Parrots and Human Saliva

Question
HELP! I just got a 3 month old Sun Conure and he is so lovable and just loves to "give kisses". I thought it was cute so I let him chew on my lips and lick my mouth. I also let him eat food out of my mouth. Next thing I read, I see it is HORRIBLE to let your parrot have ANY contact with your mouth because it carries bacteria and such, and it can make your parrot VERY ill. What have I done!!? Is he going to be okay???!

Answer
Ok, well there are MILLIONS of theories about this subject and my opinion lies somewhere in the middle. If you are sick, don't let your bird near your mouth (just common sense) but I've been giving kisses to my birds my whole life and never had a problem. Now, I'm not telling you that bacteria is GOOD for the bird, but in my experience the more the owner babies the bird and sanitizes everything, the more likely the bird is to get sick because it hasn't built up immunities to the bacteria. Just be careful-don't give him kisses when you're sick or even think you're getting sick or if you've been around someone who is sick (like if a close friend or family member was sick and you spent lots of time near them). Just be careful but don't baby the bird too much and you should be fine.