To Kiss or not to Kiss ?

[lovemyGreys]

Do you kiss your bird ? or just a little peck ?

I thought it would be useful to know the facts on kissing our birds.

As affectionate as it may seem, it is inadvisable to kiss your Grey.

It is highly unlikely that our bird will pass anything onto us but there is always the possibility that we may pass something on to them through saliva, germs on the lips, sneezing etc..

Something small to us such as a cold virus can be potentially dangerous to our birds, so why take the risk ?

There is always the danger no matter how well you know / trust your parrot it may & can bite your face.

Anyone who says that it can't happen with their bird just doesn't know the full scope of what a parrot can do when it wants to.If a parrot were to bite, the owner would mistake it for aggression which it isn't.

There's plenty of other ways to show affection to a parrot,A head tickle/scratch, a gentle caress of the beak with your forefinger & thumb,what ever your grey is comfortable with

[danmcq]

Good topic lovemygreys.

 

My Wife and I both give Dayo little "pecks", but only with the top of the lip, to avoid the dangers you mention of passing on a bacterial or viral infection to him. Although I do not know of any viral infection that can be passed, bacterial is the main concern.

 

As you also pointed out, the bite or really just a possible hard beaking that could occur to the soft lip tissue is the BIG concern. As we all know, they feel and communicate with their Beaks.

 

We will probably discontinue this when Dayo starts getting a little older (He's 4 months now)due to the way they assert themselves more as they mature.

 

Dayo likes to "Preen" my Moustache, which is rather funny :-), but still, the danger exists.

 

I am sure others here have read or talked to Grey or other Parrot owners that have sustained facial disfiguring of the lip area just from a simple act of the Parrots assertion of just wanting to have their space at that moment.

 

This is a good topic that new and perhaps unaware Parrot owners will find enlightening.

[Toni]

yea I give Alcazar kisses on his head not on his beak or wings. With me having the daycare we get colds around here and colds start off at least a day before you notice you have one. Plus yea I am afraid of him getting me w/ his beak.

[judygram]

I give Josey kisses too, and as she is still a baby at 15 months, I feel it is still a safe bet. She has never bitten me so far, but soon she will assert her independence more and I may have to assess the situation then and make adjustments.

 

But thanks Tracy, for bringing up this subject, it is an important one to consider, and one some of us haven't thought about much, but I guess we should for not one of us wants the kind of scar that a real nasty bite could leave us with.:ohmy:

[Guest Monique]

The main thing is even if we are not sick our body systems are completely different from our parrots. So bacteria alive and well in our saliva that is doing us no harm can harm our parrot - and not necessarily in a way that they will show outward signs that we can fix it, either... It is so hard for me to resist kissing my birds!

[Talon]

We do have bacteria in our saliva that is harmful to our birds. Most avian vets will tell you to refrain from kissing them on the beak, as well as not allowing them to play with our teeth, eating off our utensils, and drinking from our cups.

[Guest briansmum]

i do give brian pecks on the top of his beak and all over the rest of him(while he lets me) my lips are always dry though no saliva has been passed. i won't let him put his beak in my mouth, though thats not through his lack of trying!

[judygram]

You got that right, when you have them on your shoulder you have to keep the mouth shut or they will try to get inside to investigate those white things and that fat round looking object.{Feel-good-0002006E}

[Talon]

Yup! Talon wants to pull your teeth out if you let her.

{Characters-0002005B}

[Trina]

I am definately a kisser! We practise safe kissing no exchange of bodily fluids, which is more than I can say when I kiss my dogs...YUCK! Life is full of dangers but I figure you can't control everything. I wash my hands before I handle my bird and I figure my dry lips are relatively clean or at least cleaner than the floor that he likes to walk around on. But hey that is just ME!

[judygram]

I think most of us are kissers, who isn't, you just can't resist those sweet little birds beaks. And as long as we just allow them touching the dry part of the lips, it is safe enough.

 

But these lips don't touch dog lips, yuck.

 

Thats good advice, Trina, washing your hands before handling your bird, something we should all do perhaps.

[Toni]

Well Im safe w/ hand washing. I wash my hands about 20 times a day or use the sanitizer.

Yea Judy I know what you mean of dog kisses. YUCKK. Bailey doesnt do that but Shanook likes to sneak one to me when I give her a treat. I always tell her....." I told you I dont like that" she just looks at me.

But for real dont forget what else they lick ewwwww ewwww ewwww...lol

[loviechick]

I give kisses to all of mine on the beak, it's hard to resist, but they don't pick my teeth or anything eeew! LOL

[judygram]

You got that right, Toni, and they do it because they can.:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

I just pucker up and kiss away, Josey and Sunny that is, not anything else.:blink:

[Guest Monique]

My Grey when I do kiss him (yes I know I am not supposed to) but he is just not reliable. He may take a little bite if he is feeling hungry. I don't think it's an ornary thing with him ... he just is goofy that way. My Macaw, though, will french kiss you if you let him!!!! :ohmy:

[Guest]

Monique wrote:

......... My Macaw, though, will french kiss you if you let him!!!! :ohmy:

 

:laugh:

[mas]

We do give Zahzu kisses, but don't let her near the inside of our mouths.

Having worked in physical rehab - human bites are the most nasty bites I've seen - the infections are always so much more severe than any cat or dog bite; we humans are pretty ughy when it comes to bacteria ;-)

[lovemyGreys]

Thanks for your input mas, gosh i bet you have seen some awful sites

And thanks for bringing this old topic back up, we have many new members who may not be aware of the damage that can be caused by the simple act of kissing our greys

[danmcq]

Just remember folks, when us Parrot owners say "kiss" we don't mean a slobery, wet french kiss. We mean a short peck, no fluids involved. ;-) B)

 

Example of how NOT TO Kiss your Grey:

 

[lovemyGreys]

:laugh: Well thank you Dan, but yes remember no

[judygram]

Thanks Dan, I think:S

 

I only have a problem out of Sunny the conure, she will try to get inside my mouth, she will stick her beak to where your mouth comes together and she will dig with her beak trying to get in, she cracks me up for I just squeeze my lips together that much harder to prevent her from getting inside my mouth.:ohmy:

[Tycos_mom]

I give Tyco dry kisses on the top of his beak Its the only place on her entire body that she will let me touch

I also can touch her beak with my finger a giveit a little rub but those are the only two kinds of affection she will allow and I have to be very careful with the fingers because shes very afraid of hands so if I want to touch her beak I have to tell her in advance that I'm going to touch her beak then she lets me most of the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Nychsa]

Bella and I give loud air kisses to each other. Her air kisses are hilariously loud and sound awefully salatious!

 

I do kiss her neck and blow rasberries on her belly when we play.

 

My biggest problem with Bella is she tries to get into my mouth with her beak. I clamp down my lips and move my head away, but she tries furiously to get her beak into my mouth, so I usually have to move her away. It breaks my heart because I don't want her to think I don't love her and I know birds show love by regurgitating for each other, so I try to give her a treat afterwards.