Greys and Younger Children: Is it doable?

[Saskia]

Hi everyone, it's me again. I got some wonderful responses to my thread about Greys and bonding, and I am sure now that I want to provide a bird with a loving and happy home. There is just one more thing I need to worry about before I decide to do it. I have a 5 year old child.

 

My son, however, is not really a typical child. He is extremely gentle and respectful with animals, and would never be "grabby" or rough. He is on the Autism spectrum, if anyone has experience with that. I am not at all worried about him hurting the bird, as it would NEVER happen, but I do have concerns that the bird might hurt him. How likely is this?

 

If I decide to do this, I will be buying a hand-raised chick from an extremely caring breeder with a love of birds and the best references I have ever seen. I work from home, and the bird will be here with me during the day and caged only at night and when I go do errands. From what I have read, most happy birds raised in a loving environment don't start to go through their biting stages until the reach sexual maturity at about four years old. Is this accurate? If this is the case then my son will be nine, at which time he would be able to understand and deal with it a lot better. If the bird were to bite him now, though, he might become fearful, and then things would only get worse.

 

Then of course there is my biggest concern: that the bird might bite him seriously somewhere--such as on the face--and cause permanent damage or disfigurement. I have heard stories of Amazons at least taking off parts of their owners' noses. I would probably not allow my son to hold the bird near his face just in case, but still, for a mother, this is a scary thing.

 

Of course, I don't think something so extreme is at all likely, but I wanted to ask others here what they thought about it. Has anyone had experience having Greys with children of this age?

 

I would be very grateful for any and all comments.