african Gray sleeping on bottom of cage

Question
We just purchased a baby African gray. He is 4 months old. Everything seemed great, until tonight. When I went to cover him for the night, he was lying on the bottom of the cage. I was about an hour late in covering him up. Is it OK for them to sleep lying down. Normally he is on a perch when I cover him. I have never seen him lie down. Please help.

Answer
A 4 month old MIGHT lay at the bottom of a cage (see our baby macaw doing this, laying on his back www.4AnimalCare.org [click on 'birds'] ) - however, it's also a significant symptom of illness in some cases.

If your bird wasn't so young, I'd be VERY worried and insist you get him to the avian (or other bird qualified) vet today!  This is something you need to keep in mind ok?

It's your judgement call - only you can really see what's going on.  
 If you haven't had him established at a vet - this may be the time to do it.
 It's the very first thing we do with all of our new rescues because believe me, having someone you know and who knows your bird, makes it much easier to deal with emergencies that WILL occur in the middle of the night, on a weekend or holiday and just a week after you get laid off and need someone to be understanding with payments.

Good luck and by the way, congratulations on your new little one!