Do you trust your parrot not to bite?

[DustyTheGrey]

I chose Yes because in the calm situation such as Michael explained then yes I do trust Dusty to play and preen my face.
However I was stupid enough twice to not notice a potential scare moment and have been bitten twice on the ear so hard that I was even too scared to touch my ear for fear of there being a piece missing.
Boy did I learn my lesson, shoulder time is only for calm time.
Haha and once he wanted to see (with is beak) what my nostrils were all about (bring on ninjas with onions)
But that being said, it is very nice to just sit quietly and feel the love of having your eyebrows groomed.

[kittyhazelton]

NO
I trust my macaw not to bite "ME" unless she is really upset with a situation. We've already been through our trials when I first got her, I now know what her warning bites are like and have very little fear of getting seriously injured by her. She's the kind of bird that doesn't really even break skin when she's REALLY angry, even my vet she only grabbed and pinched a bit to warn her that she wasn't happy with the situation. However I know that people who are not bird-savvy can get frightened by even a small & harmless nip, so I use extreme caution when letting others pet/hold her.
Aliah my Indian Ringneck however... I trust her about as much as I would trust leaving my car unlocked with my $2500 laptop computer on the dash in the ghetto. She bites, she bites when she's grumpy, she bites when she's bored, she bites when she doesn't want to go back to her cage, she bites when she wants to go to my boyfriend, she bites my boyfriend, she bites if you take something away from her that she's not supposed to have, she bites my cat.... she's just a bitey little brat. It's been quite some time since she's bitten me hard enough to draw blood, but when working with her I pretty much expect to get bitten at least once on a daily basis.
All animals have the capacity to bite, even a "tame" bird can bite. They are non-domesticated animals, and there's always a chance that they will act on their natural instincts when placed in an un-natural situation. The fight or flight response is very strong & when you take away their option to flee (being kept in cages, clipped wings, etc) then their only other option is fight = someone will probably get bit.

[DustyTheGrey]

Aliah my Indian Ringneck however...

I think im falling in love with ringnecks! I just love the colouring, and Aliah in your photo is so pretty... just spent about 10 minutes google imaging photos of ringnecks

[kittyhazelton]

I think im falling in love with ringnecks! I just love the colouring, and Aliah in your photo is so pretty... just spent about 10 minutes google imaging photos of ringnecks

They are very endearing little birds with lots of personality that's for sure. Aliah's nickname is the Monkey-gremlin. Even though she's bitey, testy, and in general likes to cause mischief she's just so damn cute I love her anyway. She was my first bird and came from an abusive situation. She was in a cage that was barely big enough for a single cockatiel sharing it with a male IRN who was very agressive towards her. I had to rehome the male because he had severe behavioral problems that I wasn't prepared to deal with at the time.

[Khaiqha]

I trust my irn with my face. Ace is an aggressive, demanding bird, but we know each other well enough that I can feel if Ace is getting upset. Also, many birds tend to feel more comfortable with a person's face than hands.

I should say that I don't feel comfortable with Amazons or Macaws on my shoulders. Maybe it would be different if it was my big bird.

[Julianajara]

I trust, but actually i shouldnt :/
I allways kiss him haha and ask for kisses
but sometimes i forget and say something lout he ets scared and bite me, and I get really really sad
it happened 3 times, one was today, a have a cut on my lip now haha
but thats ok, it wasnt his time i think..

we need more time practicing our trust in each other

[PapayaTheConure]

I choose yes. When I got Papaya at 3 months old, she loved to preen my face. However, she wasn't that "experienced" so her preening felt like A JACKHAMMER LET LOOSE ON MY FACE. It hurt so much, especially when she got to my lips. Eventually she learned to be gentle and now preens like a pro. I actually enjoy it now.

[JennyBink]

Yeah I let Niblet preen my face if he is calm as he can be nippy at times, I keep him away from my eyes though... I know when he wants to snuggle and preen cos he'll sit on my shoulder and get 'tiny eyes' (small pupils ) and either make a quacking sort of noise at me or his funny way of asking for attention which is to simply say 'eeeeerrrrr'. I know it's probably not the wisest thing to let him do but I can't resist those tiny eyes!!

[Bobioden]

I choose yes, Maxx climbs ALL over me and has yet to bite. He is a 10 month old GCC.

[spiral]

Hi Micheal
I don't realy tust my parrot to be near my face simply because she starles easily, even though she was hand raised and is handled regularly. I dont allow her on my shoulder since she bit me on the top of my ear, when she was a baby, and my ear swelled up.

I dont take that personnally of course, because it was only because my ear was red from the cold. However do do to the physical complications of having the full use of only one arm i have taught her that its best just to sit on my right arm or on my wheelchair. i find it really funny that she enjoys ridding on my wheelchair so much.