Care Guide · Breeder Blueprint · Midland, TX
Not a generic checklist — the exact cage we send every C.A.Gs chick home to. Size, zone-by-zone layout, perch variety, toy rotation, food, sleep and the mistakes that quietly cause plucking.
See available African GreysWritten by Mark & Teri Benjamin · C.A.Gs African Grey breeders, Midland TX · USDA-licensed since 2014
Send us a photo of your setup — we'll tell you what to fix before your Grey comes home.
On This Page
At a glance
The seven numbers that decide whether a cage works for a Grey — straight from the setup we build for every C.A.Gs chick before it goes home.
Most cage problems trace back to one thing: a cage chosen for the owner's budget instead of the bird's biology. Get the blueprint below right — size, zones, perches, toys, materials and placement — and the cage stops being a trigger for feather plucking and screaming and starts being a home your Grey actually thrives in.
An African Grey relaxed beside a correctly set-up cage — see the size, zone and perch specs below. The short answer, snippet-ready: an African Grey needs a cage at least 36–48 inches wide, 24–36 inches deep, and 48–60 inches tall — and larger is strongly recommended. A Congo needs more room than a Timneh, and in both cases width matters more than height, because Greys move side-to-side far more than they climb.
| Setup item | Minimum | Recommended | Ideal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cage width | 36" | 48" | 60"+ |
| Perches | 2 | 4 | 5–7 |
| Toys | 3 | 6 | Rotation of 6–8 |
| Daily out-of-cage time | 2 hr | 4 hr | 5 hr+ |
Typical extra-large play-top dimensions — use it as a floor, not a ceiling. A Congo is a powerful, full-sized parrot. The 36"×24"×48" minimum just clears full wing extension; a 40"×30"×60" cage is the standard we build around in our own aviary.
Confinement stress is real — a Grey with no room to flap or forage turns that energy inward, and the chest and leg feathers are the first to go. Space is the cheapest enrichment you will ever buy.
Every chick we raise grows up with daily out-of-cage flight time on top of a large enclosure. We tell families to treat the cage as a secure base camp — a few hours of supervised freedom daily does more for behaviour than any single accessory.
Timnehs run smaller, so 30"×20"×40" clears the minimum — though many owners happily size up. The bigger difference is bar spacing.
| Subspecies | Minimum size | Bar spacing | Ideal size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Congo African Grey | 36" × 24" × 48" | 3/4" – 1" | 40" × 30" × 60" |
| Timneh African Grey | 30" × 20" × 40" | 5/8" – 3/4" | 36" × 24" × 48" |
Congos: 3/4"–1". Timnehs: 5/8"–3/4". For a just-weaned fledgling we default to 7/8"–1" until it is fully sure-footed — a clumsy young bird is far more likely to catch a wing than a steady adult.
Forget the cage's marketing size class. A "large bird" cage built for macaws often runs 1.25"–1.5" spacing — wide enough for a Grey to slip its head through. Always check the spacing number, never just the size label.
Two Greys don't need double the cage — they need more width and floor space, not a taller tower. For a bonded or companion pair, start around 48"×30"×60" and go wider if you can, and give each bird its own perches, bowls and toys so they never have to compete. Unbonded birds — like our Jins + Jeni pair — especially need room to retreat from each other.
A true breeding pair is a different job entirely: that is a dedicated breeding flight with a nest box and nesting privacy, not the companion play-top cage in this guide. If you are housing a bonded breeding pair, size up again and plan around the pair's flight space rather than a single-bird footprint.
Here is the differentiator almost no competitor teaches: don't fill a cage evenly — zone it. A parrot reads its cage in three layers, and matching each zone to its natural behaviour is what turns a box of bars into a setup your Grey uses all day.
A Grey spends most of its day in the top two-thirds and forages in the bottom third. Birds feel safest up high, so the top of the cage is for resting and sleep. Put the highest, most comfortable perch here — ideally a rope perch that is gentle on joints — and keep this zone calm.
Greys need 10–12 hours of quiet, dark sleep. Cover the cage or use a dedicated sleep cage in a separate quiet room; chronic sleep deprivation drives the same plucking and biting that owners blame on "attitude."
The middle is the social, working zone — this is where food and water bowls, the main activity perch, and most toys belong, at the bird's eye level where it spends interactive time.
It sounds obvious, yet it is the most common contamination mistake: a bowl directly below a perch collects droppings. Offset bowls horizontally from perches, and use stainless rather than chewable plastic.
The bottom third is for foraging and climbing. Scatter foraging toys and a low foraging tray here so your Grey works for treats the way it would in the wild — the single best boredom-buster you can build in.
Perches are where your Grey stands every waking hour, so monotony here does real damage. Provide at least three — ideally four to seven across the zones — and deliberately vary diameter and texture.
Our 3-perch variety rule at a glance — jump to the perch section below to build it. The working trio: a natural-wood perch (1"–1.5", for daytime), a rope perch (softer, for the sleep zone), and a pumice or concrete conditioning perch placed low for nails and beak. Mount them at different heights, and never directly above a bowl.
