Abstract 25 years ago the ten species of Poicephalus parrots have been among the least known parrots,both in the wild and in captivity. They have then been kept only in small numbers in the zoos and were – with the exception of Senegal- ( Poicephalus senegalus ) and Meyers Parrots ( P. meyeri ) – also rare in private collections. Meanwhile several field studies in East- and South-Africa have been conducted and private breeding programmes have been set up in Danmark, Germany and the Netherlands. So the captive populations in Europe have increased and most species (with the exception of the non-imported P. crassus and P. flavifrons ) have been bred in respectable numbers. In the last decade the author was successful in breeding four of the eight imported species ( P. senegalus, meyeri, gulielmi and cryproxanthus ,) gives details on keeping and breeding, problems with raising the chicks, the co-housing with Agapornis parrots and summarizes present-day keeping guidelines for Poicephalus parrots.