Bird Stuck on Finger when I retracted Hand

[Paulette]

Tweety & Violet have 6 eggs now....and Tweety is so protective of her cage. I can barely change feed cups and water without her biting me....and boy is she quick....just like lightening or a snake (take your pick).....and I'll think I know where she is and suddenly she's got me. Well, I was putting something in or taking something out....it's all really a blur to me now.....but she bit me and I yanked my hand back in reaction, let the door slam down and she was dangling from my finger by her beak. She was as surprised as I was and immediately jumped onto the side of the cage. I said, Oh Great!, out loud....knowing she would bite me again when I tried to catch her and put her back (wild breeder bird you know). But I put my finger out and said, Up Up....and to my surprise she stepped right on, I opened the door and she hopped right in. Whew!!!!!!! Hope and Violet are wild too, but they only pretend to bite.

[LauraO]

YEP! I've had this happen on more than one occasion. It is a shocking endeaver for both human and lovie. These are also some of the more painful bites :roll:

[Maggie56]

OUCH!! they really hurt too. I got bitten trying to put a newly introduced couple into their new flight cage. :( It wasn't a pretty sight!
I just stood there going "oooow! oooow!! :eek: while my friend commented that I'd picked them up wrong! Well, :roll: I'd figured that one out all by myself, duh! The problem was that the bird had picked me up!

Next time, I'm wearing gloves, mask, and mesh suit!!! >o

[owner of 2 lovies]

Dear Maggie56
I feel your pain. I have 2 lovies. Sunny and Blue. Blue is very shy and will fly away if you don't craddle him. Sunny on the other hand bites me any time she feels like it. She doesn't bite me all the time. Sometimes she will step up on my finger.
Other times she will take a good chunk out of my finger. If you find anything that works for you. would you please let me know.
Kristine

[BarbieH]

...she was dangling from my finger by her beak.

:lol That was how Gracie introduced herself to me, the first time she was out of her cage in our house. :lol I had heard that lovies like to have their beaks petted so I gave it a try. CHOMP! I was able to lift her up and down on my index finger the way that old Poligrip commercial used to show a finger lifting a coffee cup.

She has never been finger friendly, but I respect that ... oh, how I respect that. :omg:

[jknezek]

Try having this happen with an eclectus parrot! The first day I had Kiwi home and was still trying to figure him out I had to take him from his playgym to his cage. He did not want to go. So he bit me and I moved and he was just hanging there. Fortunately I put my other hand under his feet and he let go. Of course, I could see gleaming white bone through the blood on my index finger.... We have since come to an understanding. He no longer bites and generally steps up. I hold my fingers real still while asking him to do so... And the 5 stitches only took about a month to heal.

[Paulette]

Exposed bone and Only 5 stitches huh Jeremy?....I only got a couple of puncture holes and a bit of a bruise.....I've seen a few exposed bones during our motocross days.....it's never pretty.....my bite was merely a scratch compared to yours.....I've got 3 biters out of 22(2 bugdies and 1 lovie)....not bad I guess for the odds.....and my sucess rate for those 3.....it's not looking so good....they are just freaky birds.

[jknezek]

i know it. my 3 little ones are wild. And the few times I've been bitten it has been painful. Bite and grind. Luckily Kiwi didn't grind. So there weren't many stitches required to close it up. Also, it only went through on the top beak mark. The bottom was just a laceration and didn't require stitches. Still, very unpleasant but it's part and parcel of owning birds sometimes. It was a very valuable lesson. And from the lovebirds... well, we are on a 18 inch stick basis only....

[acardz]

Like a snake( i know what you are talking about). When my lovie is in hen mode she does protect her nest. She use to wait for me to change her water dish and time it perfect to bite me. She would wait when i lift up the slideing door(up) she would snap and bite me. I took it and just found a way not to get a bite(hold the water dish in the left corner and be quick). Now its 3 years later and she doesnt do this at all. What changed all of this was when i started to cut her nails and clip her wings myself. She built her trust in me but boy it took a long time. PS they bite hard for a small bird(lovebird name is tricky one for us 1st time bird owners).

[Wheeliegirl]

Peachie is a biter..... we have an understanding. I don't put my hands near her, and she doesn't eat me! I have to use a dowel whenever I pick her up. She will jump onto my forearm too, but never my hand, unless she is wet from a bath.

When I want to put things in or out of her cage, I have to first remove her and put her somewhere nearby so she can't get back to her cage, such as my computer desk or the couch. If I didn't remove her she would attack me.

However, while she is hanging out with me, she will let me pick up things that are nearby her and she won't even lunge at me.

Recently, she has been doing something strange, and I think it is threatening behavior. She sits on my shoulder and makes a loud popping sound with her toungue, and lunges her body at me at the same time. She doesn't take a step, she just turns toward my head and lunges. I try to ignore this behavior, but once she went right after my ear and boy did that hurt! When she does this I make her step onto her dowel or give her something to distract her. I guess maybe she is telling me that she is bored and needs attention or a different activity or something.

We are coming up to our 1 year anniversary of being together. I realize that over time she may (hopefully) trust me more and this horrible biting will subside, but for now I just use the dowel and pay attention to what she is saying with her body language. I got lots of scars on my fingers and hands before getting to this point.

[mjm8321]

Holly, that loud popping noise is a warning sound and you are best to heed that warning. :lol I have two bitey hens that give me that warning (one that draws blood almost every bite) and when I hear it, I move away from them. If you have Peachie on your shoulder and she does this, you might want to consider not letting her on your shoulder for a little while as a good lovie bite to the ear, nose, lip or neck can really hurt and if she got your eye, it could be serious. Maybe let Peachie sit on your forearm and not up high on the shoulder for a while. Little stinkers....50 grams of feathers and attitude :lol

[Paulette]

I do wings and nails.....but I may have to resort to the 18 inch dowl basis.
My good little man Jake has even resorted to biting when I have my hands in the cage. He's protecting his new mate....Hope. Awwwww.....isn't that sweet?.......Love is in the air! :blush: