Newborn Baby & Parrots

[ConcernedParent]

We have 2 Sunday Conures and a Quaker. We have recently had a child of our own and are now wondering if it is safe to have a newborn baby in a home with these parrots.

Our first concern is with the noise level. As soon as we are within eyeshot of the conures they will call, this will calm down as we spend some time in the same room as them, but these calls can be 90db+. I don't want my baby to lose her hearing due to it.

Also, we are being told by people that there are diseases our baby can catch by being in the same house as the birds. Are there any parrot owners out there who have faced these issues? If so, what was your experience?

 

[DebsFlock]

Only if your birds have psittacosis. They have heard of parrot fever and are being paranoid, IMO. I don't have children, so I can't really comment on having a baby and birds at the same time, but I know plenty of people do!

Unless the bird cage is adjacent to the crib, and probably even if, I can't imagine the noise would do any damage. I''d guess it is more likely they are plucking your last nerve due to lack of sleep...

 

[Trina]

JMO but every animal can pose a threat to any child, a dog, cat, bird etc.Cats are of great concern to pregnant woman and infants more concern than a parrot IMO.I have a sun conure, although at times he can be a bit annoying, there is no way he his calls could has hearing harm.

As deb said unless your parrot has psittacosis there is nothing to worry about and from what i have researched on bird diseases this is an airborne disease and could effect the elderly or a child with a weak immune system and give them flu like symptoms with or without treatment, its really not harmful to humans that have a normal immune system. A humans immune system would have to be extremely weak to effect them.

Really we can do more harm to our parrots then they can to us, parrots that do have a disease most cannot be past to a human; however, letting a parrot munch on a piece of food after we bit it, can be harmful to the parrot, human friendly bacteria is in our mouth can make a parrot very ill even kill the parrot. Thats why parrots not supposed to eat after us or pick our teeth

 

[cdog]

First off congrats on your newborn, how exciting!

Second, they noise shouldnt be a problem at all, my neighbors baby comes over here all the time, and I have 6 conures, and she doesnt even wake up!
And there really isn't any danger of a human catching a disease from a bird, it's really the other way around.

 

[ConcernedParent]

Thank you for the reassuring comments. I think our biggest problem is that the people putting these ideas in our heads don't own any birds. That's why we came here to post our concerns. As far as our flock goes, we have had our Quaker for two years and our Conures for a year. They havent shown any signs of psittacosis and their avain vet never mentioned it. Does this disease lie dormant and require a blood test or is the lack of any symptoms enough to know that we are good to go.

 

[ConcernedParent]

First off congrats on your newborn, how exciting!

Second, they noise shouldnt be a problem at all, my neighbors baby comes over here all the time, and I have 6 conures, and she doesnt even wake up!
And there really isn't any danger of a human catching a disease from a bird, it's really the other way around.

We noticed that too. I think with our baby hearing the birds from within the womb for months, it was just an everyday sound to her. She isn't phased at all by the birds calling and letting us know whenever someone walks by the house or comes to the door. However, if the bedroom door is a little creaky or you open a can of pop she may wake.

 

[cdog]

I know, it's the weirdest things that wake them up. They can sleep through a parade but when you open up the fridge they immediately scream, it's just strange.

 

[DebsFlock]

I forgot to say "Congratulations"!!!!

The bacterium that causes psitticosis (Chlamydia pssittici) can be normal flora in a healthy bird, but it is my understanding it is only contagious to humans and other birds if the bird is clinically ill and "shedding" large quantities of bacteria. In that case it could be spread by breathing feather dust or fecal matter in the air, but the rate of transmission to healthy people is quite low even so. I believe there are tests for chronic/low level infections, but I'm not sure how reliable they are. These would be good questions for your avian vet. But to put this into perspective, exposure to pigeons in the park is probably a lot more risky than your indoor, well-cared-for parrots. Pigeons are notorious for having the disease and virtually all are carriers.

A disease that can be transmitted from a non-human animal to a human is called a "zoonosis" and there are a few more relevant to parrots, but chances of exposure are very slim. Indeed, our birds can't typically catch diseases from us, either, but as an earlier poster pointed out, the normal bacteria in our mouths are potentially quite hazardous to them.

While pregnant women do need to be careful if there are cats in the house, it's not the cat per se that poses a risk, it's the litterbox. Pregant women are generally advised to avoid cleaning litterboxes as there is a chance of acquiring toxoplasmosis, but handling cats is not a problem and the old wives tales about cats sucking breath out of newborns -- well, let's not go there.

 

[AFP520]

Are your birds clipped? I think it is ok, but the claws and beaks can be sharp. I would just make sure to always use caution when the baby and birds make contact. Other than that, I think it will be a cute photo op!

 

[AVM]

Congrats!!
I got my sun conure when my baby girl was 4 months old, I would keep phoenix busy during my babies nap time and when we were all together I would be really careful to keep them apart, because they were both curious about each other. You have the advantage of already knowing what your parrots are capable of and I think that if you find a way of keeping them quiet while your baby naps it will make your job a bit easier.
It's hard at times, specially when she's crying and the other one is squaking lol (they gang up on me). But it's very rewarding IMO specially when I saw my baby sharing her fruit with phoenix. it just melted my heart!

 

[hhohho91]

I also have this question in mind- can a newborn take parrots' noise level.
I have a Senegal parrot and expecting a baby in Oct..
Since we live in apartment and I don't want to keep the bird & baby in the same room (in the begining), so I am trying to get my parrot getting used to her own space- living room, while baby will be in the back.
And I found it's quite difficult because parrot becomes noisy when I am not around.
Don't know if it's gonna be a problem when baby arrives....
For now I decide to keep it, if parrot wakes baby up all the time I will think something else (maybe bring to the bird shop or friend's house for a month).
Happy to see many assuring respondings here, give me more confidence!

 

[hhohho91]

Hi ConcernedParent, I also have the same question in mind.
We are expecting our first baby in Oct., and wondering whether the newborn can take the noise level (my Senegal parrot shouts constantly if she doesn’t see me, and the sound is pretty sharp).
Since you already had the baby born (did you?), I would like to listen to your experience…..
Is the parrot gonna wake up the sleeping baby? (sometimes it's quiet for a while, and all of a sudden it screams).
I am sure it will get better later on, because I will let the baby play with bird. But just wonder the beginning…..(I wouldn't let bird & baby sleep in the same room on the first week).
Anyone who has these kind of experience please give me advise too! Thanks.