I meant before that, which I also think is overrated. More damage is being done from the restrictions than the actual virus. If I was the government I'd just make recommendations to everyone, not shut down half the businesses so everyone goes bankrupt. Here in the UK we just ignore the rules anyway, everyone goes to visit people, and I just bought two parrots from a petshop that wasn't allowed to sell them to me, and I didn't wear a mask either. 80% of people are immune and get no symptoms, 19% get bed-ridden for 2 weeks, and only 1% die. I ain't changing my life for 1%.

Same here.

I still do, don't tell me you avoid that!? I even drink from them while swimming, saves carrying drinks with me. I did get a stomach upset from drinking a river I was swimming in, but that was so murky you couldn't see more than a foot through the water. Lots of fields, probably insecticides that disagreed with me.

I still do. A shop shouldn't be selling me vegetables with toxins on them! Don't you have regulations over there on food products?

I go by the smell and what it looks like. I've seen dairy things go off a few days before the use by date, and some a month after. Canned stuff a year after.

I think you do get selection in captivity. Unless everyone is over cautious! Hey one of mine ate chocolate and salted crisps for several years until someone told me they're alledgedly deadly. Funny how he's perfectly healthy.

I find cats are worse. They catch fleas. And nothing kills fleas, they become immune to a new chemical as soon as it's invented. And contrary to popular belief, cats are not clean. They never wash, not properly in a bath (and most don't let you!), fleas are not removed by licking!

I STILL do most of those things (minus the smelly mud-spa..hard to find the time... haha) --- yes, but I always wash hands before eating---I do this as soon as I walk in, because I get spit in my mouth and eyes on a near-daily basis (because a kid who turns to cough away from people, will always cough on the teacher lol!). SURE, kids shove everything into their mouths, but if we are talking older kids, of course I ask them to wash before eating (especially in the current climate)- If you spent the time I have spent teaching kids, you'd know to wash your hands....I have seen things that would make your blood run cold-- I kid you not. Unmentionable body parts on drinking fountain spouts...tongues dragged across the entire frozen food aisle...so many hands in pants and everywhere else..and hepatitis etc-- that's real too!



I know that non-teachers don't get exposed at the level that I do, but I just hope you are grateful for the teachers on the front lines of nastiness who ask kids to wash their hands periodically....


I get sick maybe 1x a year (including colds). I kid you not when I say that a kid with hepatitis, literally look a chewed caramel out of her mouth and put it in mine to be nice....At the same time, I have a healthy co-worker who now has a collapsed lung... young...from illness..


So yeah...I wash hands these days...it's the least I can do. People have gotten very very sick from kids when they do not do these things, and if teachers in special settings didn't insist upon some hygiene, then there would be lots more sick people and lots fewer teachers.


People have died (pre-covid) from the stuff I am describing-- people who were healthy....So just try not to get too confident, when I lived in India, even kids who grew up drinking nasty water literally died from it at times....the same water I also have consumed. It can be really serious.


I'm on a different rant now LOL but I just want you to understand that parrots in homes=unnatural and they do not have the same built-in immunity (due to stress/lack of exposure to native bacteria etc)...And then, on top of that, parrots, but also people can die from stuff if you miscalculate..Just because you expose yourself on purpose, does not mean that you will survive when stuff gets serious. I literally watched co-workers pass out in Kolkata and run fevers in the 106 region (from boiling and drinking tap water as tea). You would think that would be enough, but it isn't necessarily.



It's also not just about the individual, it's about who the individual could spread things to....So, yeah, a kid could get something and fight it off, but that doesn't mean they aren't spreading it to others---- same with parrots and other parrots. I fully disagree with your beliefs about COVID and restrictions, but that is off-topic more than I already am, so I'll leave that alone.


Your parrots may SEEM fine, but they can make others sick, but they can also spread illness in droppings, feather dust etc. It's important to be more cautious-- the things you said about zinc are quite concerning, but each to his own.

I used to be an IT tech in a school, and our kids didn't behave that badly! It wasn't a particularly well off area either, plenty of council housing. They called me sir! Actually I think they were ruder to the teachers. I'm a very easy going and friendly person and never got anyone into trouble. I was walking along with the deputy head one day and two boys said a bunch of swearwords, then noticed us both. I yelled "mind your f---ing language!" (without the ---) and the deputy was speechless.

