# How dirty (bacterially) is a parrots beak/mouth? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 14, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dirty-bacterially-is-a-parrots-beak-mouth/804501 "2017-12-14T15:45:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dirty-bacterially-is-a-parrots-beak-mouth/804501/1 "2017-12-14T15:45:37Z")
I’m around our African Grey Parrot 8-12 hours most days, so I try to teach him things. He likes peanut butter, so I’ll give him a tiny bit and say “peanut butter” and he learns to associate the word with the item. Then, when he says, “peanut butter” I give him a bit as a reward. Fun times. I recently offered him some orange juice. I poured some into a small coffee cup, said “juice” and offered it to him. He loved the OJ, gulping down almost an ounce! Over time he’s learned the word and I give him a few swallows when he requests it. I’m at work now and everyone heard him saying, “juice juice juice juice” so I pour some in my cup and everyone watched him guzzle down a few swallows. This left me with 98% of a cup of OJ, which I finished. One woman was totally grossed out. She thinks I’ll drop dead by the end of the day. I explained that I do this all the time and she is just aghast. So. Anyone know how risky my behavior really is? ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dirty-bacterially-is-a-parrots-beak-mouth/804501/2 "2017-12-14T15:53:38Z")
There is a vast difference between getting squicked out by something and there being an actual physical/biological threat. Most people don’t want to discern between the two. Like the difference between “this is an aggressive, venomous spider” and “I am irrationally afraid of a tiny harmless animal I can squash with my shoe.” Does your parrot carry a zoonotic disease? Do you have a compromised immune system? No? Then I would say, she is just one of those squicky people, more to be pitied than censured, even though I generally just go straight to censure myself. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dirty-bacterially-is-a-parrots-beak-mouth/804501/3 "2017-12-14T16:33:50Z")
Yeah, the bird is in excellent health. _Chlamydia psittaci_ negative, captive bred, etc. I am as healthy as could be expected. I’m just curious if the squicked out woman had anything on her side, although even if that were the case I don’t think I’d alter my behavior. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dirty-bacterially-is-a-parrots-beak-mouth/804501/4 "2017-12-14T16:36:56Z")
People mouths are pretty filthy, too. I’ve seen more cautions in pet information about people spreading their germs to their parrots than vice versa. Most parrot people I know (both avian and human) wind up doing what you did, sharing cups or bits of food in part because parrots can be quite clever at the distract-the-human-and-snatch-a-tidbit game. That said, yes, there is a non-zero chance of one of you picking something up from the other. Assuming you’re both healthy adults with intact immune systems this is unlikely to be a problem. But it could be. The best precaution is not to share tidbits or cups when one or the other of you is sick, but otherwise, you’ve probably already cross-contaminated each other at this point and are largely immune to each other’s microfauna. ---
**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dirty-bacterially-is-a-parrots-beak-mouth/804501/5 "2017-12-14T20:27:16Z")
I can understand the “ewww” reaction. That same beak has doubtlessly nibbled on the bird’s feathers, chewed on food that’s been left sitting out (i.e. a dish of bird food), and come in contact with dozens of germ-laden surfaces. However, equating gut reaction with scientific fact is a BAD IDEA. Just thinking about it makes me shudder. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dirty-bacterially-is-a-parrots-beak-mouth/804501/6 "2017-12-14T20:30:51Z")
Birds are typically carriers of salmonella, but you are not likely to get a significant dose of the bacteria by handling and interacting with the bird in the way you describe. If you allowed him to contaminate some high-risk foodstuff (I dunno, whipped cream maybe), then stored that food improperly so that the bacteria could reproduce, you could get food poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dirty-bacterially-is-a-parrots-beak-mouth/804501/7 "2017-12-15T12:28:01Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Birds are typically carriers of salmonella, but you are not likely to get a significant dose of the bacteria by handling and interacting with the bird in the way you describe. I actually have an interest in _Salmonella_. Parrots rarely are a source of human infection, and typically parrots shedding the organism are clinically ill. Poultry and reptiles are a real _Salmonella_ threat, however. I eat eggs, sometimes without cooking, from our hens, though. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dirty-bacterially-is-a-parrots-beak-mouth/804501/8 "2017-12-15T17:19:23Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Most parrot people I know (both avian and human) wind up doing what you did, sharing cups or bits of food in part because parrots can be quite clever at the distract-the-human-and-snatch-a-tidbit game. We usually dine with Rocco. He’s pretty cool with waiting for me to put his portion of dinner into his cup. If we are eating something he _really_ loves (like chicken wings) he’ll fly over to the table and get grabby.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dirty-bacterially-is-a-parrots-beak-mouth/804501/9 "2017-12-15T17:59:29Z")
Sine articles on bacteria in cative birds: > **[Exotic Pet Veterinarian](http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/ecoli.html)** > > Medical information about primates, small animals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, & fish, written by a board certified avian veterinarian with 25 years experience with exotic species. > **[Parrot Gram Stain](https://www.parrottalk.com/gram-stain.htm)** > > Parrot gram stain ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dirty-bacterially-is-a-parrots-beak-mouth/804501/10 "2017-12-15T19:25:37Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > If we are eating something he _really_ loves (like chicken wings) he’ll fly over to the table and get grabby.🙂 I’m suddenly reminded of Miss Piggy ordering Moons Over Mi-ham-I in that long-ago Denny’s ad… ---
**Author:** ![TSBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/77aa72/32.png) [@TSBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TSBG)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-dirty-bacterially-is-a-parrots-beak-mouth/804501/11 "2017-12-15T20:12:58Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > […] even though I generally just go straight to censure myself. Slow clap.