Scooter and Scotty Sitting in a Tree!

[Michael]

Scotty looks like he has a wickedly sharp beak - do the photos make it look worse than it actually is? I think I'd be a little nervous about asking him to step up, but that's a newbie talking.

In the larger parrots, I don't think it's so much the sharpness as the crushing strength

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Scotty looks like he has a wickedly sharp beak - do the photos make it look worse than it actually is? I think I'd be a little nervous about asking him to step up, but that's a newbie talking.

In the larger parrots, I don't think it's so much the sharpness as the crushing strength

Michael, you're a big help!

Actually, he mostly uses that as a nut-pick. When he bites, he doesn't really use the pointy part, that hooks around and the beak works like any other bigger bird beak.

I've rarely been nervous asking him to step up, since he's usually asking ME, literally, to do so. OTOH, the couple of times he's not wanted to stop doing something naughty, and he's demonstrated temper, he did it by banging that big old beak on the ground/perch but didn't follow through by biting. It was a hair intimidating, though... and I present the side of my hand for step-up under those circumstances, not my finger! I DID get nervous yesterday when I'd allowed him onto my shoulder and he wanted to explore my ear. He wasn't being mean at all, but very curious, and I'm not the sort for multiple piercings.... was able to remove the ear without damage.

[Jenny]

I DID get nervous yesterday when I'd allowed him onto my shoulder and he wanted to explore my ear. He wasn't being mean at all, but very curious, and I'm not the sort for multiple piercings.... was able to remove the ear without damage.

My little cockatiel likes to explore my ear, too, but his beak isn't nearly so worrisome!