The round dowels that ship with most cages are a uniform diameter and slick — the foot grips identically all day, and within months that constant pressure point can ulcerate into bumblefoot. Treat the included dowel as packaging, not a perch.
We favour manzanita for its rock-hard, irregular surface that resists chewing and conditions feet; java wood is a great second choice with more sculptural branching to climb. Both are non-toxic and built to last.
Skip sandpaper perch covers entirely — they abrade the foot without ever conditioning nails, and they cause the very sores owners hope to prevent. Plastic perches are slick and offer no enrichment. Wood, rope and natural mineral surfaces only.
An African Grey has the cognition of a young child. A cage full of toys it has already solved is, to a Grey, an empty cage — and a bored Grey is a plucking, screaming Grey. The fix is not more toys; it is the right mix, zoned and rotated.
Zone, rotate and right-size the toys — the enrichment plan we send home with every C.A.Gs chick. Greys are relentless chewers, so soft-wood blocks, palm and cork toys are non-negotiable — destruction is the point, and a shredded toy is a job well done. Refresh these as they are demolished.
Soft-wood and palm chew toys earn their keep — destruction is the point. More in our care guide. Puzzle toys with latches, locks and stacking parts engage a Grey's problem-solving brain, while foraging toys that hide food make the bird work for every bite. As the World Parrot Trust's grey parrot profile ↗ documents, wild Greys spend much of the day foraging across the canopy — so foraging is the most mentally stimulating category of all, and the one that belongs in the lower zone.
Here is the tension: Greys are neophobic — they distrust brand-new objects — yet bored of familiar ones within a week. So keep a bin of 6–8 toys and every 5–7 days rotate out 2–3 while leaving 2 trusted toys as anchors.
Rotate across all four categories so the whole brain stays engaged: foraging (work for food), shreddable (chewing drive), puzzle (cognition), and small foot toys to manipulate.
In our aviary every bird gets fresh foraging daily and a 2–3 toy swap weekly, with shreddables refreshed as destroyed. New families get this exact schedule written down when a chick goes home.
African Greys chew their bars constantly, so your bird effectively eats a little of the cage every day. As LafeberVet's clinical guide to heavy-metal poisoning in birds ↗ explains, that turns material choice into a toxicology question — and the answer is mostly stainless steel.
304-grade stainless is the gold standard — inert, rust-proof, a once-in-a-bird's-life purchase across 40–60 years. Powder-coated steel is acceptable and cheaper, but only if the maker confirms, in writing, that the coating is lead-free and zinc-free.
Galvanized wire (common in hardware-store "flight cages") is zinc-coated — and as a peer-reviewed review of avian toxicoses ↗ documents, zinc and lead account for most companion-bird metal poisonings — while chrome plating flakes over time. Both are dangerous to a species that gnaws metal for fun — avoid them entirely.
Sudden appetite loss, regurgitation, unusual thirst, weakness or seizures can all signal zinc or lead poisoning. It moves fast; any combination is an emergency. Contact a board-certified avian vet immediately — the Association of Avian Veterinarians directory ↗ can help you find one — because it is treatable when caught early.
Placement is the most-ignored part of cage setup and one of the most important. Push the cage against at least one wall so your Grey isn't exposed on all sides, set the top near your eye level, and put it where the action is.
Wall-backed, in a busy room, at eye level — a setup a Grey feels secure in. Greys are intensely social and need to watch daily life. A cage marooned in a spare room breeds the isolation that drives screaming and plucking. The living room or a home office usually wins.
Never place a cage in or beside the kitchen. Overheated non-stick cookware releases PTFE (Teflon) fumes that the ASPCA's animal poison-control experts ↗ flag as odourless to us and lethal to birds within minutes.
Keep the cage clear of drafty doors, AC and heating vents, and more than a few hours of direct sun (which can overheat a bird with no shade). Natural light is good; baking behind glass is not.
As the avian team at Arizona Exotic Animal Hospital ↗ note, African Greys are especially prone to vitamin-D deficiency: because window glass filters out UVB, indoor Greys miss the wavelengths they need to make vitamin D3 and use calcium properly. A bird-safe UVB lamp on a timer for a few hours a day supplements that — it does not replace good diet or vet care, but it helps prevent the calcium issues Greys are prone to.
Real African Grey setups
Most setups fail the same handful of ways. If your build avoids these, you are already ahead of most owners — and most sellers.
Round cages give a bird no corner to feel secure in and waste usable space; undersized cages are the root of confinement stress. Go rectangular, go wide.
A wall-to-wall toy jungle leaves no room to flap and can stress or even injure a bird. Leave open flight space — fewer toys, rotated, beats a crowded cage.
Bowls under perches, a single uniform dowel, or every perch crammed at one height — each undoes the zoning you just built. Spread perches across the zones and keep food clear of droppings.
Go 40"×30"×60" at 7/8"–1" spacing — the build we send every Congo home to.
A 36"×24"×48" play-top at 3/4"–1" is the safe floor — never smaller.
