So it finally happened. Ruthie got a hold of me with that beak of hers. The odd part was that it was about 20 min after watching Plax's nipping videos, lol. No I had no intention of trying that out, though it did in fact work pretty well.

I was going through our usual routine. I get Ruthie out of the her cage and keep her on my arm for a few hours before Jenna gets home. She normally just plays a bit, then lets me give her scritches and then preens herself for the rest of the time. That all went on as usual. Then Jenna came home and Ruthie got extremely excited like she always does. This time we put all of the other animals up, Jenna sat on the ground and then I placed Ruthie on the ground so she could get that excitement out by running to Jenna. Than kinda worked. She made it all the way over but did not hop up on Jenna's lap this time. Instead she ran between us like a ling pong ball. Finally she walked over to me nice and calm. I put my arm out for her to setup if she wanted. She put her beak on my arm exactly like she does every time she steps up. But this time her feet stopped and she bit the heck out of my wrist. I can normally tell when she may want to bite and I avoid it to prevent her from getting a rise out of us. I was rather shocked that she did this. I can only assume that she was overly stimulated considering the situation, because she did not make any aggressive movements.

With my very recent education on nipping I was able to spread her beak and let her know that she was biting too hard. This really upset her but seconds later she was on my arm like nothing ever happened. It was very nice to be able to handle the situation on the spot. Even though I may have been a bit shocked to actually watch her lower beak clamp through my flesh like that.

At least we got that first bite out of the way now.

Green arrow is where the upper beak landed.

__________________
JMarie is the mama of our flock. I felt I should share this because her post's can sound rather funny by not knowing.

Wow. What a coincidence. I was just about to go to the thread to watch the video by Plax you are talking about (I cant see the videos at work). I sure hope I dont get the same thing 20 minutes after watching it

well you got lucky honestly it will bruise nicely though=P. you handled it great though so next time hopefully she'll think twice

Your macaw does like Monte does...calm...collected...how you doin??? Chomp......

But Monte has his days where he will try to take a chunk....if not for shaking him off as delicately as I can..i'd have pieces missing

Its not fun....idk if its over stimulation or if its his way of testing...but man.....good luck

Aww no ! Well i guess it has to happen at some point!

I have had Fargo for 6 months, and not one bite, until the other day, although it was out of fear and not aggression haha

You handled it perfectly! Hopefully it doesnt bruise up too much, i know how you feel

It seems like the macaw nips are going around at the moment!!

__________________

I often wonder if if my definition of a nibble may be considered a bite by some. It doesn't take much to break skin with their beak but I don't remember ever getting a bruise from a bite. Rea is by far the gentlest yet seems to "bite" really hard at times. Not really painful but I definitely feel it, this is almost always my wrist and collarbone. It has lessened with training and time but it doesn't really bother me either, I take it as playful.

__________________

Yowser!!! The way you described everything, Steve, I tend to agree with you about the over-stimulation.

You said you've had Ruthie on you for a few hours? If I have Niko on me for longer than 30 minutes, he WILL be over-stimulated each and every time. So with him I take little breaks, so he can relax a bit.

Ripley, OTOH, is the sheer opposite. He is wound up when I first pick him up, and he tends to really relax as time elapses.

Niko is my bruiser, as he is an expert pincher. He not so much bites but pinches the skin. And yes, he's left plenty of bruises in some "tender" spots.

I spoke to soon today I was at an outreach and the emerald macaw that is a Buffon and hyacinth hybrid decided she was over stimulated and chomped me lol she said she was sorry though by being extra lovey after it happened.

Ruthie is actually great with me until Jenna comes home. She seems to enjoy hanging out for hours at a time. She mostly just preens while she sits on my arm. But as soon as Jenna walks in I just need to give her up and let them be. She just gets way too excited.

I didn't end up getting a bruise. But I do have a pin hole from the upper beak and a nice slice in the perfect shape of her lower beak. All is well. To her it seems like it never happened.

__________________
JMarie is the mama of our flock. I felt I should share this because her post's can sound rather funny by not knowing.