Their intelligence makes the African grey a very demanding pet, however. You must absolutely be prepared to spend lots of time with an African grey, providing social contact as well as mental stimulation. Greys have been described as being the emotional equivalent of a two year old human, with the intelligence of a five year old. This means they need a lot of attention and patience, along with a good deal of guidance to acceptable behavior. And, they can be a challenge to deal with at times!
African greys tend to be quite cautious with new situations and new people, although devoted to their owners. They have a reputation as one-person birds, but that is largely because often only one person in a household spends enough time with a grey to really form a close bond. Make an effort to socialize a grey with lots of people, although you will have to give your parrot the chance to become comfortable with any new person. A grey will happily interact with more than one person as long as the effort is made by each person to spend enough time to earn the trust and companionship of the bird.
