How bad are macaw bites really?

[veimar]

Oh, yeah! Fargo's a real beast! [emoji23]

Well of course, Fargo is known as the most ferocious beast in all the land...

This seems like the look of a crazy bird... You have been warned!


It honestly depends on how you train and play with the macaw.. Fargo has never bitten me and he is 3 now, I treat him like a child haha

Oh my gosh - that's THE BEST!!! I laughed into tears!
Now I want to mac so bad...

 

[thekarens]

Macs and their tongues....lol! Fargo it's awesome!

 

[veruka1973]

Fargo is gorgeous! He looks so sweet too! I am still hand feeding my baby a few times a day, but he is basically fully feathered other than his "bird boob" when I feed him his crop shows.....we lovingly refer to it as the bird boob. If I set his perches low and lined the bottom with paper do you think it would be okay to start introducing him to the cage in small amounts? He has mastered the art of perching on the playstand quite nicely and I let him stretch his legs and run around in my bedroom floor exploring after feedings, but I feel it is about time to let him check out his cage so he can start working on climbing etc.
I keep him in a very large plastic storage tub with clear sides right now, it's lined with clean paper towels and has food/water dishes on the floor and a tabletop perch that's a few inches high he stands on it a lot, and there are a few toys laying in there also

 

[Anansi]

This seems like the look of a crazy bird... You have been warned!


Ah, yes! Fargo's propensity for hooded stealth attacks is known and feared throughout the land... as well as the lethal skill with which he wields that infamous tongue! Gah!

 

[4dugnlee]

Awww...congrats on your new B & G baby! Can't wait to see pics! I've never had a macaw, but it's getting harder and harder to not consider getting one every time I see Zoe and Fargo's pics!!! Man, if I had a bigger house and more time.....

 

[Birdman666]

Macaws are one of the easiest birds in the world to bite pressure train. If you do that, they only pinch...

They certainly can Inflict enough of a bite to require stitches... Been there done that, twice.

In extreme cases they can do worse...

 

[Ann333]

Thanks to everyone for all of the replies. I really didn't think they were that bad, otherwise I would never have got one that's for sure lol!
The breeder I got him/her from (DNA won't be back until midweek) was showing me all of the babies he had available which included several cockatoo's....he was displaying to me how lovable they were and had 2 of them out on him, one was nuzzled into his chest and he says "see! she's so lovable...HERE you hold her!" I, purely out of instinct started backing away...."Nope, not gonna happen I will NEVER hold another cockatoo again no matter how "lovable" it appears" I told him.
My experience with the sulphur crested many years ago cured me of any and all desire to hold or own a cockatoo again. I would hold any bird except a too...no thank you!!
He had several kinds of macaws available, I was torn between the illigers and a blue and gold, but in the end I could not resist the B&G, and am very happy with it, can't wait to find out if it's a he or a she so I can settle on a name

I cant wait to know if its a boy or a girl. And i wanna know that name too

 

[veruka1973]

I can't wait to find out too! The breeder sent the dna card off the day I picked him up and said the company emails him the results then will mail me a certificate, so he is suppose to email the results to me asap when he gets them which hopefully will be in 3 or 4 days.

So far I'm thinking either Ripley or Baxter (just watched Anchorman for the 500th time lol)

 

[hsb_birds]

"My experience with the sulphur crested many years ago cured me of any and all desire to hold or own a cockatoo again. I would hold any bird except a too...no thank you!!"


oh yes I have a great scar on the base of my thumb from my umbrella cockatoo. we had a guy wanting to donate another umbrella cockatoo to the resort and I declined very quickly just with the 2 we have (big huge divas one male Ralph who bit me and the other female Gracie who wouldn't hurt a fly...unless that fly was in her way of getting a peanut lol)

I actually got bit by my GW mac 3 days ago on the nose it was totally my fault i should have seen that he wasn't feeling all cuddly like he really normally is and he got me right on the tip of my nose and granted it hurt pretty bad he and I have such a bond that I dont think he would ever just haul off and bite my nose clean off unless I did something to really really upset him so just work with your BG and get that bond with them and notice all the little things and you wont have many nasty bites like they can do :red: btw Ralphs bite was 50Xs worse than the bite i got on the nose hope this helps

 

[strudel]

My experience with the sulphur crested many years ago cured me of any and all desire to hold or own a cockatoo again. I would hold any bird except a too...no thank you!!

Why? What happened?

