Lisa Shea Forums Parakeets General Parakeet Chat BEWARE OF INNOCENT TOYS, THEY CAN KILL YOUR BIRD!!

red almost died last night!!! i got home from work and went down to say hello then went back up to have supper. i went back down and did a couple of things in my room when i noticed that red wasn't responding to marble... at all. that is not normal!!! i went over and talked to them for a bit and noticed red was standing strangely and "wasn't right". none of the babies are finger trained. when i put my hand in the cage and red didn't move, i knew something was wrong. she was sitting in her usual spot beside her favorite toy (one of the "knots" with the fibers and soft twine with beads on the end) and didn't resist when i picked her up. as i took her out of the cage, there was resistance as the toy came with her. it was then that i realized that one tiny strand of the cord was wrapped around her neck and she was strangling! i managed to detach the knot from the cage and got her into the light. the strand was so thin i had an awful time even finding it under her feathers. my hands were shaking so bad my mom helped me find it and cut it off. she sat with me on my shoulder for a while and after about a half hour or so, started to call back to the rest of the gong show downstairs. then i brought her back down. she "postured all night and sat in one spot with her eyes closed. i wasn't sure she would sill be alive when i woke up.
thankfully, she seems to be doing fine and is acting like her normal self today. (still a bit tired looking though)
anyway, point is, that i have had many of these knots over the years as they are a fave of all the gang but i learned a valuable lesson last night... even if it says it's for birds and/or you have had the same toy before and had no problems... ALWAYS pay close attention to your fids, the most innocent thing can take them away from you in the blink of an eye.

wow I'm so glad this story ended the way it did. being without oxygen can cause brain damage. good thing you were paying attention. poor birdy!

thank you. i was absolutely sick that exactly that was going to have happened. i shudder when i think that i was 45 min late getting home from work. it hurts when i think about how long she had been caught like that, slowly suffocating. what if i had been a whole hour late?

OMG bb! Scared the heck outa me...I've never read something so fast in my life! HUGE sigh of relief when I saw she was ok. Damn toys! SOOO glad you got home in time.
So, she seems to be acting ok?

she is much better tonite than she was this morning even. man, i can't help think how close was she? there was no struggle, i don't think she even knew she had something around her neck, the piece was only about the size of sewing thread. i think it was almost like a slip knot, every time she moved, it kept getting tighter. poor baby, all she knew was she wasn't feeling good and getting worse. my poor little sweetie.

Wow, that is very scary, I'm so glad you were able to get it fixed in time! It is so true that toys should be checked regularly for safety - even a toy which is perfectly safe to start with can get chipped or loose over time. You've helped us all learn a valuable lesson!