How many times have you been bitten?

I've had Einstein for well over a year. I have only been bitten by him once. I've probably told this story hundreds of times before, but it was this one time at the vet. We were trying to get his nails clipped (which he HATES). He was really stressed out, and I was trying to towel him. He was really confused, and I doubt he really meant me any harm. He was just scared. But that was the first and last bite he ever gave me. Even afterwards, he felt no grudge against me, and started chirping and singing like nothing had happened.

As for the budgies, I've only been bit a handful of times. Mostly, when I first got Bonnie and Clyde, and tried to handle them. Now, I can usually grab them if need be, and they remain calm. Madoc isn't really a biter either.

Does anyone else have a lack of biting experience? It's funny, I feel kind of foolish as a bird owner, I mean, we're supposed to get bitten, it's our job. Even random birds at petstores haven't nipped at me.

I want my birdy battle scars, I've earned them

Get a zon.

I've been bitten so much by Scooter I could not even start to count. However, in all my other bird experience including handling birds in pet stores and Scotty and my MILs Sake, who I held numerous times for Bill to do nails or wing trims, I have only been bitten once. Never by Sake, never by Scotty (unless you count a slightly bruised ear, he has a bit of an ear fetish, but I don't count that) and once by a Jardines in a pet store. Almost bought that Jardines, I was all ready to name it Buckbeak. Maybe I have some kind of issue...

henpecked wrote:

Get a zon.

I was talking to a zon at the petstore today and the bird asked me "what's your problem?" I just about fell over laughing. some other person came over and about a minute later the amazon bit him

I got bitten by my old cockatiel when I had to move her from her eggs, but that was pretty much the only time she ever bit me. Rainbow on the other hand "bites" me a couple times a day but they don't hurt and it's kind of her way of communicating I guess. My new gcc bit me hard a few times the first day but since then she hasn't bitten me. In fact I accidently bumped a sore pinfeather and she just sort of growled and took my finger in her beak and pushed it away. Besides that I've been bitten by an amazon who hates my guts and that's it.

I don't want to talk to any of you.
Ever again.

No, I do not generally get bitten by my pet birds. Bitten meaning intentional breaking of the skin. Little warning nips or playful nips, I don't count.

My first jenday, I do not remember her to have ever broken my skin during the time she was a pet. Once she became a breeder, that's another story.

My CAG "bit" me once, but I don't think it counted. She was falling off my arm and I couldn't catch her so she climber picked my chest.

My old M2 bit me on the feet for the first week we had him. Then we came to an understanding and he never bit me again.

Goffin, never bit me.

Tiels - fuggetaboutit. Nope on the tame ones.

Seriously, in 20 years of keeping handfed, tame birds I really have not been bitten by my pet birds. They do not "out of the blue" one day go vampire and bite the crap out of me or any family members.

Other people's birds and birds I've taken in that came with issues, yes, bitten a lot.

wait - I take it back. Bubbles the parrotlet is cage aggressive and bites. She's too small to break skin. Every once in awhile I do get/raise a parrotlet that tends to be "nippy" and seem to have very strong preferences in people and tend to be cage aggressive. Don't know what that's all about.

henpecked wrote:

Get a zon.

I agree!

Today Zada was falling and she grabbed my arm. Ouch! I now have a very nice bruise.

hannahbird wrote:

Today Zada was falling and she grabbed my arm. Ouch! I now have a very nice bruise.

"What happened to you're arm?!"

"Vicious Parrot Attack"

Margaret wrote:

henpecked wrote:

Get a zon.

I agree!

oh ain't that the truth...lol

Well, in truth NOTHING ever got me like tha little lovebird Kokomo. Holy shit balls y'all. She relished in making me bleed. Her beak might as well have been a bazillion pounds.

My male cockatiel Piccolo got a me a few good times, those were my fault though.

A Hahns baby got a hold of me a few weeks ago pretty good. YEOWCH! No broken skin or blood though.

from what I remember cockatiels aren't very agressive- compared to other birds. When I used to have a pair I don't think they ever bit me once either. So good on getting a bird from the softer fluffy side of life hehe

However if you really want to experience the joys of a biting parrot, feel free to borrow lorenzo for a little while.
I don't think a day goes by where he doesn't draw blood of leave bite marks. He even bit a chunk out of this lady that was babysitting him's neck!
Every day is a constant battle to the point where I sometimes even consider giving him away because he is just too much- too painful and too stressful.
He will bite for the fun of it...when something is not going his way...for attention....or just because he can!....when he gets his food, when he doesn't get his food, when he doesn't get food he wants, when you make food for yourself....when he wakes up, when he goes to bed, when you touch anything that belongs to him...or to yourself!
I'm really tempted to just file that sharp beak of his down! He's in a biting world of his own.

So don't worry you're not missing out, you're VERY lucky.

henpecked wrote:

Get a zon.

Not my sweet Toogie Bells?

