Teaching a Congo to talk

[Tastebuds]

Me and my fiance adopted an 18 month Congo 1 month ago. He is very sweet and loveable. He lets us pet him, eats out of our hands and loves sitting on my shoulder while I am on my computer. He does not talk yet. He garbles alot and has learned to bark....mimicking my 2 Chihuahas! I don't know if he will ever talk (I hope he does) but we love him soooo much! His name is Smokey!!!!

We are working on changing his diet from only seeds (which the previous owners gave him) to pelleted food, fruits, and veggies. Surprisingly, it is going really well!

Any words of advice on teaching him to talk....I work with him alot face to face lately because I am on vacation until I start residency next Tuesday (I am a physician). When I start work, I will not have much time to spend teaching him to talk face to face. I have recorded me and my fiance's voice on my computer so he can listen to us. I have read many forums about Congos and also went to the library and got the book African Grey parrot handbook. It was very informative.

Any advice would be helpful!

Thanks guys!

[Lisa B]

Hi.
You will see, as he settles in, he will pick things up. The mumbling is praticing. My Emma is 6. She doesnt talk at all.

[stefan]

When we got ours at 3-4 months she was already vocalizing a lot. The vocalizing turned quickly to mumbling and baby talk and not long after to a not stop babelfest in three different human languages, Amazon, Sun Conure, Cricket, and fire alarm. She is 1 year old now. The face-to-face approach with good eye contact and physical closeness gives the best results. If I use new words with ours while she is on her back and cradled in my arms, you can watch her dilate her pupils while she takes it in. Usually in less than 24 hours, sometimes within an hour, she will deliver a pretty could facsimile of the new words.

Good luck