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Effects of Capsaicin Cream on Parrots

Glenn,
I read your article on hot peppers. Since parrots don’t seem to taste the heat, do you think they’d suffer from capsaicin cream? My doctor has prescribed it for me for pain and I’m afraid to wear it because I have several parrots & one is almost always on my arm or shoulder, where should I wear the cream?

Hello Cindi,
Parrots may not have the ability to sense the heat of capsaicin in their mouths, but I wouldn’t think this would apply to other parts of their bodies. Capsaicin is readily absorbed through the skin particularly in sensitive areas. I have a hedge of wild peppers. They are very small peppers that grow on plants that are about 4 feet tall and 3 to 4 feet wide. After reaching through the branches picking peppers for a while my arms start to burn up to the elbows. There is actually a term for this. It is called jalapeno hands or if in the eyes jalapeno eyes. There really is no way to wash it off. Extreme cases can last for days.

I would be concerned that wherever you put the capsaicin cream that if your birds can contact it with their feet they are most likely going to absorb it through the skin. I don’t know that the capsaicin itself would cause any medical issues; although, in very extreme cases I have experienced a rawness to the skin, which can be very painful. If at all possible I would suggest not allowing the birds on any part of your body that has been treated with the capsaicin cream. Maybe the use of long sleeve shirts would resolve the issue.

About Glenn Reynolds

Glenn Reynolds has owned and bred various parrot species since 1979, starting with Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Cockatiels and eventually moving on to Hyacinth Macaws, Golden Conures, and Palm Cockatoos.

An ambitious businessman with a love for parrots, Glenn has pursued a variety of parrot-related activities. In 1988 he founded Avicare, health and life insurance for parrots, underwritten by Lloyds of London. In May of 1996, he began working on the formulation of Breeder’s Blend Bird Food with the assistance of his wife, Julia Jones Reynolds, DVM, and Edward Moser, a veterinary nutritionist. In 1998 Glenn teamed up with Mike Reynolds, founder of the World Parrot Trust, to spearhead the World Parrot Trust-USA Golden Conure Survival Fund. As administrator of the Golden Conure Survival Fund, Glenn has raised over $50,000 to aid in the preservation of Golden Conures.

Elected to the World Parrot Trust board of directors and trustees in 2001, Glenn later resigned from the board in order to take on the responsibilities of administrator of World Parrot Trust USA, Inc. Glenn oversaw the WPT-USA office until June 2018, when he stepped down to pursue his passion for farming and agriculture.