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Lesson learned!


Barbara2

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I know we all make mistakes but some are out of plain ignorance. I have lots of toys for Neo because I like to spoil him. Some I have ordered online and some I have picked up at Petsmart. I had (notice past tense) several that had rings like this one:

 

http://www.busybird.com/pearlinks.html

 

Earlier this evening, Neo got his beak caught in one of these. The top part of the pear shape was big enough for him to get his lower beak through. He slid his beak down and the bottom of the ring got caught underneath the lower edge of his beak (the part right next to the neck). He was stuck good and the more he struggled to get free, the worse it became. I was sitting very close and reacted immediately. I had to grab him to relieve the weight of his body and between the two of us, he got free. It was very, VERY traumatic for both of us and immediately after, he wanted NOTHING to do with me. I wanted to check him but he ran from me in fear screaming the whole time. I left him alone and he just sat very quietly. I had to leave for awhile (bowling night) and when I came home he was eating and was back to being my friend. I HOPE this is the worst thing that happens for us but still, it was very scary.

 

I wanted to pass this along for others who may have made this same mistake and put unsafe toy rings in their greys cage.

 

P.S. This is no reflection on the store listed. I only wanted to show an example of what I was talking about.

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The oval ones are fine. The pear shaped (at least the ones that I had) are not meant for larger parrots but you might not realize that if you are buying a toy at Petsmart. I am buying a stash of the oval ones tomorrow so that I can use them to create toys out of other parts or replace the smaller pear shaped links. One of his very favorite toys had a pear shaped link similar to the one I posted so I had to get creative and put one of the oval links in from another toy. (The oval would not fit through the top link of the toy so I had to connect it another way.)

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Well, guess who's switching out the oval-shaped links from the cage of Beaker (Quaker parrot) to the cage of Marcus (CAG), and vice-versa with the pear-shaped ones! Thank you so much for this heads-up, and I'm so glad to hear that Neo is okay after his fright... the poor thing...

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Well, guess who's switching out the oval-shaped links from the cage of Beaker (Quaker parrot) to the cage of Marcus (CAG), and vice-versa with the pear-shaped ones! Thank you so much for this heads-up, and I'm so glad to hear that Neo is okay after his fright... the poor thing...

 

I'm not sure who was worse, me or him. I was shaking like a leaf well after he was free. Of course he was still shaking too. I was just relieved to find that he had "forgiven" me within a short period of time. This is the first time he has had occassion to run from me and it really freaked me out!

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I have found that using the plastic chain links that open (found in the baby department of a store) work well and are much less expensive than the oval links. You may have to redo the chain to accommodate the plastic oval links some, i've used heavy tie wraps then cut off the excess. I've also used carbines with the screw on lock at times, but finding those has not always been easy.

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Thanks for this heads up. I will be much more conscious about this now. I have a stash of both pear-shaped and oval-shaped links, and I will try to stick with the oval ones from here out.

 

I have found that using the plastic chain links that open (found in the baby department of a store) work well and are much less expensive than the oval links.

 

I also use these a lot. The reason I use them is my rascally conures will unscrew the quick links, and I'll find all the toys and tents on the floor and in the bottom of the cages. I have a hard time getting toys to stay hung up. The conures unscrew the links and the cockatoo unties all the knots. Sigh. Oh, well. They are being entertained.

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