Hi All,
Just reading the post about coffee drinking & I saw not to let them drink from
your cup - I don't do this, but Buddy helps himself to whatever I am eating.
Is this okay?? Is there some kind of disease they could give us or vise versa?
Very curious now that I read some of the responses from the other post.
If I don't share my meal, Buddy screams & flapps his wings furiuosly until I
give him something to eat. He is very insistant.

Jenn & Buddy

Bubba eats every meal with us and off my husbands plate. He cuts up his food and puts it on the corner for him - his own little food pile, but every once in a while, he likes to grab our food. I don't think there is anything wrong with this as long as the food is not on the "bad" list. Bubba has been doing it for 7 years now and would get really upset if he couldn't. Favorites: mashed potatoes and chicken

That is actually a good question. Oliver likes to think he sneaks things off my plate. I'll make him his own but he always comes over to eat off of mine and runs away quickly. I just figured instinctively he would eat in a flock and well off the same plate. So i push a little to the side of my plate just for him.

I guess it all depends on you. I have a separate plate and shot glass for Dobby but that's because I'm training him to have manners for company, etc. I was thinking if he gets in the habit of eating off my plate he will try this on other people but it's not that big of a deal. After reading these threads, I think I'll lighten up a little. It is a power issue though and my bird has won so many of those power struggles.

Just be careful that there is no salt, sugar, or other nasty stuff on there.

Personally I don't let ours eat off our plates. Just not good hygiene in my book. Ours get anxious too when we eat meals, so we just give them a safe treat like cheerios, nutriberries, a piece of carrot or the like. That way they feel like they are eating with the flock, and are happy, just not eating people food.

Induna theiving my lunch!

The only disease that I know of that is transmissible from birds to humans is psittacosis. But you are more likely to catch that from coming into contact with a city pigeon than from a healthy pet bird!

All of our eat with us. We have always believed that we should all eat together. It reinfoces the flock bond between us all – and since we got Insect, of course, we have been subject to the Quaker Principle: What's yours is mine!



UZ gives sound advice. What is good healthy food for you is also good healthy food for your bird. Salt, sugar, additives and preservatives are a no-no. Don't give them any kind of processed food. But as you can see from the pic above of Induna tucking in to my salad, there's nothing wrong with natural organic food.

As for eating off the plate, well ours do. It can get quite hectic at dinnertime when you have five birds of varying sizes squabbling over who gets the best bits.

Some people feed their pets leftovers. In our family, I'm the one who get the leftovers. I get to eat what the birdies haven't eaten, mangled or is dripping down the dining-room window!

The important part of this lesson is to NOT give them anything that has already been in your mouth...Don't bite off pieces of apple or veggie etc and then give them the bitten off piece. Cut it off with a knife or break it off prior to putting it in your mouth. Gram Negative bacteria in the human mouth can be deadly to our feathered friends.

I don't allow them to eat off my plate or spoon but I will give them pieces of what I'm eating if there isn't a lot of preservatives etc on it.

Also remember not to give your birds food containing onion or garlic powder...as it can cause anemia.

since I have 2 birds they don't get to eat off my plate, but we eat at the same time. Whenever I am eating, they are eating...out of their own dishes

[quote name='CaptainQuark' date='Apr 20 2007, 04:48 PM' post='285468']



OMG CQ thats a beautiful picture!!!!!!!!!!!! just had to say it.

My Baby Boy!



Induna