Stryder rarely nips at me; Merlin rarely bites, if he does, it's right between the toes (he dislikes toes); Rosco's a caique...I learnt how to read him REALLY well when he first hit the hormone stage.

Nuff' said!

I was bit by an untame bourke once. Broke skin (barely). Oh and I've had untame finches bite down with all their might on my fingers!! They almost pinch!

LOL. But seriously though, I've been bitten very few times, and certainly not badly. A couple of IRNs have gotten me, and Ducky bit me once (all my fault, I picked him up wrong and tweaked his wing by accident).

I'm not counting beaky tweaks and testing tweaks that don't break skin, because Duckins gives me a lot of those whenever he's feeling hyper and a lot of babies have tested their beaks out on me without meaning to hurt me.

henpecked wrote:

Get a zon.

Maybe that's why parrotlets are compared to amazons, but in miniature?

My Budgie attacks furiously, probably how Bubbles does.

Bucky bit. And bit. And bit. J-bird could be nippy with me, but she'd bite other people - mainly my daughter. She NEVER (that I remember) drew my blood, but I know she did on other's more than once. Now... Allie's drawn blood on more than one occasion - but honestly I don't think that those are really bites, they're more situations where she's trying to hold on tighter than I want her to - like when I'm trying to get her to lie on her back and she doesn't really want to. OK, so maybe it's a bite - but it's my fault and I know it - but she never does it any other time.

I've been bit to heck and back by Jaws the GCC at the store, and have had a few REALLY good bites from some crazy wild 'tiels at the store. (Tiel bites HURT! They've got SHARP little beaks!) And believe it or not, I've had a few budgies get me good lately - but they didn't break skin. (Probably because my skin resembles boot leather by now.)

I've had an Ekkie bite me, but their bites don't really hurt for some reason. They're not a sharp pain - more of a squeezing, bruising type of bite. I had a B&G Macaw bite my toe through my shoe - broke the skin but didn't bleed. (He was trying to nest and I was in his way. Bad me!)(Actually, bad him!)

And did I mention that I've had a Quaker bite? LOL!

So far, scared budgie bites was worse than little amazon. Lucky bit me to blood, and it wasn't that bad as Mango, who made me almost pee- seriously!

VickiNumbers wrote:

I've had an Ekkie bite me, but their bites don't really hurt for some reason. They're not a sharp pain - more of a squeezing, bruising type of bite.

You've obviously not had an ekkie bite you for real. My hen sliced my hand like it was butter. I had nerve damage for several weeks from that bite.

Do I really need to get involved in this conversation? LOL I should put together one of those autopsy wound sheets to map out exactly how many scars I have (most of them from my elbows to my fingers). Two on the face and several places where I no longer have feeling because I've been bitten in the same place so often.

I have a tshirt that I made up (and have a bumper sticker as well) that says "Give Blood - Own a Macaw"

Hey Idlepirate, maybe you should start a separate thread on Lorenzo's biting. I've gotten a lot of useful input with Scooter. At least Scooter goes through periods of remission!

We've talked about Lorenzo in the past,is he still flying and attacking?

patdbunny wrote:

VickiNumbers wrote:

I've had an Ekkie bite me, but their bites don't really hurt for some reason. They're not a sharp pain - more of a squeezing, bruising type of bite.

You've obviously not had an ekkie bite you for real. My hen sliced my hand like it was butter. I had nerve damage for several weeks from that bite.

I totally believe you, and am sooooo good with taking your word for it. I really have absolutely no need to experience THAT bite myself. Though now that you mention it, I seem to recall that when the hen's have "bitten" me (and they weren't even really bites), they seemed to be more serious about it than the cock bites I've experienced (which was the one that was the most serious in actually "biting" me). Did that make sense?

~AND~

Let it be known that today I had my first close encounter with the beak with an Amazon! Please note that I did NOT say she bit me! LOL! She was on my arm and I was moving to put her back in her cage and she slipped. My other hand was the closest thing for her to grab onto, so she did. And apparently she was really scared, cause she grabbed really hard. I bled a really lot. (Left drops on the way back to the bathroom if that tells you anything. I was irritated, I had to mop again.) Then the stupid breeder Nanday's got me when I was cleaning their cage. They made me bleed too. (Those were BITES). Something else got me this weekend too because I have a wound that I can't account for - but I really just don't remember.

VickiNumbers wrote:

Let it be known that today I had my first close encounter with the beak with an Amazon! Please note that I did NOT say she bit me! LOL! She was on my arm and I was moving to put her back in her cage and she slipped. My other hand was the closest thing for her to grab onto, so she did. And apparently she was really scared, cause she grabbed really hard. I bled a really lot. (Left drops on the way back to the bathroom if that tells you anything. I was irritated, I had to mop again.) Then the stupid breeder Nanday's got me when I was cleaning their cage. They made me bleed too. (Those were BITES). Something else got me this weekend too because I have a wound that I can't account for - but I really just don't remember.

all these bites and I'm still insanely jealous of your job!