weird question

[hacatta]

Like i said a weird question.
Recently i scratched my arm open en my gcc starts as always preening on it.
Now i notice she is actually licking the blood,when she gets rid of the crust.,now she doesn't hurt me and is very careful.
But it is still weird for me,can this harm her?,i have 4 gcc so sometimes i can't get her off as quick as i would like.
thank you.

 

[Kiwibird]

Kiwi does this too. I think they recognize when a flock member is injured and want to help. I *personally* don't worry if Kiwi lightly licks a scab or little scratch, but obviously, use common sense. If you have a bloody gash, probably best not to let the bird 'help' you with that

 

[hacatta]

it isn't a bloody scratch it did crust,but i meant that she gets rid of the crust to lick at the blood.

 

[Kiwibird]

Animals lick wounds because they have bacteria and other natural ' bad germ-fighting' substances in the mouths that help to heal them. She is probably trying to keep the wound clean for you. Keep in mind, they also see into a different spectrum than we do, so your wound probably stands out to her and instinct tells her what to do about it.

 

[hacatta]

i don't care if she does it,but i do care whether or not my blood could harm her.
thank you for answering.

 

[Kiwibird]

That little blood won't harm her unless you have a blood-borne disease that is also transferrable to parrots.

 

[hacatta]

as far as i know i don't

 

[BEWolf]

The thing about it is this: Birds hide their illnesses and their injuries for as long as they can, because if it is an illness they are exiled from the flock and an injury is a death sentence. When you have 50 or more caring little birds trying to help by cleaning or removing your injury it get pretty deadly very quickly. Also your bird will pick at it as long as it is there and it can get to it. Do you know how long it takes to dig a wound out of your body so that it is gone?

 

[kq_fan]

Lilo does that too! So my bird is not the only one! And she is fine but I don't let her do that for long I kind of find it disgusting!

 

[Kiwibird]

I'm sure you don't then because I'm sure you would know if you did.

There are actually a lot of people who feed their birds bones, which they crack and eat up the marrow out of. Bone marrow definitely contains blood cells and the stuff that produces it. It's a healthy treat for them too (though things like chicken bones should be cooked before offering), though I wouldn't make a treat out of letting your birdies preen scratches on you.

 

[hacatta]

i don't exactly let them but with the summer coming i have been wearing short sleeves which gave them opportunity.

 

[TessieB]

A while back I met a doctor who served time in the Peace Corp. When he found out my interest in birds he revealed he usually did some bird watching in the countries he worked. He told me he was always surprised to see several species of parrots 'working' a carcass. He has seen them bully vultures to get at a carcass. I always found this information very interesting as it reveals there are many things we don't know about the birds we keep.