No, you can not touch my bird.

[ConureLady]

yesterday I took two of my trustworthy conures with me while shopping, since its the last few days that I can still take them out without the weather being too horrendous. I had one woman come running to try to touch my birds.. for the first time ever, I said NO.
I normally let kids see my birds and adults touch them... but I've grown cold after having a man poke my conure in the eye like it was a joke..

5 minutes later shes outside smoking a cigarette. and people wonder why they cant touch my birds..

let this be a lesson to everybody that socializes their birds!

you never know what gross stuff is on peoples hands. what if they didnt wash their hands after using the rest room? what if they are a gardener with asperigilous on their hands? what if they use teflon at home and have residue on them? what if they have perfume on their hands? what if they smoked on their way into the store? what if they just cleaned their house with toxic chemicals absorbed into their skin? what if they have a parrot at home with a bad disease?

Just say NO! lie, say "Dont touch him, he bites hard" even if hes not a biter, protect your bird!

 

[triordan]

birds can and do bite hard, so technically you aren't lying!

 

[MeganMango]

I have this rule about all my pets. Sometimes people with the best intentions can do a lot of harm. Often people are just clueless about animals

 

[Bengara]

When people come to our aviary, we make them use hand sanitizer before and after entering the aviary. Baby birds are very susceptible to different diseases.

 

[BillsBirds]

I use my birds as therapy birds and in educational classes. I do let people touch them, but, they must use hand sanitizer before and after, which I bring with us. When out in public, nobody touches them. I also tell people that they may bite. If anyone pushes the issue, I may bite!

 

[Remy]

I make people use hand sanitizer, and I tell them that I can't guarantee that he won't bite! With Puck, I told them that he "does bite, but probably won't right now".

 

[WannaBeAParrot]

.... If anyone pushes the issue, I may bite!

That is priceless.

 

[Mudkips]

These days I let anyone hold Birdy if they ask first. If they raise their hand to touch him before asking permission, I tell them that he bites.

Slightly off topic: I had an old man spot Birdy fly to me while we were out at the park, he came up to me and said "Let me keep!" in a thick Slavic accent. I shook my head as Birdy flew around towards us and the old man said "Let me catch!" and stepped in front of me to catch Birdy. He then started to walk back towards the car park with Birdy in his arms. It took a bit of explaining to get him back.
On another occasion I've had a woman yell at me from a distance to "Leave the poor bird alone." while playing with Birdy at a nature reserve.
I guess these kind of things are one disadvantage of living with a parrot in an area with wild parrots.

Edit: I've also had 10 or so people ask me if he is for sale!

 

[Eloy]

In my home a have a sign with a picture of Eloy and it says:
Don't touch me, if you do that my owner will bite you! ^^
(when it comes to protect my animals I'm not a nice person at all)

Next summer when we go out I will have that sign on my neck.

@Mudkips."Leave the poor bird alone." Lol!

 

[Mudkips]

If only there was an easy way...
Even if Eloy could do this, it still wouldn't be enough!
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmeUSSEaxfQ]Don't touch me! - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Lintini]

I'm kinda confused by this. Obviously you will get attention with your birds when you go out in public with them and you are making it seem like people should just automatically know how to behave near your birds. If you don't like how people act, and people jab your birds in their eye, why even bring them out to be harassed by people who can't control themselves? I just feel like you are asking for attention and people wanting to meet your bird, either by touching or whatever....so why even bother if it ticks you off so much?

 

[Kantia]

I can imagine that'd be really annoying, not to mention impolite if they don't ask first!
I think it's slightly due to lack of knowledge if I'm honest. They just see a cute fluffy bird and want to pet it. They don't realise they have a big attitude, can inflict harm and have a mind of their own. People probably also don't realise about harmful bacteria and what-not being transfered or how sensitive they are to smoke/perfume.

My family/friends can handle my bird if they want to, but I make them use hand sanatiser first and after.

 

[baron1282]

I'm kinda confused by this. Obviously you will get attention with your birds when you go out in public with them and you are making it seem like people should just automatically know how to behave near your birds. If you don't like how people act, and people jab your birds in their eye, why even bring them out to be harassed by people who can't control themselves? I just feel like you are asking for attention and people wanting to meet your bird, either by touching or whatever....so why even bother if it ticks you off so much?

I have to agree!!! People are naturally curious and loving of animals (Not all but the vast majority). Plus you got kids that are really curious about your bird being on your shoulder. I can't fathom why people would take their bird out in public and be upset at people who are naturally curious and want to say hi.

Your going to get noticed with a pet bird on you. I saw one guy that had his bird ride with him on his motorcycle. He left it on his bike while walking into best buy. I wouldn't do that!!! Some people are just crazy.

When I get my bird he/she will never be going out in public.

 

[Mayden]

Ohh, I love taking Merlin out. Absolutely love it.

My parents are smokers, as are my boyfriends parents and they get to touch Merlin. They do not smoke around him, either they wait or I leave the room etc. I realise they will still have nicotine on their hands, but as he is never really touching their hands, then I'm not too worried. Merlin gets sprayed with his aloe vera, anti itch, anti irritant spray etc, aswell. So we work like that.

I know I might get a lot of stick about this, but he's my bird and we ensure his safety as best as we can with what we have. My parents are not going to stop smoking in their own house, or going to wash their hands after each cigarette - they will be more cautious though. Merlin so far has not shown any signs of any negative affects and my parents (especially my dad!) spoil him rotten, buying in his favourite foods etc. I think there is a fine line between swaddling in cotton wool and being a cautious parent.

