Can I Eat After My Bird?

[aquariusrising]

She is always on my shoulder and crawls down my arm every time I have a snack or meal. It is really hard to keep the food away from her so if its something safe for her I let her. Is it okay for me to take a bite after her and vice versa?

 

[ToMang07]

I do all the time.... Just keep the feet off, lol

 

[Captsteve]

Um....YES!

 

[Mimsy01]

Thats how we got Foo to try food other than her seed mix she was originally on. She'd only try it if we did.

We have to pretend to chew on all new toys as well before she will deem it safe for her.

 

[aquariusrising]

Okay, thats great to hear! My husband works for a hospital and we have a 3 year old. He is so paranoid she will get something from the birds. He said there are five main things they carry, I don't know how common they are but I have my conure with me all the time and I don't want to limit our relationship because of something unlikely like that.

 

[Captsteve]

The worst you will get from your pet is CONURE COOTIES!! ewwwwww

 

[Solo]

There are certain things that your bird can carry and pass on to you, but the chances of your pet parrot having one of those is highly unlikely. Also human saliva is said to be possibly harmful to your bird, because let's face it..our mouths are dirty. However, I would be unsuccessful at any attempt to keep Phoebes tongue out of my mouth. She sits on my shoulder and we will share bananas, peaches and cherries. Still can't get her to eat much veggie, so I'll be happy with what she does enjoy now.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

What I do, is if it's a food Skittles can have, I share with him. If it's not a food he can have, I will prepare him something he can have. That works with me.

Just don't share food that has come into direct contact with your mouth (like sharing food on a fork). Our saliva has bacteria in it that birds are not immune to.

 

[aquariusrising]

Okay, so its more dangerous for Hula then it is for me.. thats even worse
Thanks for letting me know and thanks everyone for your responses, I love hearing about everyone else's relationships with their birds.

 

[brianlinkles]

Mammals ( including us) carry gram negative bacteria. Birds are not able to fight off / tolerate this. It is very dangerous for our birds to come into contact with our saliva. Share your food but not if it has come into contact with your mouth.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Okay, so its more dangerous for Hula then it is for me.. thats even worse
Thanks for letting me know and thanks everyone for your responses, I love hearing about everyone else's relationships with their birds.

That's exactly it. The only health threat that parrots are likely to pose to humans is allergy to feathers/dander. As for anything else, we are a greater danger to them on a number of fronts.

A tip to keep in mind is that eating habits for our companion parrots are much different than they are for dogs/cats.

Experts will say not to feed your dog/cat at the table cause it will teach them to 'beg'. But with parrots, that's how they eat in the wild. They follow the flock and once one has found food, the others gather to eat. So your parrot is going to want to eat with you. I, personally, think it's cruel to eat in front of them and not offer them something they can have. That's just me, though.

 

[ruffledfeathers]

My Gil is a professional beggar. Yes, to the point that I have to tell my friends "NO" sometimes. (a nibble here and there of something unhealthy, ok, if it helps him make new friends. BUT he thinks all he has to do is be cute and beg and he can get whatever he wants. Not a good habit, LOL).

 

[swagheichou]

I always do--I think I've even drank water after my conure tried to take a bath in it, and frequently accept food from my bird's beak after his attempts to shove it in my face (I've practically been force fed blueberries)

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

My neighbor thinks I 'spoil' Skittles because I peel and wash his grapes or cut up pasta or veggies for him. Um, it's called 'responsible ownership'. Duh. LOL.

I don't mind sharing food with Skittles, but he gets quite bossy with human food.

I can't tell you how many times I've shared food with him and while I'm trying to give him some, he'll rip it out of my hand and take off. Then come flying back when he wants more. Like he's saying 'gimme gimme'. Then when I try to 'clean up' his mess, he gets nasty. Like, "hey, those are MY crumbs!".

 

[Anansi]

There are VERY FEW things that can be passed from bird to human. Psittacosis is one of the biggies, though. If your bird has been cleared on that front, you're likely all good with eating after your bird. But as stated before, you should definitely avoid your bird eating after you.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

True, and it's very rare to find cases of psittacosis in a parrot that was purchased from a local pet store or a reputable breeder. I think most cases of that occur when buying them from other parts of the world and importing them.

Even when there was that whole 'avian flu' pandemic a few years back - that was limited to fowl and farm animals. Chickens etc. I've not heard of any case of a parrot spreading avian flu to a human. I'm pretty sure they can't catch the human flu either.

 

[JerseyWendy]

There are VERY FEW things that can be passed from bird to human. Psittacosis is one of the biggies, though. If your bird has been cleared on that front, you're likely all good with eating after your bird. But as stated before, you should definitely avoid your bird eating after you.

...but...but....I don't WANT all that nutty-smelling goo Niko often generously offers in sometimes rather large quantities.... :54:

 

[JellyBean]

When I was trying to get JellyBean to eat Harrisons pellets - I would pretend to eat them making yumming eating noises... Now everytime JellyBean eats the pellets, he does exactly the same!!! It is very funny!