corvus
Posted : 5/26/2008 8:32:10 PM
I reckon the gloves idea is a bad one. Most baby birds are quite delicate and it's difficult to know how hard you're holding them with gloves on. If they have feathers, your hands might muss them up and make them damp, but I figure that's better than holding them too hard and hurting them or not holding them hard enough and having them struggle free. IME, if you hold them firmly, they are the least stressed, but it's very hard to know how hard you're holding them if you can't feel the properly through your gloves. Some people use latex gloves for one reason or another, but even those are annoying if they don't fit you right.
The only reason I'd wear gloves is if the bird was a parrot or raptor, or if it looked sick. We're supposed to wear gloves for bats due to rabies (well, ABL), but no one does unless the bat looks sick because those guys are real small and no one feels comfy not knowing exactly how hard they are holding them.