Just thought I'd do a show and tell

[Polarn]

Well, you see posts warning about how powerful a bite is from the bigger birds and what they could possibly do etcetera, And if you google yeah you find plenty of images of what a bite might look like.

Just thought I'd post a picture of my ear after a misshap when julia was playing with my ring, she wasnt upset, she wasnt angry, she managed to get her beak into the hole in my ear together with the ring and got a bit scared when her beak stuck to the ear and well... bit slightly instead of perching nicely letting me solve the situation. Can't be angry at her and well, she is still aloowed on my shoulders and whatnot altho I try to wear loops or plugs that makes it as har as possible for her to accidentally get her beak throguh the hole (yes i kinda have freakshow ears to begin with with stretched lobes, not too bad tho, normally wear 12mm (about half an inch) rings..

and yeah tried to keep the post slightly longer so that people who migt be squemich could click back before seeing the result, Anyways it is all healed up altho it is a split earlobe, and well i pierced both and have a stud through so I can normally put a bigger ring through the split kinda so yeah normally people cant really tell my ear is two lobes but yeah... this is the results..

It's the first time my ear is split this bad but it is not the first time my ear or fingers or whatever has been bleeding, ears has happened a couple of times from playing birds so not even agression or with an intention to hurt. both by my own fids and others...

[Bird woman]

Great post need more pics for newbies to see when considering a first large bird. If anyone else has pics need to post. I guess I should have taken a picture of my face weeks ago when Nigel decided to eat it off. just now healed! BW

[Polarn]

well that picture is of my ear today and well, it'll stay like that until I have reconstructive surgery, wich most likely will never happen haha.

Anyways just wanted to show that even a playing bird can cause some permanent damage to you, and even tho I has stretched lobes.. lets just agree it doesnt even take a macaw to cause that damage if they wanted too in anger or whatnot. And well in short I would say, never put yoursef as the caregiver to something your not willing to take a bite from. no matter if its a dog or a bird. But especially when dealing with birds, the way I see it it isnt a question if youll ever take a bite or not, its a question about force and frequency more or less... Dont think there is any of us that has been involved for some time that has never taken a bite.

[Wolf]

I really have no idea as to why people don't seem to put two and two together to get four as far as a parrots beak is concerned. You can easily see how large and powerful their beak is in relation to the birds body size as well as in comparison to other types of birds beaks. Parrots routinely crack open the nuts that they eat and the larger parrots crack open the hardest of all nuts much easier than any human can even with the tools to crack them open, some of the larger birds produce enough force with their beaks to bite through chainlink fencing. That is a lot of damage potential when that beak is nibbling on human skin.

[liz]

Your ear looks like you did it on purpose. It is kind of like the guys who split their tongues. I don't wear earings near my Amazons. They try to preen them off me.
Rainbow bit my ear once when he could not reach the man who was getting too close to me. He did not do a clear through punch so I only have a little scar.

[Polarn]

yeah, well the split wasnt on purpouse but as I said I did have a halv inch hole to begin with hence the accident.
And yeah I am fully aware of their power. I just thought I might as well post some of the bad stuff that can happen around these marvelous creatures as well, becasue most of what you get up when researching getting a parrot etcetera is cuddly pictures of videos of parrots doing tricks. And I consider these type of things being just as important to take into consideration when figuring out if you want/are ready to be a parront.

I know most of the people on here has dealt with birds for a number of years but there is also a constant stream of people who is asking what bird is right for them etcetera, and willingness to take a bite is part of it. Its not nessesarily a question if but rather when and to what extent. This was soft tissue and a minor incident compared to what they have the capability of. I know my sister when she was little managed to get a finger into the CAG enclsure and spent half her childhood being terrified of any of us taking any of the birds out. And thats another point, I'm willing to take a bite if it occours but the rest of the family has to be taen in consideration as well.

But yeah I am like most people I have far more pictures and videos that are cuddly nice or fun (in fact this is the only negative image I've got) and it was taken the other day almost a year after the incident...

edit: my profile picture gives some idea of the size hole I had in my ear prior to this.

[Pajarita]

I really have no idea as to why people don't seem to put two and two together to get four as far as a parrots beak is concerned. You can easily see how large and powerful their beak is in relation to the birds body size as well as in comparison to other types of birds beaks. Parrots routinely crack open the nuts that they eat and the larger parrots crack open the hardest of all nuts much easier than any human can even with the tools to crack them open, some of the larger birds produce enough force with their beaks to bite through chainlink fencing. That is a lot of damage potential when that beak is nibbling on human skin.

My personal theory on this, Wolf, is that people think that if they raise the bird from a baby with love, it will not bite. They base this on what they know about pets... namely dogs and cats. Because it is true that you can raise a dog that doesn't bite and a cat that doesn't scratch if you know what you are doing! But it doesn't work with parrots - only problem is, people without hands-on experience with an adult bird don't realize it. And, of course, the youtube videos of charming birds behaving like well-behaved little ladies and gentlemen don't help either because people don't realize that what they are seeing is just 5 minutes of a bird's life (and a 'good' 5 minutes at that!) and not the day after day in the height of the breeding season, or the inevitable accident that can happen the bird spooks, or the hard nip on your cheek when they are trying to warn you, or the hard bite when they get tangled up somewhere and you are desperately trying to free them before they hurt themselves, etc. etc. etc. Sheesh, it takes a long time of observing them before you even begin to be able to read them a bit...

[Polarn]

Pretty much the point i tried to make Pajarita. Wasn't trying to say my birdie is vicious or evil. Just wanted to shed some light on the not so good minutes.
And while I know having parrots on the shoulder is a debated topic I do let birds to come up on my shoulder unless their overly excited to begin with.

[Loriusgarrulus]

Part of the problem as well is that a lot of people don't understand the difference between a domestic animal like a dog or cat and an imprinted animal like a hand reared parrot.
Even domestic animals have a lot of wild instincts still.

[Pajarita]

Exactly so for both of you! I agree 100%.