A Question for Bird Owners

[Minkness]

For those of you who own both birds and snakes...do you notice if your bird gets anxious, nervous, or is unhappy when in the same room as a snake?

I ask because I am looking at getting a bird (in the distant future) and on a bird forum I joined, there were at least 3 people who said I shouldn't ever expose a bird to a reptile because they have a natural fear of snakes and that kind of stress could kill the bird. Also that no matter now well I clean stuff, that the bird could die of salmonella.

I personally find that a bit rediculous, but figured I'd ask reptile fansin hopes of less biased information.

P.s. I would not intend to leave a bird and snake alone or in the open together. Just the cages in the same room, and if one is out, the other is put away, ect.

[Akuma223]

The salmonella thing sounds like crap. Practice proper cleaning and disinfecting like you do with any reptile or animal in general and you would prolly be fine. They are of course more fragile then reptiles usually but to say a bird would just die is silly.

Obviously a bird would be afraid of a snake, but even if the snake was in eye shot across the room it would get used to the sight of it. Keep the bird a comfortable distance away from possible stressors and you should be fine. Birds get used to people manhandling them they can certainly get used to the sight or presents of a snake.

[toddnbecka]

No personal experience keeping them both at the same time, but why would a bird die from salmonella when they already have the bacteria in their digestive tract, the same as reptiles? If the snake was climbing around on the bird's cage, sure, I could see it being stressed out. However, keeping them in the same room shouldn't be an issue that I can imagine. Seems to me the simplest solution would be a sight barrier between the bird's cage and the snake/s. If the bird doesn't see them it certainly won't smell them, unless birds are stressed out by snake poop?

Evil thoughts of keeping a GTP side-by-side with a parakeet to see if it's true now... The bird just sits there, quivering on the perch, just KNOWING the snake will come when the lights go out... Better have a 9v battery on hand to jump start the bird's heart, lol.

Apologies to the bird lovers, I never claimied to be sane.

[Doug 351]

I've owned birds and snakes...and both are fine together....the snake will eat the bird if you let it....

The bird will probably be stupid enough to let that happen.

So...keep them separate...and they'll both be fine....

(Birds don't die of fright...only bird brained owners do....)

Hope this clears this up....

[Doug 351]

Oh....thought this might be a good time to share this:

I caught a wild baby speckled king snake...(which wasn't even quite tamed)....but it would wrap up in my fingers and go to sleep...

Well....one night...while it was doing that....I went to "sleep" with the help of alcohol. In the morning....I found an interesting scenario:

I had a dog...who was sitting in the passway between the kitchen and living room....and a cat....who was in the living room.....in between...this baby speckled king.

Soooo.....the cat would paw this little king....he would bite the dog's tail....the dog thought it was the cat....and while mildly annoyed...didn't do anything but look back and try to continue napping......

This went on for several minutes....and I've always wondered if that cat knew what was really going on....(and was purposely using that snake that way)....and kinda think she was....anyway, cats just think snakes are toys anyway! But...no animals were harmed in the production.........I wish I had filmed that tho....

[havoc_vulture]

My birds do not freak out with my snakes. Whenever I bring my retic out I have to walk by their cages and they're fine. Salmonella thing isn't true unless you're not washing hands in between and not maintaining cleanliness with you're animals. But I'm sure you're doing that right mink so you should be good

[Minkness]

Thanks everyone! I thought that sounded too bogus to be true!

And yes, I wash my hands and everything else as I should lol.

The bird and snakes would never be out at the same time so I don't think that would be a problem.

My next question is this. I plan on working from home, so if I get a bitd I woild hom with it almost 24/7. I don't want another bird so will only have 1. I don't see this as an issue, bt again, bird forum people basically demand that i get 2 birds to keep eachother company when I'm not around (like when I go to the store or out with a freind, ect). Not saying I will NEVER have another bird, but that certainly isn't the plan as 1 bird is more work than all of my current reptiles combined.

What are your feelings of having a single bird?

[havoc_vulture]

Originally Posted by Minkness

Thanks everyone! I thought that sounded too bogus to be true!

And yes, I wash my hands and everything else as I should lol.

The bird and snakes would never be out at the same time so I don't think that would be a problem.

My next question is this. I plan on working from home, so if I get a bitd I woild hom with it almost 24/7. I don't want another bird so will only have 1. I don't see this as an issue, bt again, bird forum people basically demand that i get 2 birds to keep eachother company when I'm not around (like when I go to the store or out with a freind, ect). Not saying I will NEVER have another bird, but that certainly isn't the plan as 1 bird is more work than all of my current reptiles combined.

What are your feelings of having a single bird?

I had a single bird for a while, 1 bird is fine so long as you can maintain a schedule with it. For example you can't be super excited with it the first 3 months and holding it all the time and then suddenly just get bored of it and leave it in its Cage forever and expect it to be ok. If you can only dedicate an hour a day then do that if more then great, but structure with birds is important. Especially with sensitive breeds like African Greys and Cockatoos. Then you'll have a fatherless plucked bird lol.

