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I will say up front that I don’t have children, so there are some
people who may discount what I am about to say. However… |
All birds can and do bite at
some point. All young parrots go through a “beaky”
period when they try out their chomping strength on everything they come
into contact with. Birds are easily startled and frightened. A
frightened bird is even more likely to bite.
Are you considering a large
bird? Look at that huge beak – the one that can crack open brazil
nuts. Look at your child’s tiny arms, fingers, ears, noses. Think
about stitches. Think about the trauma that a facial bite would cause –
especially if it resulted in needing cosmetic surgery. Yes, I know…
your child is above-average intelligence and would NEVER tease the
parrot. Yes, I know… your parrot is totally tame and would never bite.
Yes, I know…
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If you
simply must have that parrot, and you have small children (or are
planning a family in the future), at least resolve not to allow
youngsters to be around the bird unsupervised. And memorize the
shortest distance between your home and the nearest emergency care
center. |
I've not been bitten (yet) by
my large macaw. But she has
pinched me, nipped, me and tried her amazing beak strength on my fingers
(she'd like to remove my fingernails, as all parrots seem to want to
do). I have been bitten by Pakshi,
my small macaw - and bitten badly enough that I would NEVER allow him to
be in direct contact with anyone, especially a child.
| Here's a photo of a mild bite on
my right forearm from Pakshi. He attacked me because I reached
into his cage to remove a toy that, apparently, he didn't want me to
move. Pakshi is a very small macaw - only about 12 inches
long. Fortunately, he wasn't able to get a good grip on me and
I moved away before he could break the skin. |
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