 

[Betrisher]

A few years ago, I rescued a SC2 from our dog. The poor thing had PBFD (the SC2, not the dog) and was emaciated. I held it between my hands all the way to the emergency vet's and it bit the living *$@%&*( out of my thumbs, poor thing (must've been so terrified!).

Not long after that, Barney and Madge came to live with us. On Day #1, Barney bit my left index finger to the bone, pulling the flesh up into a sort of 'bead' inside his mouth and leaving the bone and tendons quite exposed. (NB. It was my own fault. I didn't have the patience to wait for him to come to me, so I'd grabbed him from behind - don't ever do that to a ringneck or you will pay dearly!!!)

Many years ago, my gormless sister was holding one of our Galahs (not Dominic - it was his best friend, Aloysius). She moved too quickly and shouted too loudly and whammo! Aloysius bit her lip and her ear, piercing both right through. To this day, my gormless sister will not go near a Galah and especially not Dominic, who has a bit of a reputation of his own.

Of them all, I'd rather be bitten by a SC2 than a Galah. I'd least like to be bitten by an Alexandrine. They seem to combine both crushing and cutting aspects to the bite that makes for exquisite pain and a nasty, messy wound that cannot be stitched.

Having said all this, though, I've often felt that budgie bites are the worst of all: like sharp little embroidery scissors snipping into your flesh! :22_yikes:

 

[strudel]

I'm getting scared....

(Maybe I'd better get some better dressings for my first aid kit. Ever seen that movie "The Birds"?)

Sulphur-crested aren't mean birds though, are they? As pets, I mean, not ones scared witless after being half-eaten by a dog. I've always thought cockies were nice, not bitey types.

 

[Birdman666]

SC2'S can be major league tantrum throwers.

Any bird that gets that mad can and will lash out and bite...

It's sort of like "amazon overload" that way.

Cockatoo hissy fit...

Macaw attention deprivation and/or jealous bird issues...

Sennie-tude...

It happens.

 

[Betrisher]

Well, I guess I've never met a nasty cocky (and I've known quite a few over the years). I've known quite a few mutilators and screamers, though. There's nothing quite like the dulcet tones of a wound-up SC2 ripping through your eardrums! LOL! Even bush-caught ones seem to enjoy human company well enough, but IME they never do as well as aviary bred birds and are much more likely to self-mutilate.

It's the one time I feel guilty for keeping birds in cages: when I see the wild flocks wheeling under the sun just for the joy of it. If you happen to catch a big flock and the sun is bright, you get that unmistakable flash of yellow as they change direction and then, just as suddenly, they look like nothing more than a flock of angels doing messages for God.

Corellas and Galahs are lovely to watch flying as well, but they don't seem to have that ingrained need to fly high like the SC cockies. Galahs are yahoos and do that acrobatic thing where they bank left, bank right, drop a few feet and proceed right along. LOL! Galahs are - well - galahs (NB. 'galah' is an Australian term meaning 'as gormless as a galah'. That is to say, pretty b**** gormless.) The Corellas simply fly in order to straighten out their ranks, re-establish their formation and then move on somewhere else. There's about sixty of them in my casuarina trees right now and the Beaks are having an in-depth conversation with them (at top volume, I might add). Can't hear the radio!

Lorikeets fly to get there or to get away. Mostly, they just take up residence in the nearest blossom tree and eat it. Then, they move.

Speaking of lorikeets, did you know they're communal roosters? There's a major shopping street a few miles from my place and every evening as the sun goes down, every Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeet for miles around makes its way to the Brush Box (Tristania conferta) trees in that street. The riot is incredible and there must be thousands upon thousands of birds that fly in and jockey for choice positions (ie. higher and nearer the growing tips). The human residents of that street (Blue Gum Road) know better than to walk along the footpath at dusk or afterward: the probability of being splattered by plummetting poop is about 110%. LOL! It's quite enjoyable to sit in the bus shelter opposite and watch shoppers make their way to the bus near the roosting trees. Almost like watching a dance-concert, only funnier.

The best fliers I know are my beloved Beakies. They LOVE to fly and do the most amazing twists and turns negotiating their way around my small house. The day Barney flew away, it was kind of sweet (in a way) to see him winging his way on the air and just loving every minute of it. The last view I had of him was swooping upward on an air current and exulting in the feeling. You could just tell, y'know?

Then I thought of the Peregrine Falcons and that was the end of that.

