Worst Bite

[Kathleen]

What is the worst parrot bite you've ever received? Why did it happen? What were the circumstances that led to the bite? What kind of parrot was it?

[MissLady9902]

My worst bite came from Citron Crested Cockatoo named Vegas that lives at one of our pet stores.
He's a very sweet, high energy bird. He loves to be on your shoulder but it's hard to get him down.
It's been over a year now but once when I was trying to put him down he bit my finger. He's a chewer.
So he bit down and gnawed on my finger. I calmly sat down on the floor (bird still attached and chewing) and pried his beak of gently and left him on the floor.
I didn't say anything to the owner because she would have felt bad and I didn't want Vegas to get into trouble.
I put a bandaid on it and all is well with my finger. I've since held Vegas multiple times and there has been no biting. That day was very early in my parrot eperience and I think that I missed all his warning signals.
Vegas is still one of my favorite birds to visit!

I forgot to mention that there were nice dangly flaps of skin on my finger and it was also bruised.
Bleeding nicely until I got home and fixed it up. Scrubbing bird bites with rubbing alcohol is no fun.

[macawlover2]

Oh boy! I love telling this story!

My worst bite was definitely from a greenwing macaw I used to have, and he only had 2 toes, so he was a little unstable on my arm. Well, one day he lost balance a bit, and grabbed me for support. Grabbed my LIP, that is. Sliced it open, and I had to be rushed to the hospital to get it glued back together!! I remember getting lots of stares because I was holding a small blood-stained towel against my mouth. Left quite a nice scar, needless to say! It didn't hurt too much though, since my entire lip went numb. Probably wasn't a good thing, though.

And then 2 weeks later, he bit me again on the lip! This time on purpose. It was about as bad as the first bite, but I didn't want to go to the hospital again. So what did I do? I used superglue and glued it back together myself. It worked, and I have a scar just like the first one, but right beside it!

[Natacha]

Hmmm.....

I got bitten by a Moluccan cockatoo on the lip, however, he let go pretty fast and didn't dig in to deep and it barely showed so I guess that wouldn't be it, although I was a little scared for a moment.

The worst bite..I'd have to go with Petey. She got my finger one day and would NOT let go, digging deeper each time I tried to have her let go. My finger was twice it's size for a week, got infected and what not. I asked her to step up when she wasn't in the mood to do so..I knew it but continued to ask.
Oh well.

Still have a little scar.

[drgangsta809n]

Since the biggest parrot I owned in my life is the dominican amazon that was the worst bite it sliced thru skin breaking my fingers skin so deep

[sift]

One of the Congo African Grays at work got me pretty good before I learned to read his warning signals. The only thing that says he's going to nail you before he does are his pupils - they dilate a LOT and then wham!. Lucky for me it was just bruising and some torn skin. It hardly bled at all.

The same gray got one of my employees when she wouldn't back off the first time he told her to and dislocated her finger along with tearing the skin pretty bad. When they don't want to step up, they don't want to step up. End of story.

[windharper]

My worst bite from my 'tiel Teyla. I had separated her and her nestmate Tico. Her cage was placed in the master bedroom during the day which was the farthest point in the house from his cage, so they could not hear each other. The master bedroom is ~not~ a bird-friendly room.

I open the cage to clean it. Normally she would have just gone to the back of the cage and stay clear of my actions. This time, however, she chose to fly out and into a very dangerous area for her. At this time, she was almost completely wild, so any attempt by me to get her caused her to do everything she could to avoid me. I was so frantic for her safety, I didn't pause to get a towel, I reached down and grabbed her as gently and properly as I could. Well, she grabbed onto my middle finger with an allegator locked grip and would not let go!

I got her to the bed, my blood dripping everywhere, and she still wouldn't let go. I am yelling at this point to my husband (who wears hearing aids and still can't hear very well) to get me a towel quick. After I repeated it several times, he finally comes in with 1 half sized paper towel sheet. I yell no, I meant a terry cloth towel. He brings in an over-sized bath towel. I yell no, I meant a hand towel. He asks me where he can find one! (Um, we hang them in the bathroom and leave a pile on the sink for guests and he didn't never noticed!)

Meanwhile, Teyla has still got a death grip on my finger! I tried everything that I could do and couldn't get free from her. I finally get a towel around her with my other hand and she lets go. She had bit down to the nerve in the top joint of that finger. It took months before I could feel anything in it again!

I don't blame her at all. It was completely my fault. She is a completely different bird now and knows how to step up. Would I put myself in danger to save my bird again? Absolutely.