beak touching

davefv92c

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Nov 29, 2016
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morning all yesterday I got Maxx out of his cage everything normal. was sitting on the couch and he was on my belly and out of the blue he reached up and tried to latch on to my lower lip. at that point in time I told him no and gave him a time out and returned him to his house for the eve. was I right to have this response since I have pretty much trained him to nibble on my fingers when I uncover him in the mornings. I can't really say weather it was a touch or the attempt at a bite but he did have a hold of my lower lip.
 

katie_fleming

Active member
Oct 30, 2012
881
31
Montreal, Canada
Parrots
Jasper (6yr old Solomon Island Eclectus Parrot)
I think it's totally fine. He didn't hurt you but he'll know you don't want him grabbing your lip so may avoid it from now on.

Jasper grabbed my lip once when I kissed him. He grabbed a bit too hard but let go as soon as I flinched. He's never done it again!
 

SailBoat

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Jul 10, 2015
17,643
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Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
morning all yesterday I got Maxx out of his cage everything normal. was sitting on the couch and he was on my belly and out of the blue he reached up and tried to latch on to my lower lip. at that point in time I told him no and gave him a time out and returned him to his house for the eve. was I right to have this response since I have pretty much trained him to nibble on my fingers when I uncover him in the mornings. I can't really say weather it was a touch or the attempt at a bite but he did have a hold of my lower lip.

Because Parrots connect with our face before they understand that the rest of us is in fact part of our head. They are very interested in our face. Compared to our Parrots, we have huge ability to communicate with the features of our face and one of those are our lips. When we speak, the are very aware of the movements of our lips. That leads to their interest in our lips.

To say that his intent was to bite or just to touch is difficult to say. My background is with Amazons and with that group it takes at least two or more specific Body Language clues to confirm what they are trying to communicate.

Your reaction was correct. However, if you from time to time make contact with your Parrot beak or body with your lips, your action will likely confuse your guy.
 
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davefv92c

davefv92c

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not a bird kisser here. the guy that owns the aviary I deal with
told me he does not let the birds on his shoulder nor around his face.
maybe I should adopt these rules, the guy grew up in the business so he must know what he is talking about.
 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,643
10,007
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
not a bird kisser here. the guy that owns the aviary I deal with
told me he does not let the birds on his shoulder nor around his face.
maybe I should adopt these rules, the guy grew up in the business so he must know what he is talking about.

Good points, the face and neck are areas that a light bite will result in serious bleeding a deeper /harder bite can cause serious injury and worse.

A Parrot on one's shoulder is a Parrot out of sight and therefore monitoring the Parrot becomes difficult!
 

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