heem6
New member
- Jan 24, 2015
- 5
- 0
- Parrots
- Elliott, a Red-Spectacled Amazon
Hi all,
My red spectacled Amazon parrot Elliott recently bit the hell out of me after having no problems for years. I've had him for around 20 years and guesstimate he's around 28 years old. He's usually very friendly - he steps up, he sits on my finger while I scratch his head at night, he sits on the bathroom counter while I shave and even plays fetch - he throws the shaving cream lid off the counter and I pick it up and roll it back to him and then he repeats. Even when he was displaying mating behavior (eyes flashing, tail flaring) I could usually approach him slowly, and stroke his head slowly and most times coax him into a normal mood.
Last month I made the mistake of going to his cage with a baseball hat on. I seem to remember now that he didn't like those in the past, but wasn't thinking. We're also so comfortable together I didn't pay attention to his warning signs. He grabbed hold of my thumb and bit for all he was worth and would not let go. This was not a warning bite. I finally had to flip my hand to get him off and couldn't approach him for at least an hour afterward.
It was really bad - I had two actual trenches in my thumb from upper and lower beak and treated it regularly with alcohol, peroxide and antibiotic gel but still ended up going to Urgent Care after a week or so when it was infected. Now I have what a probably permanent scars from the bite.
Since then it's been dicey. Some days are better than others. He has a day cage in the main room and an evening cage in the bedroom and I often have to remove the cover on his cage and wait an hour or more before he calms down enough to come onto my finger to go to his daytime cage (where his food is). Today I've not been able to get him to come out of his night cage at all - he's head bobbing and tail flaring and ready to bite. The night before last he came onto the bathroom counter and played shaving can lid fetch with me. The last time it got really bad I put on a glove and he stepped onto that, but this time he's freaking out over the glove, too.
I understand it's mating season, but this has been going on almost 2 months now. I'm frankly scared of him - he's done this a couple times before, although it's been 5-7 years between bites. I have not acted angry at him and have tried to be patient, but my patience is running out. Sometimes I walk past his cage with the cover on, he hears me (a noise) and lunges/tries to bite.
I've read the advice about not reacting when they bite, but it's simply not possible for me to get bitten that hard and not react. I know the trick about making your hand into a fist so they don't have anything to bite, but when he's on my finger I can only shield my thumb and other fingers so much.
Any advice? I've always promised him I wouldn't make him go live with someone else, but I honestly don't think I'm willing to put up with a pet that bites me, either. It sucks because you know, he's a member of the family.
My red spectacled Amazon parrot Elliott recently bit the hell out of me after having no problems for years. I've had him for around 20 years and guesstimate he's around 28 years old. He's usually very friendly - he steps up, he sits on my finger while I scratch his head at night, he sits on the bathroom counter while I shave and even plays fetch - he throws the shaving cream lid off the counter and I pick it up and roll it back to him and then he repeats. Even when he was displaying mating behavior (eyes flashing, tail flaring) I could usually approach him slowly, and stroke his head slowly and most times coax him into a normal mood.
Last month I made the mistake of going to his cage with a baseball hat on. I seem to remember now that he didn't like those in the past, but wasn't thinking. We're also so comfortable together I didn't pay attention to his warning signs. He grabbed hold of my thumb and bit for all he was worth and would not let go. This was not a warning bite. I finally had to flip my hand to get him off and couldn't approach him for at least an hour afterward.
It was really bad - I had two actual trenches in my thumb from upper and lower beak and treated it regularly with alcohol, peroxide and antibiotic gel but still ended up going to Urgent Care after a week or so when it was infected. Now I have what a probably permanent scars from the bite.
Since then it's been dicey. Some days are better than others. He has a day cage in the main room and an evening cage in the bedroom and I often have to remove the cover on his cage and wait an hour or more before he calms down enough to come onto my finger to go to his daytime cage (where his food is). Today I've not been able to get him to come out of his night cage at all - he's head bobbing and tail flaring and ready to bite. The night before last he came onto the bathroom counter and played shaving can lid fetch with me. The last time it got really bad I put on a glove and he stepped onto that, but this time he's freaking out over the glove, too.
I understand it's mating season, but this has been going on almost 2 months now. I'm frankly scared of him - he's done this a couple times before, although it's been 5-7 years between bites. I have not acted angry at him and have tried to be patient, but my patience is running out. Sometimes I walk past his cage with the cover on, he hears me (a noise) and lunges/tries to bite.
I've read the advice about not reacting when they bite, but it's simply not possible for me to get bitten that hard and not react. I know the trick about making your hand into a fist so they don't have anything to bite, but when he's on my finger I can only shield my thumb and other fingers so much.
Any advice? I've always promised him I wouldn't make him go live with someone else, but I honestly don't think I'm willing to put up with a pet that bites me, either. It sucks because you know, he's a member of the family.