Drop to 30"×20"×40" minimum at 5/8"–3/4" spacing — smaller head, tighter bars.
Use 7/8"–1" spacing regardless of subspecies until they fledge fully.
A safe, well-zoned cage is the easy part — the bird that lives in it is what matters. Here at C.A.Gs, every African Grey leaves fully weaned and socialised, with PCR DNA sexing, an avian-vet health certificate, and CITES Appendix I paperwork — all captive-bred in the USA and fully documented. We also walk every family through this exact cage blueprint before pickup.
Two of our hand-raised Greys in a finished setup — meet the birds available just below. Every bird below is hand-raised here in Midland and goes home cage-ready — fully weaned, PCR DNA-sexed, vet-checked and CITES-documented. Here's who we have available right now:
Baby Boy Midland, TX
Male · 4 mo · Congo African Grey
"Energetic, curious, and impossible to ignore."
Hand-raised male, 4 months old. Thrives in a lively home where there's always something to watch.
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
New Arrival Midland, TX
Female · 3 mo · Congo African Grey
"She mimics your laugh before you finish it."
Premium hand-raised female, 3 months old. Full social training. Responds to her name already.
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
Best Value Midland, TX
Female · 1 yr · Congo African Grey
"Gentle, easy, and the bird first-time owners dream of."
Soft temperament, easy to handle. 1-year-old female — personality fully developed, ready to bond.
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
Must-Go Pair Midland, TX
Pair · 4–6 mo · Congo African Grey
"Two birds, one bond. They go together — and so do you."
Unrelated pair, must be adopted together. Jins (male, 6mo) + Jeni (female, 4mo). Both hand-raised with full social training.
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
Timneh Midland, TX
Male · 5 mo · Timneh African Grey
"Smaller bird. Bigger personality than you expected."
Hand-raised male Timneh African Grey, 5 months old. Full social training. Ready to go home.
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
Timneh Midland, TX
Female · 6 mo · Timneh African Grey
"Calm, clever, and ready to come home."
Hand-raised female Timneh African Grey, 6 months old. Full social training. Gentle and sociable.
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
Ready to set up a home for one of ours?
Ships nationwide · $185 airport · $350 home
IATA-compliant transport · Delta / United / American · IATA LAR
See all available African Greys Ask a breeder— Written by Mark & Teri Benjamin, the breeders behind C.A.Gs · USDA-licensed African Grey aviary, Midland, TX
A Congo African Grey needs at least 36" wide × 24" deep × 48" tall, and a Timneh at least 30" × 20" × 40" — but wider is genuinely better, and 48"–60" of width is the sweet spot. Bar spacing should be 3/4"–1" for Congos and 5/8"–3/4" for Timnehs. Skip round cages; parrots need corners to feel secure.
Against a wall, at eye level, in a room the family actually uses — Greys are intensely social and need to watch daily life. Keep the cage well away from the kitchen (PTFE/Teflon fumes are lethal), away from drafts and vents, and out of more than a few hours of direct sun.
Hang 4–7 toys at a time across four categories — foraging, shreddable, puzzle, and foot toys — and keep a bin of 6–8 so you can rotate. Swap 2–3 toys every 5–7 days while leaving 2 familiar ones in place, so the cage stays interesting without triggering neophobia.
They benefit from it. African Greys are prone to calcium and vitamin-D issues, and a bird-safe UVB lamp (run on a timer for a few hours daily, never through window glass) helps them synthesise vitamin D3 and use calcium properly. It supplements — it does not replace — a good pellet-based diet and vet care.
No. A cage is a secure base, not a full-time home. Greys need at least 4 hours of supervised out-of-cage time daily plus 10–12 hours of quiet, covered sleep. Confining a Grey to its cage around the clock is one of the fastest routes to feather plucking and screaming.
3/4"–1" for adult Congos and 5/8"–3/4" for Timnehs. For just-weaned fledglings we run 7/8"–1": at 3/4" a clumsy young bird can wedge a wing or head. The rule is simple — your Grey should never be able to push its head through the gap.
Two Greys need more width and floor space than one — not a taller cage. For a bonded or companion pair, start around 48" wide × 30" deep × 60" tall and go wider if you can, and give each bird its own perches, food and water bowls and toys so they never have to compete. Unbonded birds especially need the room to retreat from each other.
A companion cage and a breeding cage are different jobs. The play-top setup in this guide is for a pet Grey; a bonded breeding pair needs a larger flight-style enclosure with a nest box and nesting privacy, sized up beyond the companion minimums. If you are setting up to breed rather than to keep a companion, plan around the pair's flight space and the nest box, not a single-bird footprint.
It is right at the edge. That cage clears our 48" height minimum easily and 37" of length is fine, but 22" of depth is just under the 24" we want for a Congo to turn and stretch comfortably. Plenty of supervised out-of-cage time (4+ hours daily) genuinely helps, but the cage is still where your Grey sleeps and spends the day when you are not home — so we treat 24" depth as the floor, not 22". If you already own it, add that out-of-cage time and prioritise width on your next cage.
