she Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Cracker was hatched in Jan 07,He had a rough start,being sold to me far too young and me having to finish weaning him with little experience of hand rearing.Anyway he came on well and in the summer of 07 I decided to get him and Charlie my grey an aviery to exercise in.I saw an advert on ebay by a local company who were very reasonabley priced. A week later the aviery came and I was thrilled. It was fantastic. I cleaned it and proudley put Cracker in it first. Charlie took his turn later. This went on for 4 days and then disaster struck. I came in from work one afternoon and Cracker was in his cage vomiting every where.He looked so ill. I had him at the vets in the hour. The vet asked if anything was new,toys,feed dishes ect.Yes The aviery. Cracker was xrayed and had metal particals in his crop and gizzard. I could see them clearely.He was given injections 3 times a day and stayed in the vets for over a week. At one point he took a turn for the worse and was not expected to live. The vet even took him home with him at one point. I contacted the man who I got the aviery from who did not want to know. It turned out that the wire was imported from China. I had to also have charlie xrayed to be on the safe side although he was fine. I contacted trading standards who also where not much help. Because it was an aviery and not a childs toy I dont think they took it seriousely. Added to that was the man who I got the aviery off just stopped trading, I found out I was not the only one after compensation from him. In the end I got a really top class company to rewire the aviery, That cost me another £200 ontop of £400 vet bills. I was lucky I had him insured and the vet bills were payed. I just want to warn people about this so they can watch out for their own birds. Cracker made a full recovery and is one feisty character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovemyGreys Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 What a terrible experience you had to go through with Cracker.Unfortunately there are far two many cheap imported cages from china coming into the UK if only they was some kind of regulation / safety rules in place to stop this Im pleased your story had a happy ending Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casper Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 How horrible, I am so glad Cracker has made a full recovery! You must have been going out of your mind with worry! I cant believe trading standards have not helped you with this, that is disgusting! Thankyou for posting this, who would think of the danger if it was a repitable company? I am so happy your Cracker is well again but sorry you had to go through what you did. Caroline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
she Posted September 22, 2008 Author Share Posted September 22, 2008 I found the advert on ebay for the company who built pet housing. I phoned up and liked what I was told.They were only about 10 miles from me so it seemed perfect. The aviery itsself looked fantastic and they even put it up for me. Trading standards were useless. just telling me to write letters which I sent recorded delivery, all ignored even though I checked and they had been recieved and signed for. Ebay would not help as I arranged payment myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 What a horrible experience for you and Cracker!! I am glad it had a good ending with Cracker making it through. This is a great thread that will serve as a good warning to anyone believing a really cheap cage is too good to be true. It is, through the use of inferior materials and unregulated manufacture processes used for animals as you ran into. Thanks for sharing this with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaxtersMom Posted September 22, 2008 Share Posted September 22, 2008 Oh what a terrible experience for you. I am just glad you found him in time and he recovered fine and knew that a vet trip was in order. I worry all the time about what can harm my birds. I always hear that anything good for a baby like in baby toys a grey can have as well, but I see all the toy recalls almost on a daily basis for awhile on the news and I just don't trust anything now a days. I even wonder about the toys they sell for parrots in bird store and what their lead content is and if any thing can harm them or if they are even tested or checked. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
she Posted September 23, 2008 Author Share Posted September 23, 2008 Yes it is worth remembering cheapest is not always best, but at £400 I did not think I was buying a cheap product, with vet bills and the cost of replacing the wite it cost round £1000. Once again I was relieved insurance covered the vet bills. But more relieved Cracker is ok.Thanks every one for the concern. I believe their is little to no regulations govening pet products. I now buy all toys and feed from a company I trust. I also went to the company who replaced the wire for a new cage for Charlie a few weeks a go. They remembered Me and the birds and imediately asked after cracker. I felt safe in their hands.<br><br>Post edited by: she, at: 2008/09/22 19:52 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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