glove recommendation?

[triordan]

I was told today that i may want to get a glove in case of an emergency~ I want to be prepared so what type of glove would i need for a macaw? kevlar?

 

[greycloud]

Never use a glove on your bird! If the bird won't step up on you or a perch and it is an emergency, the best thing to do is towel the bird. If you need instructions hoe, we can provide them.
Using a glove can cause fear of your hands and ruin any bond you have with your bird.

 

[Ecclipse]

Hi Greycloud, I checked this thread out because I was interested to see what replies would come back from triordan's question. I have never used a glove and never thought to - although, I must say that my new lovebird's bite is worse than her bark - lol, she is getting tamer everyday. You said that a glove can cause a bird to fear your hand? Why? I know nothing about this and am interested to know

 

[greenbirdsf]

I agree, no gloves. Birds absolutely hate them. If you can not handle your bird without getting attacked, you need to work on the relationship. A stick to step up on is the alternative in a pinch.

 

[greycloud]

Unless your bird has been slowly introduced to them in a positive way, you can do more damage then good when using a glove. Most birds are fearful of the size of the glove and its movement. It stresses them and they do not know how to react to it. We are the ones who teach our birds to bite. By reacting in a negative, fearful way when the bird makes the movement to bite, it has now learned what works. Bites can hurt! Bad! The trick is to react to the bird before it makes any attempt to bite. Use a small toy and place it in front of the birds beak as soon as you see the slightest interest in the bird to beak you. Praise the bird if it touches the toy. For small to medium parrots who attempt to bite, I push into the beak when the bird bites. This causes the bird to let go and back up. Praise when he releases you.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

I third the opinion: no gloves. While you should work to minimize it, using a towel (to wrap around them) is okay in a pinch.

Another danger of a glove is that you can't feel what you are doing - it's just asking for a very tragic accident.

I have a towel/blankie that Auggie actually likes. He's not a big fan of being 'toweled' but it's his towel, he's familiar with it, and he's comfortable with it.

Its actually a cat blanket I got at a pet store. I leave it on top of Auggie's cage - he'll crawl under it and play with it regularly.

I'd recommend getting him a nice little (or not so little for a macaw) towel/blanket. Get him comfortable around it, let him feel that it is 'his'.

 

[triordan]

wow, i did read that gloves were difficult to introduce, but i didnt realize how strongly people felt about them...

 

[Bobby34231]

wow, i did read that gloves were difficult to introduce, but i didnt realize how strongly people felt about them...

Its not so much how strongly we feel about them, it's more on how strongly and how much of negitive effect it will have with your bird

 

[wicked demon]

I would tend to agree no gloves but every bird/situation is different. My bird HATED men when he came home with us, I had to use a leather glove if I want to get anywhere near him, at first tiki hated it, (maybe had been used to clip his wings in the past?) but after much patience he has slowly realized the glove is not the problem and has warmed up to it, but I never force the issue, and NEVER grab him with the gloved hand as it will destroy all the trust I have worked to gain, bottom line is what the glove is used for, and how it is introduced.

 

[Mel]

I agree with the other posts, in an emergency - use a towel. We always used towels at the vet hospital - even on wild birds. Not only does it keep them safe & restrained it distracts them, they usually would chew on the towel and not even notice what we were doing