My Parakeet Bites my Cuticles

User Question
I baught a parakeet about 3 weeks ago. I'm not sure if it's a she or he yet, but when I do take it out and handle it, it loves to bite at my cuticles on my nails. This can't be healthy for it. How do I stop it?

Lisa's Answer
Actually your cuticles are just dead skin. Heck, a lot of humans nibble on their cuticles. Parakeets love to gnaw and this is perfect gnawing material as far as they're concerned. It's like humans biting on their nails. It's just protein, and parakeets eat protein in the wild (little bugs, etc) so it's not bad for them.

You never know - maybe your keets need more protein in their diet and this is how they're trying to get it. My keets nibble my cuticles sometimes. They also like the salt in your sweat. I wouldn't worry about it too much :)

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