Actually if I had kids I'd home school them. School is too full of pointless lessons.

Same here, but I attribute it to being healthy. I swim outdoors in winter. It works for the Scandinavians and Russians, not sure why. Boosts your immune system somehow.

Ugh! I would never have done that as a kid without a disease!

Yeah well I'm not in contact with all the stuff you are!

Generally they live a lot longer in captivity. So we're doing something right.

What concerns you about me and zinc? My vet says the amount in their blood is almost zero, so nothing to worry about. He told me the level they call dangerous, and mine were a tiny fraction of that.

I'm not telling you you can't take some risks- but parrots are sensitive-- very..And I love mine so much, that I would feel very guilty if things when wrong...I am very cautious already, but we have already had a few dangerous situations (despite precautions).


Lol-- funny you mention outdoor swimming because about 1 hour before I replied to this post, I had been Googling swimming temperatures and shock. The coldest I have gone without a wet suit was 50 f in Galway Bay with a 58 degree f air temp and that felt super cold!


I guess I'd just say that COVID started with one person (probably far from where you are) and spread like crazy. Hand-washing is not bad--- you can still be a healthy person and wash hands without ruining natural immunity/exposure.



For parrots, so many die in captivity due to human causes or diagnosed illness, so yeah, while the wild may be harsher, the same could be said of humans---there are people in very poor areas living to be 30 -50 years and that's fine(?), but not their potential...it could be much better


The thing is, humans often kill parrots by mistake, as our environments are so contrary to theirs...Heck, we have gram negative bacteria in our saliva, we live in houses full of chemicals and they have access to all of this toxic stuff that they wouldn't in the wild.


Zinc poisoning is also a real threat to captive parrots, given their level of potential exposure in captivity.

Many, many species can handle very cold temps. It’s the drafts that make them sick.

Now Michigan...that’s a different story.

Hmmm, seen this kind of gaming before...

Parrots are a very fragile creatures, take great care not to forget that singular point as you continue your journey.

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I get the impression from your other posts that you already have the outside aviary, where your birds live mostly. And also your birds currently need human intervention to come inside, but you'd like them to be able to enter freely. Is that right?

Seems to me that a pet-flap -TYPE- installation probably is indeed best idea.

BAsically you want to install a window-frame large enough for your bird(s) to pass thru, made of a bird-safe wood. Then instead of a glass window you want to fill that frame with some type of bird-Safe but bird-Manipulable material which they can open to pass thru, and which will self-close behind them. Right?

I think it sounds like a great plan. If you find a pet-flap of the right size, and can verify the materials with the mfg, that's probably the easiest way to go. But otherwise if you are handy, or if you know & can afford reliable contractors, seems like it should work fine.

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They are not really pets. They are small People with wings and Opinions. They pay no rent, expect you to come when they call, & like to destroy stuff.

How would you keep other animals from getting in as well? Would the flap be elevated or would if require them to walk on the ground? Would there still be a safe/comfortable area for them outside in the event that the door didn't work or something?

It doesn't matter what you're careful with, there's always something you forget. I've even rewired my microwave to remove the earth (earths are extremely dangerous as they provide a completed circuit, in a parrot's case through the feet with the beak on the live) as one kept chewing the cable.

Shock indeed. So what if you scream like a girl, it won't kill you. I don't by the way, I just take in a gasp of air and enjoy it.

Wow, you think 10C is cold?! That's halfway to room temperature! Not even cold enough to make your teeth chatter.

I never wear a wet or dry suit. I call them wimpsuits.

Washing your hands all the time means your immune system never gets any exercise. It's actually very bad.

You can't win them all. But if we advance science enough we should all live forever. While life has a finite time, I don't see the point in taking that much care over protecting it.

Yeah well I don't let them get into cupboards full of bleach! But we do share food which people say is bad for them. I've never had a problem with that.

I'm assuming from badly made things. You can zinc plate or you can galvanise. The plating comes off by rubbing. Mine have nothing like the toxic levels according to the vet, despite being in a galvanised aviary all the time.

I assume you're referring to wind chill.