Constantly chasing my lips?

[Dancake]

My sun conure is constantly chasing after my lips and trying to lick them, no matter how hard I try to stop her she just keeps running after them. I'm guessing she's either just exploring or trying to preen me, but I'm scared she's going to get saliva in her mouth and get sick or pass away. Anyone have any ideas on how I can stop this behavior? The only thing that works so far is distracting her with treats, but it only works for a little while. It was kinda cute at first but now it's just annoying lol.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

My sun conure is constantly chasing after my lips and trying to lick them, no matter how hard I try to stop her she just keeps running after them. I'm guessing she's either just exploring or trying to preen me, but I'm scared she's going to get saliva in her mouth and get sick or pass away. Anyone have any ideas on how I can stop this behavior? The only thing that works so far is distracting her with treats, but it only works for a little while. It was kinda cute at first but now it's just annoying lol.

Kinda sweet that she loves you enough to want to "kiss" your lips, BUT I would discourage this for a couple reasons. First, your concern about human saliva. Second, your lips are VERY sensitive and even a nip would be very painful and a bite could be disfiguring, and no parrot should be trusted to never bite.

 

[saxguy64]

My Tucker is like that. Mostly just wants lots and lots of kisses, but will occasionally grab at my lips... or ear... or nose. Never hard though, and I don't worry about him biting. Like you said, it just gets kind of annoying when he's being so persistent. I usually just purse my lips together tight so there's nothing to grab and no saliva for him to get at. Life goes on. Perks of being adored by a birdie.

 

[onamom]

I taught Ona how to "kiss" and she does this to me sometimes. It is incredibly sweet and she will often initiate a nice, gentle kiss Sometimes though she will be a bit too... aggressive with her kisses I always tell her the same word I use for when she bites too hard, "gentle". Sometimes if I just give her a kiss back in response she will stop. She can be demanding with her affection!

 

[clark_conure]

So long as it's gentle it's fine. You both have mites and ingest eachothers skin cells and stuff everyday. I'd only worry about it if I got sick or they got sick. Bird kissy is best kissy.

If you just got a bird and are quarenteening one I'd say no but, parrots are pretty hardy guys.....

Also are you using lipstick or chapstick or eat very tastey stuff etc.? They might be attracted to that.

 

[PrimorandMoxi]

You know...
every time Primor stepped up i'd give him a kiss,
Or just hanging out on my finger he's so sweet I'd have to give him a peck on his beak.

Without realizing I target trained him to my lips.
If I get him anywhere near within reaching distance he will automatically put his beak to my lips ha-ha poor thing.

I absolutely don't let him get near my saliva though.

 

[Dancake]

So long as it's gentle it's fine. You both have mites and ingest eachothers skin cells and stuff everyday. I'd only worry about it if I got sick or they got sick. Bird kissy is best kissy.

If you just got a bird and are quarenteening one I'd say no but, parrots are pretty hardy guys.....

Also are you using lipstick or chapstick or eat very tastey stuff etc.? They might be attracted to that.

I've gotten more used to it now, I don't mind it as much now, but I just fear she's going to get sick because she doesn't just put her beak on my lips, she actively is trying to stuff her beak in my mouth, which is both very uncomfortable and very scary as I really don't want her licking the inside of my mouth. Also, to answer your question, I don't use lipstick or chapstick, and she does it just as much even if i haven't eaten recently. She's just a big ol' silly, lol!

 

[clark_conure]

Might be training to be a dental hygentist....you're just blocking her career path.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

I've gotten more used to it now, I don't mind it as much now, but I just fear she's going to get sick because she doesn't just put her beak on my lips, she actively is trying to stuff her beak in my mouth, which is both very uncomfortable and very scary as I really don't want her licking the inside of my mouth. Also, to answer your question, I don't use lipstick or chapstick, and she does it just as much even if i haven't eaten recently. She's just a big ol' silly, lol!

Many years ago when I didn't know better I had a wonderful hand fed baby male cockatiel, Charlie, that would eat off my lips- nothing really gross, but if I ate a cracker I would put some of the lightly chewed cracker on my lips and Charlie would eat it like I was his mama bird. My husband did the same thing. I DO NOT recommend this for obvious reasons, and fortunately Charlie never got sick. The point is that Charlie was so gentle and never once bit me anywhere so I trusted his beak with my lips. My Budgie Rocky is also hand fed and very tame but she would definitely bite my lips if I let her get that close to them. Each bird is different.

 

[clark_conure]

No one wants to admit it but every owner...has tounge touched a birds wing....a frog lick if you will. The birds live with you. They drink your drinks, they eat your food. They eat the food you hand pour into thier bowls. I'd rather kiss a bird then swim in a lake at this point with those stories that keep coming out.