Respect the beak! AKA: This was my fault

Last night I got a bite. A nasty one. (See the picture... yes sutures were required)

How did this happen you might ask? Well, long version is my friend had come over while I was at band practice and she had let Romeo out of his cage. This is perfectly normal and fine... she's my backup when I go out of town so her handling him and him being COOL with it is important.

While he was out she'd been singing and dancing and just getting him rather worked up. When I came home he, Stephen and the dogs were all VERY wound up as it took me a bit to get my crap in the house.

Add to that he was up way past his bed time and we have a tired and overly excited macaw. He took a shot at me and rather than pay attention I got close to him to tell him that wasn't OK. I told him "NO" (his least favored word) and looked him in the eye. Of course I was TOO close and was ignoring the warning shot he'd just laid down. So he delivered his message a bit more clearly.

After that, while staunching the blood flow I talked him into calming down and was able to put him to bed. Then we got me medical care and




TL;DR: I pushed his buttons and didn't pay attention. He bit my face. We're good now.

Moral of the story: when your bird is cranky and nips at you, respect what he's telling you and don't push your luck. This was all my fault. ENTIRELY.

And it's kinda funny.

Oh no!! I hope you recover quickly <3

Ouch! Battle scars

It's one of the biggest faults that owners with enough history commonly make. It is so easy too forget and especially when we are busy and not in the proper mind set and then wham!

As you now can clearly state, bites hurt and bites to the face /lips really hurt!

Thank-you, for the reminder that when working around our Parrots, being well aware of what they are doing and telling us is so important!

Great reminder for all of us. Hope you heal fast.

Interestingly enough, now that the swelling is down it's plainly obvious how bad this nearly was.

He left quite a mark with his upper beak. A bit more of a bite and I'd be missing part of my lip.

It was a dumb mistake... I just thought he was being persnickety. Then upon reflection it was obvious he was far beyond that stage and I should have handled him much more gently and carefully.

Will I make that mistake again? Yeah... cuz he'll outlive my memory but hopefully it won't be for a very very long time.

Oh no, the lip bite!!! That hurts so badly, I actually did a similar, stupid thing a long time ago with a male cockatiel named Springsteen I had. He was 14 years old, I got home late from college and was tired, he kept landing on my head, I took him off and did basically what you did with him on my finger right next to my face...I got 4 stitches in my bottom lip and 3 more in my face below my lip. I just have to look at the scar to remind myself...

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Ouchie yes such a great reminder we have to listen to our birds i hope you heal quickly still sucks thoe lip bites hurt ive only had one from lucky and it too was my fault i spooked him while he was on my sholder

Ouch! But I have to agree, I do not think he really meant to hurt you. It really looks like it was a warning nip and he just misjudged the sensitivity of your lip!
Or, in bird language, he first said, 'please', then, 'pretty please', then decided to put sugar on it!

Flboy said:

Ouch! But I have to agree, I do not think he really meant to hurt you. It really looks like it was a warning nip and he just misjudged the sensitivity of your lip!
Or, in bird language, he first said, 'please', then, 'pretty please', then decided to put sugar on it!

Click to expand...

Ouch indeed! Sorry you were bitten in such a vascular and sensitive area, but it could have been far worse. Hope it heals quickly and doesn't leave much of a reminder!

Sympathies and empathy and all-around cyber-hugs to you.
I recall "pushing it" a while back, got a rip right over the knuckle of a pinkie... 4 teeny-tiny stitches. He was tired and cranky but *I* needed a little more petting time.

Beautiful wild creatures. They give us what they can. Then we have to know when to be grateful and back off.
*hugszszszszs*

I recall that evening. He was escalating. Even I was like "maybe it's time for him to go back to the ----------"
I was interrupted by the chomp, the flap, the chaos, the blood, the tears. By the time she got him back to the cage, there were blood drops everywhere. Then the inability to close the wound, the trip to the ER.
Respect the beak, yep.