Also, Merlin comes to the pub with us when back in our home town. Lots of people, especially the children want to meet him. We generally have him out of his travel cage when in the pub (unless we're preoccupied, eating, playing pool etc.) and so we will let the kids 'hold' merlin on their shoulders, have a picture taken etc. (Merlin is much better behaved on shoulders than he is on fingers because of his dicky leg, more balance means less beaking and biting!)

He also has a habit of flying over to some unsuspecting punter at the bar and then wolf whistling as he lands. We have to be cautious obviously as some people may not like it, but we usually make it clear we'll be letting him out and so far noone has had an issue.

We also wouldn't do this unless the pub had 'double doors', you have to open one set, minor corridor and then the main doors to get out. Too many people coming in and out of pubs for us to keep our eyes constantly focused on Merlin and the doors, so this double door thing is great.

Merlin absolutely loves the limelight, he loves people fussing over him and he loves the landlady too. She used to have a parrot and so she isn't at all fussed with him biting if he does, shes very confident with him and he loves that. Merlin lets us know when it gets a bit too much or if too many people are flocking to meet him, we will cage him and cover him a little so people know to back off and let him rest as "he's tired and gets cranky". When everyone (and him!) have calmed down, then we'll let him come and 'play out' again.

Birds are social animals, you will get the odd bad person trying to man handle them or something which you have to be stern and tell them that it's not okay, they will get bitten etc. I get plenty more good people vs bad when Merlin is about, most are obviously interested as they don't get to see parrots often! So theyre just curious about him, does he talk? does he bite a lot? is he good company? are they hard to keep?

I usually put most people off getting parrots but I think it's important people get to see and socialise with Merlin. Quite a lot of people have a "friend who's got a big green/grey parrot" etc and when they see how we interact with Merlin, the usually clock on that their friend needs to be doing more. It's almost like a show and tell education class when we bring Merlin out. My dad always asks me if it gets annoying having to stop for every 3rd person or so, but I think it's great for everyone involved, they get educated, they all get some fun out of it - and best of all, Merlin is not fearful of new people or new situations as he's in them all the time!

So yeah, as I mentioned before I think it's a fine line between being overly cautious and being reasonable. I've had people being bitten by Merin before, but they've been warned and so they will be all "ow, that really hurt!" they generally laugh a little too because I told them so.

Nobody touches my parrot without forewarning/permission and I'm not afraid to move him away or block the person from getting near him. Fortunately, most people DO ask before trying.

Bit of a ramble, but yeah. I think people should take their parrots out if possible, I think they get so much benefit from it that it's worth all the drama that comes with it.

 

[Mudkips]

I have to agree!!! People are naturally curious and loving of animals (Not all but the vast majority). Plus you got kids that are really curious about your bird being on your shoulder. I can't fathom why people would take their bird out in public and be upset at people who are naturally curious and want to say hi.

We buy companion birds to become a huge part of our lives. We like to take our parrots with us so that they may experience the tastes, sights and sounds, and so that we can spend as much time with them as possible. To us it's just like taking a baby or a small child out with us (only it's more fun! ). There are many huge positives and great times to be had when carrying a parrot around with you (maybe we should make a new thread about these!), but what we're talking about in this thread is one small problem with the minority of people.

We're not 'upset at people who are naturally curious and want to say hi.' - this is to be expected. However, we are upset at people who move in to touch our baby without even acknowledging we're there, or people who poke our baby in the eye. These kind of things are astounding to us. This behavior shouldn't be expected, but everyone that socializes birds knows that it actually becomes expected.

People can do some really strange things when they see a tame parrot... :smile033:

 

[ConureLady]

i'm not specifically looking for attention. and i'm not mad at anybody.
i take the opportunity to teach people about birds.. i'm never rude to anybody unless necessary.
i'm not going to stop taking my fids out because of a few dumbdumbs..
taking my birds around town is a very very important part of our life together.
besides, i only have four warm months i can a year, living in alaska.

 

[MonicaMc]

Not to mention, a well socialized parrot is going to be a more well rounded parrot... i.e. one that is used to change, new experiences, new people, different pets, etc.

Better to have a parrot willing to go to several people rather than one who ends up as a one person bird.

 

[Lintini]

Very interesting topic with 2 sides that have strong opinions. I understand it is great to socialize your birds, I just have no interest in having them meet strangers, but then again my house is always full of people and I hand them off to my friends but I just don't have a interest in sharing them with strangers. Thank you for sharing the opposite view! Stay strong with all the crazy people that have no common sense though!

 

[nightinday]

I'm kinda confused by this. Obviously you will get attention with your birds when you go out in public with them and you are making it seem like people should just automatically know how to behave near your birds. If you don't like how people act, and people jab your birds in their eye, why even bring them out to be harassed by people who can't control themselves? I just feel like you are asking for attention and people wanting to meet your bird, either by touching or whatever....so why even bother if it ticks you off so much?

I am kinda confused also. But on the other hand I understand that some of bird owners want to take their birds everywhere. I would love to do it also but I'm not really a fan of wing clipping and I would still be a bit scared to take my bird somewhere. Just his safety and maybe me being paranoic, I don't know.My family and friends can handle Louis with no problem but I've never asked anyone to hand sanitise.

 

[MonicaMc]

Clipping a parrots flight feathers is no guarantee that they wont get spooked and take off flying... and being clipped, they are now more vulnerable to predators.

It's safer to use a harness, carrier or small cage instead... or perhaps a bird "back pack" to carry them around in. Accidents can, and still do happen.