Are you afraid of your bird?

[The Outlaw]

I know that sounds like a strange questions, but I think its a valid one. I just read a sad post about a person who had been waiting for months for a baby bird do wean and then had to admit they were terrified of the baby bird. Frankly, it never occured to me to be afraid of a baby anything. However, maybe some of you actually have birds in your home that you can't handle. Don't be embarrassed. Heck, who knows, we may be able to help you.

The only bird here that ever attacked me was one of my most favorite macaws. He's my oldest and is very bonded to another younger male. I foolishly placed the younger bird in his cage one day while cleaning and forgot to retrieve him right away. They were playing and having fun, so I left him there until the late afternoon. When I reached in to put him in his own cage, Dreamie viciously attacked me, just like a wild caught breeder. I was stunned and learned a very valuable lesson. This is not a mean or even aggressive bird, but I broke the rules. He has never once repeated anything like it and I'll NEVER make the mistake of offering him a companion in his own cage. Its very, very dangerous. Either one of us could have had very serious injuries.

[Monica]

I am by no means afraid of any of my birds. I've been bitten and nipped by budgies, lovebirds, cockatiels, conures, cockatoos, vasa parrot, hyacinth macaw.... the list goes on! The worst came from the hyacinth macaw, Blue Jeans, and Noel, my cherry head conure. Blue Jeans was playing with my fingers (he was only a baby then... heck, he still is as he hasn't reached full maturity yet!), and nibbled a bit too hard on my pinkie. It hurt for two weeks, especially since he broke the nail and made it bleed underneath. The one that came from Noel, well she bit in a very sensitive place on my hand, and I had a rush of feelings go through my body that told me to bite back. I was able to hold myself back (I would never intentionally hurt a bird), and put Noel up without further problems during that session.

Now through all my experience with handling birds (for 5 years, been handling them since I was 12), I have learned that the smaller birds usually tend to hurt worse than a larger bite from a larger parrot, even though a larger parrot can cause more serious injuries. It's like a paper cut vs a cut by a knife. Yeah, it hurts, but the paper cut will be more bothersome in the end than a deeper cut.

To say the least, my mother is afraid of getting bit by Noel. She loves Casey, but she's afraid of Noel's beak. She did however fall head over heals for a cockatoo that had broken his leg and was recovering, and in the end wasn't afraid of his beak. I do know of someone though that is afraid of his fathers alexandrian because the bird doesn't 'like him'. This bird may threaten, but he is more 'bark' than bite.

[yehudasf]

BS"D

Fear is no part of the relationship I am fortunate enough to share with my psittazen companions. Even when I yell (it happens), they will just laugh. When my hens are on eggs, I can (gently)reach in and take them out to candle. I can go into a breeding flight, sit down & both hen & cock will come to get treats, & then demand scritches. They are the most important beings in my life (now that the kinderlach are adults with kindern of their own). Daily, as I daven, I give thanks to Hashem Ha Kodesh for the great gift that their unconditional love brings to my life.

[Skyebirdsmom]

No I am not now nor have I ever been afraid of any birds I ever had. And with 2 Quakers, that's saying alot!!!! However, I never considered being afraid of them. If I had, I'd have never gotten them. However, Do you remember Lisa that adopted Dudley? She was scared to death of him(he kept her locked in a closet once, LOLOLOL, boy is that a lonnnnnnggggg story). And she's now presently afraid of 2 others she's adopted. She just doesn't need to have a larger bird in her life. She adopted one called Simon and another I forgot his name, but she jumped back and forth about adopting him and finally did. Her hearts in the right place...but she's scared to death of them and won't handle them. Sad huh? But I've been bitten by just about any kind of bird, I know 99% of the time it was my fault, so bites just come with the territory when we dont pay attention and I realize that. But scared? Never!
Linda & Skye~

Originally Posted by The Outlaw

I know that sounds like a strange questions, but I think its a valid one. I just read a sad post about a person who had been waiting for months for a baby bird do wean and then had to admit they were terrified of the baby bird. Frankly, it never occured to me to be afraid of a baby anything. However, maybe some of you actually have birds in your home that you can't handle. Don't be embarrassed. Heck, who knows, we may be able to help you.

