10 Things You Should Never Do Around Your Bird

As parrot parents, we want the best for our birds and make them a big part of our families. So, to protect them and keep them healthy and safe, here is a list of activities we should avoid having them be a part of!

Keep your bird(s) as far away from the kitchen as possible! We don't want our birds inhaling strong fumes from the kitchen when we are cooking, as this is not good for their small and fragile respiratory systems. Additionally, if you are turning on the stove, boiling water or cooking anything on nonstick cookware, you also want to keep them out of the kitchen to avoid dangerous situations. Like boiling water splashing them or the fumes from nonstick cookware can be very unhealthy for them.

Avoid cooking with Teflon pans because they can release gasses that can kill your bird when heated.

This should go without saying, but you never want to have your bird around when you are smoking! As mentioned previously, their respiratory systems are very sensitive. So if you are a smoker, ensure you are not sharing the airspace with your bird when smoking. Exposure to second-hand smoke can have ill health effects on birds as it can lead to pneumonia, bacterial infections, and conjunctivitis. Make sure they also never have access to cigarette butts!

Don't include your bird in household chores and cleaning. You want to keep them away from insecticides, ammonia, bleach, oven cleaners, and different common household cleaners, as they can make your bird severely ill. It's best to keep your bird in a safe and well-ventilated area while cleaning, and you can opt to use homemade cleaners that are less harsh, such as vinegar.

While cleaning open windows if it's a nice day out (not too cold) to help ventilate the space.

It's normal for our parrots to be part of our everyday routines, including getting ready! I often feel like a pirate with a parrot always on my shoulder or the top of my head! But you want to put your bird away when you are getting ready and spraying things like deodorants, hair spray, perfumes, etc. You also want to ensure they aren't getting into your toothpaste, make-up, hair gels, etc. Any of these items we spray or powders can send irritants into our birds' airspace, which is not good for their respiratory system.

Hosting a large party may not seem like a bad idea, especially if your bird is well socialized. But this could e a disaster in so many ways. If you're serving alcohol, be aware that people don't always act responsibly after consuming a few drinks, and they may try to offer alcohol to your bird, or your bird may get irritated and bite one of your guests. It can also be very loud and overwhelming for your bird to be present during a big party. Your guests may also try to feed your bird whatever they are eating, not realizing that some foods like avocados and chocolate can be toxic to your bird.

When organizing, filing or reviewing necessary paperwork, ensure your bird is put away or in another safe space. Birds are very curious and active, so this task can become frustrating when your bird starts chomping on these papers, playing and knocking things off the table or just a few flaps of their wings.

As a result, all your paperwork may go flying and get disorganized very quickly.

PS. Avoid having your bird sit on your laptop as well. They have strong beaks and can pull out the keys from your keyboard or, worse, leave droppings that drip down to the circuit board and causes corrosion over time. 

Wi-Fi makes our lives easier but not healthier, and we must also keep our pets in mind. Wireless routers give off electromagnetic radiation in the low-gigahertz frequency. This level is considered potentially dangerous as scientists and researchers uncover EMFs' health risks. EMF radiation affects any biological system, so how it affects your pets is often overlooked. These come from all sorts of devices, such as microwaves, wifi routers, cell phones, tablets, TVs, and much more. 

Parrots can be charming when they want a bite of your forbidden food. It's evident that fatty and salty junk foods are not good for our birds. Be your bird's healthcare advocate, and refrain from eating junk food in front of them, especially if they are good at getting a bite from you!

Instead of salty chips, share a healthy fruit or vegetable with you or make a healthy smoothie with safe ingredients to share with you. For example, I love making smoothies with bananas, berries, water, chia seeds, and oats.

Regarding word choice, treat your bird as if it were a child, especially if you share your home with top-talking parrots like an African grey or amazon parrot. If you can frequently drop f-bombs, it could e a word that your parrot picks up even if you don't want them to. Parrots often mimic words that are said enthusiastically or with extra emphasis!

Keep your bird away from wires; chewing on wires is dangerous and can even cause an electric shock which can be devasting.