4 Holiday Bird Safety Every Parrot Owner Should Know

With the holidays fast approaching We thought it was important to share these 4 bird holiday safety tips that every parrot owner should know.

Safety Tip # 1:

Be very careful with non-stick cookware and Teflon. All people who share their homes with birds, should have a non-stick (Teflon) cookware free home. Within two to five minutes on a conventional stovetop, cookware coated with Teflon and other non-stick surfaces can exceed temperatures at which the coating breaks apart and emits toxic particles and gases in the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of pet bird deaths and an unknown number of human illnesses each year, according to studies commissioned by Environmental Working Group (EWG).

But during the holiday well-meaning family members and guest (s) (there are not bird people) can bring you treats to warm up or cook in your oven. You can not even aware that their treatment dish was prepared in the non-stick Teflon.

What can potentially happen is that you can pop their goody in the oven to cook or heat up and become involved with something else only to discover that the dish is overheated and become deadly to your birds.

Safety Tip # 2

Another potential security problem for your loved bird is your bird fly out of an open door during the holidays. 

As a bird lover you want to show your bird for all your family and friends. But if your bird's wings are not clipped, or even if they are, there is potential for your bird to fly out of an open door. Of course it can happen anytime, but it is most likely to happen during the holidays. What happens is that your bird is out of the cage and a perch playgym or even your shoulder, so your best friend can get a chance to enjoy all your friends and family, but your baby is not used to being around all these people and strange looking packages and gifts. Nothing can scare your bird, and within a moment he or she may be right out the door.

The best thing to do is wait until all your guests have settled in. Make sure your bird is far away from a room that is near a door and then let them interact with your guests. Warn everyone in advance that if they need to open the door, they'll give you a warning so you can move your bird to safe place.

Safety Tip # 3

Well-meaning guest (s) want to feed your feathered child. It is natural, because they want to be friends with your bird (and who would not ... LOL). Non-bird people do not know what could be potentially danger of a bird.

The best way to pre-plan for this situation is to have a bowl of bird safe foods set up near your bird so that any guest who might want to feed your baby can feed him / her with your bird approved combination of food . This way everyone can have a safe and fun holiday.

Safety Tip # 4

This tip comes from my own experience with my Cockatoo Marshmellow. They had some friends over with their children. Now We must explain to their children already new Marshmellow and interacted with her before. Their children also have Cockatiels in their homes, so they knew about birds.

But during the evening Marshmellow was unnerved by all the activity in the house, and when my friend's daughter came over to her PET, Marshmellow stormed at my friend's daughter. No one was hurt thankfully. Marshmellow is a gentle giant, and the only person in the world I've ever seen her bite is me. (LOL)

My concern is that any bird, even the most gentle bird (s) may be nervous or worried about lots of people and excitement in the house. Be very careful when friends and family to approach your bird in a vacation situation. Read your bird's body language carefully before allowing anyone to handle your bird. As you know, most birds tell your time, how they feel.

Have a safe and wonderful holiday season !!!!!!!!