Dumbest questions people ask about your parrot?

[Kim S]

Dont you love your family. My parents and brother came to visit yesterday. My brother hadnt seen Kika till now and was mesmerised by him. He sat himself in front of the cage and started staring at him. "Does it bite?" he asked while sticking his fingers through the bar. So I said "When you keep doing that, it will". He pulled his finger out like lightning and looked at me with a doofus expression "Really?!?"
I asked him if he wanted me to take him out and show him how to aproach him properly, but he chickened out

You gotta hear my moms reaction too. "Where did you get that from? What do you need one of those for?"
The funny thing about this was that, later, when she was standing outside smoking a cigaret and looking at the tiels and budgies in the aviary, she stated that "if they didnt make such a mess she would love to have one of those little guys again."

I start to wonder where my pet-education came from

[SlaveToAParrot]

I have one, though it was more of a rude response than a simple question. A couple months back when my mom and I took my Senegal to the vet. When we came back home, we had a few neighbours hanging out talking to my dad. All friendly and I have no issue with them except one person. I took the bird inside the house since I didn't want to be near this one woman much at all and I'm very glad I did because my mom had told me after coming inside that she whispered to someone else "She brought her bird to the vet?!".

For having a pet that lives 30+ years and the amount of money I pay for all the things that it needs to be happy and healthy, and the fact that birds can hide illnesses very well. Of course I'm going to bring my Senegal to the vet.. sheesh. My mom and I were not happy at all. It was tempting to not say anything about her own dog that lost all its fur because she baby's it all the time rather than treat it like a dog Anyway.. Cody keeps her from stepping foot into our home so that's fine.

I do sometimes get people who come to visit us, asking me the famous question "Does it talk?' and I don't even need to answer that at all because Cody always says "Hi Hi Hi" to them afterwards... then again as they are leaving, he says "Bye bye, See ya later" *door sound*.

[Michael]

Someone on youtube asked me how come I didn't get the "tags" cut off at the store when buying my parrots.

[Azure Hanyo]

Someone on youtube asked me how come I didn't get the "tags" cut off at the store when buying my parrots.

That sounds like they were kidding... I hope. But it's very funny!

[MandyG]

This isn't really a question I was asked, but more like the dumbest/rudest conversation I've recently had.

When I mentioned to my sister that I was looking into getting another bird I was told "No, you can't have one." I said "Excuse me? Why on earth not?!? And what does it have to do with you?". And she said that her and my mother agreed that I don't need another expensive 'roaster' bird!

They almost got disowned for that one.

And of course since Pele is much smaller than Mojo almost everyone that has met him has asked me, "How much bigger is he going to get?" or "When will he be full grown?" even though they have been told numerous times that he's 9 years old already and that conures are much smaller than Amazons!

Then almost everyone also asks if he talks, but I can't blame them for that one because the only bird they know is Mojo and he talks up a storm. There was also one individual that said, "Oh you got a small bird, why wouldn't you get another one that talks?". I had to explain that there's lots of conures that talk, but they didn't believe me. You should have seen the look on their face when I said that a budgie holds the world record for the largest vocabulary! You would have thought I told them that the sky was green!

And I've even had a couple of people say, "Well this one isn't a parrot, why did you just get a small bird instead of getting another parrot this time?" I had fun trying to explain to them that even parakeets (budgies) are parrots. It's not the size that counts!

It seems no matter how much I've tried to educate people over the last 2 years they still seem to hold onto their original beliefs about parrots . I bet if I ever get a Vasa parrot my friends will think it's a crow.

[Kim S]

Someone on youtube asked me how come I didn't get the "tags" cut off at the store when buying my parrots.

Are you sure he wasnt talking about your parrot toys in your aviary? I am sure I saw a tag here and ther as well

@ Mandy, that conversation with your sister really was rude! I understand you still live at home? Have you talked to you mom about this?

[lzver]

Mandy, non-bird people just don't get it.

We had company at the trailer over the weekend and for the life of them couldn't understand what we saw in the birds and why we made such a big fuss over them. They couldn't believe how much time/money we spent to put the jungle gym up for the birds. Unfortunately the stereotype from most people is parrots are supposed to stay in their cages 24/7 and are just kept because they are pretty to look at. I didn't really waste my time trying to explain my reasons because they will just never get it.

Meanwhile I don't criticize them for going crazy over their rabbit and questioning why they take it for walks on a leash ... which does seem weird to me.

[captwest]

Without reading all the respones posted , i'd have to say the dumbest question is "does he bite" and my response is "only if you stick your hand up in her face" LOL

[Titanius]

I think everyone has covered all the dumb questions that we as bird owners get . The dumbest statement(s) I ever got that take the cake was from a cousin that said "You have dumb birds...you should have gotten ones that talk." Well they can but lets keep being ignorant. She later on went on to say "You should trade in these 2 for a bigger one. " Oh no she didn't!

[MandyG]

@ Mandy, that conversation with your sister really was rude! I understand you still live at home? Have you talked to you mom about this?

Oh, no, I don't live at home. My husband and I have our own house. I'm used to those types of conversations, they also have the same attitude when I tell them about a new foster dog. They're not really animal people, which is strange because my mom has a dog and my sister has 2 cats! We also grew up with animals and my mom used to have canaries. But they just see the inconvenience that comes with animals, or at least my animals. They don't seem to understand why I'm involved with a rescue either. I tell them that the more people that help, the more dogs that can be saved. They have the opinion that it's a great thing to do and it needs to be done but it's somebody else's job to do those things because it's an inconvenience. I really don't know how I came from that family! I've told them "This is what I love doing and any inconvenience is more than worth the joy that comes from helping an animal in need." and they kind of get it, but they still roll their eyes every time I get another dog. And yes, I have picked up an extra foster dog mostly out of spite. I'm still young enough to have that desire to say "See? I'm an adult, I can do whatever I want and you can't say anything about it!"

Now that they've met Pele they like him, except for his noise.