitamin A. Rotate broccoli, snap peas, green beans and zucchini for variety, and introduce new veg patiently — a Grey may refuse a food 10–20 times before accepting it.
No — the nutrition is identical. Both our Congo and Timneh African Greys thrive on the same pellet-based diet with fresh vegetables, calcium support and UV-B lighting. The only real difference is volume: the larger Congo simply eats a bit more than the smaller Timneh, so portions scale with the bird, not the recipe.
Diet is just one piece of a long life with a Grey — our full African Grey care guide covers housing, enrichment, and lighting, our best African Grey food guide names the exact pellet brands we trust, and our African Grey lifespan guide shows how feeding right adds years to a 40–60-year companion.
Ready When You Are
Every Grey from C.A.Gs is hand-raised and fully weaned onto this exact pellet-and-vegetable diet, PCR DNA-sexed, avian-vet certified, and placed with full CITES Appendix I documentation — never wild-caught.
Tell us about your home and which Grey caught your eye in the form below, and Mark or Teri will reply within 24 hours. Still comparing the two species' appetites? Our Congo Greys and Timneh Greys are both ready to meet you.
We review every application. Expect a response within 24 hours.
