Bird Kisses..OK or harmful?

[LuvAvianLife]

Hello all....was wondering what everyone's take is on 'kissing' your fids. I personally have and do quite regularly. I think if my Alex couldn't kiss me anymore she would go crazy. Her favorite kissing time is when she wakes up before me, and will fly to me and kiss, kiss, kiss until she wakes me up. I must admit sometimes I fake sleep just to get that bonding time.
I have had people say how disgusting it is to allow your bird to kiss you on or near the mouth and was wondering if there is anything to be concerned about health wise and wanted everyone's opinion.

[Beaks]

Nothing wrong with kissing your bird. but there is something really wrong with letting a dog lick you in the mouth.

[Tishrei]

Oh, I kiss and allow Ducky to kiss me all the time. I will go up to him and say "I wanna kiss a bird" and he will put his beak against my mouth for a kiss. Other times he will, on his own volition, lean over and simply put his beak against my mouth for a kiss.

As to dog licking in the mouth, I have a silly story. I was at a bible study one evening. They have a pit bull that is a real sweetheart and seems to like me and sits on my lap during the bible study (and yeah, he's heavy). Anyway, we had our head bowed in prayer and when we finished, I simply said out loud to the dog "When I am praying and my eyes are closed, no kissing me." I said that because while praying, this wet dog tongue went right across my mouth -- yuck!

[krissyg1989]

My birds (well now, bird...my cockatiel just passed away on new years eve) kiss me all the time. My dogs do too, but I yell at them. I was at a carnival and my friend had just gotten a new boston terrier pup and some lady picked it up and stuck her tongue out and was FRENCH KISSING the dog! She was like 'oh...i just love kissing puppies' it was gross!

[Buteo]

I'd like to start by saying that we kiss our birds and let them kiss us. I personally have to be careful to wipe Grace's beak before she does it to me though as the dust from her food could cause a reaction in me and my severe food allergies.
Max our dog gives kisses too, but not to the front of the face, only the earlobes or under the chin.

This is a topic of which responses will be based on one's level of risk acceptance and make no mistake- there are risks.

First is the possibility of injury.
Bringing a bird, especially medium to large species, close your face puts you at risk for injury that could require major facial plastic surgery.
I know, I know... Before you say it - "your bird would never do anything like that!"

I'm not trying to be rude or condescending, but you must understand that there are hundreds of stories of even beloved birds with many years of calm & trusting behaviour having suddenly delivered a ferocious bite to the face of their favourite humans. I know of someone who had a chunk taken from her nose, a strip literally torn out of her cheek & worst of all lost an eye to an unexpected reaction from the 'Too they'd owned for over a decade. Birds usually flash some kind of warning before they act, but most of us humans are too distracted and/or slow to react sufficiently to prevent it.
ALWAYS keep a watchful eye on a bird's body language when it's near your face.

The second risk is from disease transmission.
As with any oral contact between any individuals, there is always a risk to both. (Anyone who's ever had Mononucleosis knows exactly what I mean.) There are some diseases and infections that can be passed between species. It's not just the H5N1 Avian Flu that is interspecies transmissible, but there's also West Nile Virus, as well as strains of TB, Encephalitis and Chlamydia amongst a host of other nasties.

Kissing a bird should always be done with dry lips.

[willow's mommy]

Hi everyone,

I think you must be very careful when kissing your bird.
I had a Jenday Conure that loved kissing me and my 2 teenagers, unfortunately birds can catch a cold/virus from us and that is what happened to my darling boy when one of us was contagious with a virus and had no symptons yet. My baby Teddie had to be euthanized the day before Thanksgiving because we could not get him well despite intense treatment. I cannot begin to explain how I feel for allowing that to happen to my sweet boy. So please be very careful. You will not even know your bird is ill until it's possibly too late.

[birdlady49]

Dogs have cleaner mouths than humans. It's humans we should avoid kissing!

We have different natural bacterias in our mouth that are harmful to birds. Here's a link that will make you squirm: Common Causes of Bird Infections. Scroll down a bit to read about humans kissing birds.

[Nazir's]

To my understanding, dry kisses are okay. I give kisses all day long. Iris sometimes wants to dig inside of my mouth but I just have to be quick with her. Kiss, kiss kiss.... But with Clover I'll give one big KISSSSSSSs... Muuaaah!

[Nazir's]

Originally Posted by birdlady49

Dogs have cleaner mouths than humans. It's humans we should avoid kissing!

That's been proven as being a myth by the Myth Busters. Dogs have just as many germs (if not more) in their mouths as us humans. Many of them (dog’s germs) have been found to be zoonoses (diseases that are transferable from canine/feline to human.). However, we surely make up for those with others. YUCK!!!

[Nazir's]

Originally Posted by willow's mommy

Hi everyone, I think you must be very careful when kissing your bird.
I had a Jenday Conure that loved kissing me and my 2 teenagers, unfortunately birds can catch a cold/virus from us and that is what happened to my darling boy when one of us was contagious with a virus and had no symptons yet.

You have my condolences. Would it not be safe to say that your bird could have caught whatever by breathing contaminated air and not solely from kissing; as many bacterial, viral, fungal and chlamydial infections seen in birds are airborne?