Getting back to the original topic, though, I have a queasy sort of feeling that some birds (the truly acrobatic fliers like Alexes and other parakeets, Macaws, SC2s, Lorikeets etc) ought not to be kept caged. More sedentary birds just seem to do better in cages than they do, I think. I'd love to hear of others' opinions on this as it sort of worries me sometimes, just by way of philosophy, y'know?

 

[Scott]

I've owned 3 Macaws over the years; 2 B&G + 1 GW. Thankfully never received anything more than a pinch, but as others have posted they are very capable of ruining your day!

Worst biting bird is my BFA. He bites, and doesn't let go. My male Ekkie was rarely capable of anger-biting and had a unique method of grinding until pried loose!

On occasion my Citrons will pierce the skin but otherwise are mellow. The Goffins are very benign, though the tame ones will engage in a bit of beak-discipline that will barely break the skin. Least bitey is my TAG; ET avoids confrontation and will simply push-back with a closed beak.

 

[veruka1973]

Someone asked why I wouldn't hold a cockatoo on page 3, asked what happened...I really suck at quoting for a reply lol so I opt just to reply and hope they see I answered.

I had a sulphur crested male, this was probably about 10-13 years ago...He had not been with me his entire life, I got him from a friend who at that time was a breeder, someone had sold him to her for personal reasons, she didn't want to breed him she said and offered him to me, I have always kind of had this "bird whisperer" thing where even ones who were wild caught ages ago seem to come right to me and want to be held and step up, and he was fearful of her she said.

So I went and got him, he was skittish at first but quickly began stepping up and taking treats from me, I named him Sugar, he was so sweet, rarely vocalized loudly...just fit right in! Everything was a fairy tale

WELL...one day I was holding him, on my hand....all was well in Sugars world. He decided to fly down onto the floor and walk around, he was clipped but not so short that he couldn't glide down. I let him walk around for a bit then offered my hand and said "Up"...he waddled over (totally normal body language) and offered a foot so I reached a bit closer since I could tell he kinda wanted me to meet him halfway.

I kinda blacked out for a second I think from shock ( I sound like such a pansy lol) he laid into my index finger between the first 2 knuckles, and did not let go, NOT ONLY did he NOT let go he proceeded to grind his beak deep into my hand, I literally picked him up off the floor with him hanging from my finger he was going to town as if he was chewing gum...he was not letting go.

So I grabbed the top of his beak and basically pried him off...he glided majestically across the room and sat watching me, I lifted my hand and it was white as a sheet.....then I took a breath and the blood started gushing.

I used a perch and got him into his cage, shut his door and left the room to tend my wounds, the bleeding wouldn't stop long enough for me to tell how bad the damage really was, I ended up in the ER because of the excessive bleeding I couldn't get under control.

When they checked it out, he had torn out the skin and tissue between the knuckles/bends on my finger about an inch wide and an inch long...give or take....they said it was deep and I needed stitches but with the tissue "missing" they could not sew it up because as soon as I would bend the finger it would tear open etc. They even asked if the tissue has been thrown away or maybe was laying in the floor at the scene of the crime.

It took close to 2 months for it to heal enough that it didn't break open and bleed daily.

I tried to overcome my fear of Sugar after that but it just wasn't happening, I never saw the bite coming, no pin pointing of the eyes...they were black little pools of evil that I never could gauge his mood from. No feather fluffing or posturing that would have indicated he was aggressive or displeased in any way.

All of the birds I have now I can see their iris, I'm comfortable with that, I know when they are overly excited or upset...Cockatoos and their little devil eyes? No Thank You Sir!

I still have nerve damage and a ugly scar from Sugar. I found a lady who was interested in him not long after the attack, I explained to her what had happened and warned her! I drove home that day and vowed to never ever own another cockatoo again.

 

[veruka1973]

Also just an update, my baby macaw is doing excellent, he started eating small bits of cheerios and carrot bits and a few pellets within the last 24 hours, still hand feeding 3 times a day. I set up his cage with newspaper on the floor and a low perch and a few toys laying around for him to explore, and start learning to climb about. He is loving it, he still sleeps in the tub at night though. I don't think he is ready to be in the cage full time, but he is liking the time he spends in there.
Still haven't got the DNa results back, will post asap when I do, can't wait to find out for sure and give him/her a name!

 

[strudel]

Thanks for the info veruka, and so glad the new baby is settling in well.

 

[Hawk]

Sorry, I too couldn't resist......

 

[strudel]

Is that a strong suggestion that I should stop giving eskimo kisses to my galah?