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Myths

Diego and LiL’ Sassy’s list of Parrot Myths and Misconceptions


  1. Never Never pet your parrot anywhere but on the head.  Hog Wash!  There are exceptions to everything and some birds may be extra sexual but I touch/pet my birds anywhere I want.  (within reason)  And that’s the key to most things isn’t it? Within reason and with good judgement. If your bird starts humping then don’t do it!
  2. Parrots are wild animals.  OK, lets get this one straight. There are very few wild caught parrots (other than some breeders) in captivity. Are they domesticated like dogs or cats?  Absolutely not, that took hundreds of years, but they are not wild.  Many of their behaviors ARE instinctual but they are NOT wild.  Go catch a crow, put it in a cage and then stick your hand in and try to pet it and you will see the difference. 
  3. Beware of the Food Nazis. Don’t ever ever feed your birds pellets. Don’t make them anything that you have not taken a mortgage out to pay for 100% organic at Whole Foods and slaved in your kitchen to make. Make your own nutriberries, no people food.  YOU can feed your bird whatever you want but please stop condemning others for feeding their birds something other than what you provide.  Yes, in an ideal world, you would only cook for them and give them fresh green vegetables from the garden everyday.  And that’s all assuming none of us work and have the TIME to prepare and do all that. I look at it like this:  I don’t always eat 100% healthy all the time – who knows, maybe I’ve subtracted 5 years from my life – I don’t know – I don’t care.  My birds can live on average anywhere from 25 to 35 years.  Lets see, I’m fifty — I do not want Diego to outlive me — I think he would be miserable.  SO, if I occasionally give him crap to eat and I let him share my Vanilla Ice Cream (his absolute favorite), please tell me, whats the big deal?  Will he lose five years as well? HE IS HAPPY AND SO IS HIS LITTLE SISTER AND THAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT THING.  If I ever meet the perfect DH then I’ll have him cook for me and the birds but until then the birds eat just like me – sometimes really good and some days not so good!
  4. Do not allow your bird to be higher than your head or it will be aggressive.  All I’m going to say on this one is that Diego rides around on TOP of my head as often as I will allow. He is not aggressive and BOTH birds will step up or down to me no matter how high up they are – even on the tippy top of the aviary or kitchen cabinets.  
  5. CAREFUL!, YOU’RE GONNA ‘LOSE’ YOUR PET!!  Diego and LiL’ Sassy have bonded better than I could have hoped for. Do they live in the same cage? NO, That IS written in stone. Do not house any birds in the same cage except for a mated pair. BUT, Diego and LiL’ Sassy DO spend a tremendous amount of time together outside and in the house.  When I am home they are both out of the cage and when they are not torturing me they are playing or torturing each other. They preen and do all sorts of things together. I am NOT going to lose their bond with me.  Diego is bonded to me beyond belief.  Perhaps if you have NEW birds which have not fully bonded to you yet you stand a risk of losing them but there is no chance in hell I’m going to lose my bond with Diego. He is GLUED to me. If I ever notice a change in his behavior then I’ll adjust their routine accordingly but until then, they can play together as much as they want – most of the time they want me to join in anyway. 
  6. You must provide 12 hours of complete darkness and quiet when they go to sleep.  Can you see the face I am making? I suggest you take a trip to South America and sleep over night in the rain forest or go to Africa and sleep in the bush and see how quiet and how dark it is.  My birds tell me when they are ready for bed.  I get up between 5:30 and 6 am.  If they are ready to get up Diego tells me by announcing “GOOD MORNINNNNGGGG!”  Assuming I don’t have to leave the house early, just like us, sometime they sleep a little longer sometimes a little less. 
  7. If you don’t take them to an Avian Certified Vet you are negligent.  There are good vets and bad vets, just like human doctors. Not every vet can afford the time or money to get Avian Certified.  My Vet in Florida was very qualified as a bird vet. I once asked her why she didn’t get the certification and she replied, “TIME AND MONEY!”.  In Florida I took them to the vet MORE than once a year. The vet was also ten minutes from my house.  They have not been to the vet since I moved here – approx. Two years.  Guess that makes me bad — I WILL take them to that vet in Colorado now that I found them but I have to find the time to take a two day trip.  I hope the bird police from that old list don’t come take them away from me.  
  8. Real is better than Perfect.  Think about it. 
  9. 99.9% of everything is not about you. I have to throw a bit of therapy in here. Most things we react to or believe are in relation to us are not.  It’s about peoples own shit. Animal people and people with Children can be a bit nuts and over-sensitive.  Bird People are worse. I think some border on neurosis. They take everything as a personal affront. News Flash.  It’s not about you and it’s not a criticism of you or your birds. Get over it. Take what you want and leave the rest. 
  10. You can never have a big enough Outdoor Aviary.  Yes, you should always strive to build a bigger and better aviary.  I won’t be happy until I’ve built something equal to or better than what I had in Florida.  <laughter combined with a big assed grin>