# Other Pets > Birds >  ......dang blue and gold macaw........

## python_addict

ofcourse if you knew these birds you know they are huge with really huge beaks.......well my bird decided to get my hand today while i was leaning in a doorway i know ill have a scar now....anyone else have a blue and gold macaw that pretends to be friends with you only for food? lol

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## Highline Reptiles South

There are some that are just that way. Tough when you explore the world with a beak that is strong enough to snap a broom handle! I've had my septum nearly pierced by my grey who wanted to cuddle....wild is and always will be...wild  :Wink: 

Sorry that happened to you.

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## llovelace

Ouch, my friend had one who took my daughters nose ring out.

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## mommanessy247

yikes...arent the b&g's s'posed to be the gentlest of the giants?

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## BallsUnlimited

been nipped enough times by birds that I stay far away from them. Sorry this happened to you.

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## python_addict

hes a brat i gave up on handling him lol im better with 10 foot snakes

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## DemmBalls

Sorry to hear this!  I hate getting nipped by my Sun Conure...Couldn't imagine a Blue and Gold grabbing you!  Hope you get all healed up soon!

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## SpartaDog

This is why I'm terrified of macaws XD They're beautiful and all, and I'll let them sit on my shoulder if someone else puts them there, but don't ask me to pet one XD I enjoy having 10 fingers.

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## Michelle.C

Our Blue and Gold x Red Fronted was as wild as they get when we got her. Every time you walked in the room she'd fly around screaming. Then we got her wings done and started gently working with her and building trust. She will still nail everyone in the house but me, but when she bites, it's not quite as hard (more of a pinch). 

I found the key was to teach her what 'NO' meant. If she charges me to nip, I firm no and I snap my fingers at her and she'll go back into chill mode. It's all about patients with Macaws. When you say a word, make sure it always has the same outcome. Once they learn that word has a meaning and they disobey it, they'll learn not to take the action that results in the outcome. 

For instance, you say 'NO', he bites anyway, walk out of the room and ignore him for an hour. Before I started working with her, she'd split two of my nails in half and her biting hard enough to cause bleeding was an everyday occurrence. She hasn't bit me at all in months and if she nips someone else in the house, it's usually from playing too rough.

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## python_addict

hes just a little brat i never pay attention to him but his cage is next to a doorway so i always have to walk by but whenever i do he runs over with his wings up mouth open feathers fluffed and head down yeah its intimidating lol

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## Anatopism

I'm lucky my bird is 1) small (senegal) and 2) has a very mild temperament. He shows a lot of restraint when he's cranky, and I appreciate it greatly. 

I did  recently house sit for a family with a yellow naped amazon who hasn't been out of the cage in months, possibly years. The family is afraid of him... I learned that he's just cage aggressive, and once away to a different room, he is more docile -- but still nervous. He nipped my arm a couple times, but it was through a sweatshirt and he didn't get a good hold... I would not like to get bit by your bird, who has a considerably larger beak than even the amazon. lol.

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## Cendalla

Mine looks to me for food and the occasional underwing scratch. Otherwise she likes to see how long it will take to brake my ear drums, buttons, and earrings.  :Very Happy:

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## Cendalla

> yikes...arent the b&g's s'posed to be the gentlest of the giants?


Its not that they're mean (besides the ocaional evil one :Roll Eyes (Sarcastic): )) But they are very strong and don't realize that what is needed to crack a brazil nut (like butter) isn't how they need to grab you.

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## CLSpider

I used to have a blue&gold (BB). One morning I was eating cereal, she climbed up my chair, and bit my shoulder and cheek....for no reason at all. It wasn't too hard, but it did leave a mark. Most of the time she was very sweet though.
Hahaha, and like Cendalla said,  BB also enjoyed trying to break my ear drums (when she wasn't randomly talking)
I miss her.

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## Bellabob

I used to work with them....mean little things.

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## fishmommy

I feel yer pain.  My umbrella cockatoo once slipped on my shoulder and grabbed the meaty part of my thumb to stop a fall....and gave me a thru-and-thru puncture wound.  I  bear the scar to this day.

Keep at the training!  Your bird will get better with time.

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## DC Reptiles

growing up we always had birds in the house, worse bite I ever got was from an amazon that took my thumb nail off. Other then that me and my dad have raised sun conures for almost 20 years and they are not to bad, that or I guess I"m just use to it now. I learned the hard way though, dont ever mess with a mothers nest....outcome not good.

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## python_addict

this was from the other day and he still obviously hates me lol he keeps trying to intimidate my by looking bigger lol so far he has bitten my finger the meaty part of the back of my arm and my head twice since this post im pretty sure he wont ever like me again even though i was the first person who he let feed, pet, and hold him even the 9 hour drive home with him he sat with me lol traitor......

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## sgath92

> this was from the other day and he still obviously hates me lol he keeps trying to intimidate my by looking bigger lol so far he has bitten my finger the meaty part of the back of my arm and my head twice since this post im pretty sure he wont ever like me again even though i was the first person who he let feed, pet, and hold him even the 9 hour drive home with him he sat with me lol traitor......


I hear the bigger species like this one are "one person birds" and will tolerate all kinds of interactions with one  particular person & not tolerate it much at all with anyone else. This "one person" can change from time to time to another individual. I have heard stories of couples with bigger parrots having one "switch sides" when the hours of the couple at work change [like if one suddenly works nights and is now always around the bird instead of the other human].

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## NorCalAl

I've had a B&G, Mollucan and Umbrella cockatoos, Blue Front and Yellow-Naped Amazons and still have a SI Eclectus. I am almost 50 and wanted birds since I was a teen. In my 20's, I started getting cockatiels, lovebirds and other smaller birds. In my 30's I got the big birds. 

The Mollucan and macaw were the best and most interesting of the bunch. The Molly would bark like a dog - including head movements and growls. He'd eat a bunch of whatever dinner was and then look at you and say "I love you". The macaw would eat with a spoon or fork and cuddle with my ex in bed after climbing the stairs looking for her. I've had the Ekkie since hatching - I handfed him. 

And I've come to the conclusion that birds are not good pets. Not large parrots anyway. That wonderfully beautiful smart Molly left me with nerve damage in one arm from a bite he administered cause I was stupid enough to be talking on the phone when he wanted attention. He nearly severed the ex's thumb on another occasion. The macaw climbed the stairs another time to find the ex absent from the bedroom and spent much of that day (I was home but in the garage and the ex had left him out) destroying my three-DAY-old bedroom set. 

I know lots of people that have them and known of many more that do. A good friend runs a cockatoo rescue in Washington state with 300+ 'toos. Since they live nearly as long or longer than us, but never grow up, most folks end up getting tired of them. They are wild and will always be. They bite for attention and they know how hard they are biting - never doubt that. Once sexually mature, a large parrot is a ticking time bomb. They will have a bad day and do damage. Period. Anyone who tells you different either a) is lying or b) never owned one long enough. 

Many folks get babies and give them up in 5 or 6 years and never meet the fully sexually mature bird that goes to rescue or the zoo. My Ekkie is 12 and never once bitten me, but I understand the bird. He's bitten everyone else tho. 

Sorry, to rant so long. Just have very strong feelings on this.

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## dogdayofsummer

Like some people are terrified by snakes I am with birds. Met some cool ones but find them so hard to read. That is how I learned to appreciate the beauty of snakes. My first job was at a pets store, there was alll sorts of critters. Didn't take me long to prefer  the rats and snakes. I still find birds facinating but prefer not to interact with them.

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