[prairiepanda]

I'm assuming the bird you're considering is something of high intelligence such as a parrot of some sort? If you'll be working from home, then having a single bird is certainly feasible without being harmful to the bird. That said, the people I know who have had single birds have also brought their bird along on most of their outings. Going to the market, going for a walk, going to visit friends, the bird went too. Not every single time they went out, but most of the time, especially with longer outings. Life changes eventually led to all of those people getting at least one more bird so that they would have more freedom to go out for extended periods without the bird.

It also depends on the particular species, though. Some absolutely cannot live without other birds regardless of how much human attention they can get, while others would be perfectly fine just listening to the radio for a few hours while their human is away.

[Minkness]

I would love to take my future bird everywhere, but I don't believe they are allowed in markets here, so only place I could take it would be pet stores.

As for the type of bird, I am pretty set in a green aracari, probably male. Males seem to require a little less attention than a female (according to the breeder I am talking to) but are still super cuddly and sweet.

I raised the question to him about being a single bird, and apparently the aracaris are NOT nurrotic and don't need as much interaction or attention as a cockatoo (which the breeder also has btw).

My eventual plan would be to have a few cages for this one bird. One in my bedroom, one in my office (will be working from home) and then a large outdoor aviary which will be accessible from a window as well as a door on the outside. This would allow the bird LOOOTS of exersize, space, enrichment, and more freedom (free flying in the main house will most likely not be an option).

These birds are super intelligent like parrots, but do not talk or get loud. Some may bark, meow, chitter, and purr though!

I have done loads of research on the actual bird, but research and experience are very different things. So, until I have the $ saved up, I will be reaching to those who have experience (including the breeder).

For those of you who have birds, please point out anyting I should consider or questions I should ask.

This will be my 1st bird, and is not considered a 'beginner' by most other bird keepers (and in fact many people are tying to talk me out of it), but, Ireally REALLY only want 1, and with as expensive as most birds are, I do not plan on having a 'starter' bird first. So I want everythingto be as perfect as possible before adding this exotic jewl to my life. =)

[riddick07]

What bird forums have you joined?? It is impressive that you found all the crazy ones first apparently lol

No such thing as a starter bird just people that are not ready for the bird they are asking about for various reasons. The shelter I work with will adopt out macaws to first time bird owners if they show that they are willing to learn, can handle the macaw, and understand the commitment. Same goes for some of the messier birds like you are looking into...really if you haven't already I would meet some of them in person doesn't have to be exactly what you are looking into but similar birds with the same messy level! In my opinion that is their only true determent since their diet really isn't all that special just different.

[Sasha2]

Ive had my greencheek for six years now. She hates other birds and will not share me. She could care less about the snakes. And just cause she is a small parrot doesnt mean she isnt as smart as a big one. She has figured out how to open two different cages and now has to have hers tied shut.
We had several rescue birds run through our house(budgies,sun conure,cockatiels) before we moved, including an amazon who lost his owner to old age.That boy was a handful, he could bite the heck out of you if he didnt want to go back in his cage. I no longer take in birds though..Birds are messy x ten, clingy and noisy, more high maintenance then dogs. I prefer reptiles(easy). I do love my green cheek but she is my one and only.
Also parrots can run the gamut of emotional problems, eating issues, serious issues that drive people nuts, like screaming, plucking, destructive behaviors.
Even my greencheek was a feather chewer when I got her because her former owner had decided she was boring and got a african grey.

[Pareeeee]

Birds and reptiles both naturally have salmonella in their digestive tract. How would a bird, then, catch salmonella?

[prairiepanda]

Originally Posted by Pareeeee

Birds and reptiles both naturally have salmonella in their digestive tract. How would a bird, then, catch salmonella?

There are multiple species, subspecies, strains, and serovars of Salmonella. Some are pathogenic, some aren't. The ones that are pathogenic often only act as pathogens in specific hosts. For example, there is a serovar that can live in chickens without harming them but can cause serious damage to humans. I only study animal to human transmission, so I don't know any specifics about animal to animal transmission, but it's definitely conceivable that a particular species, subspecies, strain, or serovar which lives in snakes could be pathogenic to birds. Likewise, there could be Salmonella in birds which is pathogenic to snakes.

That said, it's actually pretty difficult to become ill from Salmonella contamination. You have to really screw up with your hygiene practices somewhere along the line in order to get enough colony forming units transferred for illness to occur. When you hear about big outbreaks of Salmonella poisoning, it's usually because some piece of equipment has gone several months without any kind of sanitation(in factories this is often the result of some cutting machine or the like having a hidden nook which could not be accessed by their normal sterilization methods)

So yeah, even though a snake's Salmonella could potentially be pathogenic to a bird, common hygiene practices are plenty enough to prevent infection. Heck, the snake could sleep in the bird's food and it would still be safe to eat...assuming the snake doesn't have poop on it.

The moral of the story? Keep eating raw cookie dough. It's delicious, and pretty safe.

[Minkness]

I really don't know. It seems that the forum I found is full of crazy people.....

>_>