The only bird here that ever attacked me was one of my most favorite macaws. He's my oldest and is very bonded to another younger male. I foolishly placed the younger bird in his cage one day while cleaning and forgot to retrieve him right away. They were playing and having fun, so I left him there until the late afternoon. When I reached in to put him in his own cage, Dreamie viciously attacked me, just like a wild caught breeder. I was stunned and learned a very valuable lesson. This is not a mean or even aggressive bird, but I broke the rules. He has never once repeated anything like it and I'll NEVER make the mistake of offering him a companion in his own cage. Its very, very dangerous. Either one of us could have had very serious injuries.

[Dayna]

Well I have a confession to make. I have handled Darwin a lot, and am still a bit afraid of him. I have gotten a couple pretty severe bites from him. I continue to handle him just as much as before, but now I just have to accept that I will probably be bitten again. Very severe bites.

Nancy I TRIED what you said about toweling him. I swear that he does not like me. I know it sounds strange, I am even the person handfeeding him! When it is handfeeding time, he looks for me. But any other time, he would prefer if I were not around.

When toweled, he calms down. He is pretty calm most of the time. But he hisses at me a lot, and bites me when I make him do something that he does not want to do (like go in his cage, or off my husband).

It is something I can "deal" with, but am quite unhappy with, and I have a healthy fear of biting. Suffice it to say he never gets near my face, such a pity too since I love to kiss bird heads! He LOVES almost everyone, but me.

[Tiki]

I agree with Yehuda. There is no fear on either my part or my birds' part. Even though some of them are more cuddly than others, none of them fear me. I am not the least bit afraid of them either (OK so they are little birds, but still.............)!

I can't wait until I get over there and meet some macaws, they are so rare here. I don't think I will be afraid, I hope!

[felisdomesticus]

I was afraid of Scarlett when I first adopted her as she is my first (and only) bird. I didn't grow up with birds nor had I ever handled one until I met her at her foster home.

She was freaked out to be in ANOTHER new environment in her short 2 year life and also could see that I was frightened of her. She bit the hell out of me for the first month here and I cried every single day, thinking that I had made a huge mistake.

We persevered together, though, and now have a great relationship. She makes me laugh every single day and I really love her. She still can cop an attitude now and then if she doesn't want to come down off of her boing at bedtime but I have learned to dodge her lunges and get her off anyway while remaining in one piece.

I fostered a goffins cockatoo for a couple of weeks recently and, again, I was afraid of her at first because I had no experience with her or those types of birds. I never really felt totally comfortable handling her but it's a moot point now as she is in a new home.

[TooLover]

If any of you would like to experience fear of a bird, just to say that you have experienced it, you are more than welcome to come visit and meet Buck Buck!

[LivingFiction]

Hurley bites me. He knows he's going to do it, I know he's going to do it, that's just how it is, but I'm not afraid of him, just careful. I couldn't be less afraid of Feo. He's just a baby, so that's to be expected. He's given me some pretty serious pinches, but nothing noteworthy. I imagine he'll bite me one day when he's hormonal.

I don't think a bite would bring me to the point of fear. I'd become aprehensive, careful, and probably hurt, but not afraid. I could be afraid of Feo, but he'd have to be running across his cage to bite me and become completely aggressive and unmanageable. Right now I can't even imagine him being fierce enough for me to fear him. But to be totally honest, if that were to become the case, I'd consider rehoming him. You all know I wouldn't give up without a fight, but I see no reason to keep something in my life that I have to fear, and he wouldn't be getting the kind of life he deserved either.

That would give an entierly new meaning to the term "feeding you fears" no?

[kathleen]

Pumpkin is my first bird and I was afraid of birds, but I visited the bird store often, kinda hoping one would bite me so I would know what to expect and then I could make a decision if it was worth getting. None bit me though. I brought Pumpkin home and holds on with his beak. I don't know if it's a real bite since it doesn't break skin. My family was, and some are still afraid of him because they have very little bird experience but they seem to be warming up slowly.