# One of the top ten bird killers!!



## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

I came across this and some parts in this really make me sad. When your birds are out PLEASE make sure they are supervised!! Anything like one of these stories can happen to yourself, and you can end up losing your beloved bird/birds. 

*Trauma*

1.*
A bird walking on the floor, especially a small one, may be easily injured by people who don't see it. Little Bad Boy, a green female budgerigar patient of mine, was one of the lucky ones; she survived being stepped on by her owner. She did suffer a broken pelvis and internal injuries that resulted in her requiring surgery.*

2.*
Another client with a beloved pet Quaker parakeet is still grieving over his death; her little bird was accidentally closed in a sliding glass door, and he died instantly. He was following his owner out the door when she slid the door shut behind her, not knowing that he was right behind her.

*3. *
I have dealt with the deaths of many birds that had been stepped on, closed in doors, vacuumed up and one even was squashed when it was playing under a bandana on a desk! The owner (a student) had come home and tossed her textbooks onto her desk, instantly killing her parrotlet.*

4.*
Birds have been squished by recliners and fold-out beds and have also been killed by owners sitting on them when they have crawled under cushions.

*5.*
Little birds have been killed by computer printers, after climbing into the cartridge area. Larger birds have been electrocuted by chewing through electric cords.

*6.*
One sun conure that was playing in a pile of clothing in the laundry basket was drowned when its owner dumped the clothes into the washing machine, closed the lid, and "washed" the bird with the dirty clothes.*

7.*
An Amazon parrot that is a patient of mine climbed into the open dryer and the unsuspecting owner closed the door and turned on the dryer. Fortunately, the dryer was only set on "fluff" and the bird was only briefly tumbled when the owner realized what had happened. If the heat had been on, the bird might have died or suffered serious injury.*

8.*
Birds have also hopped off owners' shoulders and into open refrigerators and freezers.*


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## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Good thread  You have to be so careful, small birds can even run around on the ground and get themselves stuck behind things. My linnie likes to try and get on the ground sometimes and she is quite fast.


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## Abby (Jul 30, 2010)

Nice thread, thank you!

I believe owners become too comfortable with leaving their birds out of their cages unsupervised, and that can lead to disaster. Once I left my Jasper out of the cage and I didn't keep an eye on him. He feel between my laundry basket and the wall, and was stuck for quite some time. I panicked when I realized he was missing, and when I finally found him I had to help him out. 

Things can happen so quickly, it's better to be safe than sorry.


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## Cheryl (Dec 27, 2008)

My mom had budgies out a while ago..she left the room and came back to one floating face down in the fishtank! It looked dead, but luckily she took it out fast enough and he ended up being OK.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Wow this is a great thread but very sad


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## Eshana (Jan 3, 2011)

I was reading this thread on the ferry and it made me cry! Those poor birds.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Ignorance should be added to this list...if you don't know what is dangerous to your birds and don't do the research you wont know until its too late. Happened to me when I first started keeping birds, hence why I'm now on this forum.


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## mpayjr (Aug 16, 2010)

Wow, these stories horrified me. I usually will walk out of the bird room for an hour or less everyday and leave the birds alone to stretch, while I can do some other things. Now, I feel horrible, I will never do this again, I'm too scared and feel stupid now for this.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

If you have a room specifically set up for them then there shouldn't be a problem with them wandering around in their own room by themselves. The problem really is when they're left out in the living room and no one is paying attention to what they're doing with birds loose in the room.


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## mpayjr (Aug 16, 2010)

Ook. That's pretty much what the room is made for, there really isn't anything in their except a fish tank and a few pieces of furniture. But, the tank is completely closed, and the furniture poses no threat. Plus the only time they go off of their cage is to fly around and right back to it.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

thats scary. my birds dont go on the floor. when they do (usually tsuka cuz he is still clipped) they scream to let me know so i can pick them up and put them back. but there may be a day that will change... they may learn to like the floor. i taught them the floor is scary so they dont go down at all for nothing. usually just tsuka jumping off the cage trying to follow dally into flight. i didnt suspect some of these, glad you posted these, i'll be more wary. birds are now in my living room and we have a cruddy front door that only stays shut when locked, which is good as it must stay shut or we may have 1 curious nosy kitten and a loose bird in the appartment building lol my birds normally stay up on the cage and playgym as thats where i only let them stay most as i have cats and dont need them getting into their space either.


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## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

how do people vacuum up their birds? I'm not saying it couldn't happen... but how could you not see you bird?  must be vacuuming in crevices or around corners... some very bizarre accidents ocur sometimes!


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Belinda said:


> how do people vacuum up their birds? I'm not saying it couldn't happen... but how could you not see you bird?  must be vacuuming in crevices or around corners... some very bizarre accidents ocur sometimes!


Thats a good question or what type of vacuum is it?
My vacuum cleaner is henry http://www.squidoo.com/henryhoover


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

and the furniture poses no threat. Plus the only time they go off of their cage is to fly around and right back to it.
------------------------------------------------

Furniture can be a serious threat. If any furniture has a space of 1-2 inches from the wall a bird can fall behind it and get trapped. As it slides down behind the furmniture the wings go up, which exposed the flanks, which the kidneys are located. When they get cold the bird ususally dies from kidney failure if it is not found soon enough.

If you have any furniture flush with the walls where the birds are at try to move it at least 3" away from the wall.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Thank goodness my birds are getting a bird room in a little over a week (we got a three bedroom place in WA which I head up to next week) I won't have to worry about furniture any more!!!


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## birdluv (Jul 31, 2007)

One warning that l would have also put on the list is never take a nap with your
bird specially a small bird. You might accidentally roll on top of the bird and suffocate the bird.


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## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

srtiels said:


> If any furniture has a space of 1-2 inches from the wall a bird can fall behind it and get trapped.


Tiels can also get caught behind curtain rods or curtains and freak out. I witnessed Arnie fall of the curtain rod and get wedged with her wing stuck up in the air, what a klutz.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

birdluv said:


> One warning that l would have also put on the list is never take a nap with your
> bird specially a small bird. You might accidentally roll on top of the bird and suffocate the bird.


I know someone that this happened to, it was her Green Cheek Conure though that she had only JUST got.. she had him out while she took a nap, next thing she woke up and found the bird under her. He must have been next to her at some stage and she rolled over onto him and he died from suffocation. She was so upset, and still is, she feels horrible and she said she will NEVER have a bird out with her again when she takes naps.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

That is so sad


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## Belinda (Oct 9, 2010)

yeah, I don't think napping with your bird is a smart idea... My boyfriend has a habit of letting Arnie out whilst I'm sleeping in on the weekend and she comes up to me to say good morning and I feel her in my sleep and almost swat her like a fly


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

When im lying down watching tv i tried to get them on me so i can have scritches and they kept flying away so i dont think they will come to me if im asleep, but i go to bed if im tired


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## angelpink (Dec 27, 2010)

ok, so i know, this thread is very infomitive and great to make people aware, but the sick twit in me is like, omg, lmao, so sorry, hee hee hee, i know its not right to laugh, its only a little giggle, i feel the one of the drier, i did that once, my kitten once was asleep on some half dried clothes, so i closed the door, not seeing him, jet black he was and it was a black wash, so i hit dry on low heat and heard thud, thud, lol, lucky the drum in my drier has no holes for his claws to catch, and because the clothes were half dry when i took him out he went poooooffff, hahahhha, massice poof ball of static, after fretting and checking him over, finding him no worse for wear except a bit peeved of i disturbed his nap i fell about the place laughing at the state of his electro staic charged fur, and then he zapped the dog  lol
so yes great thread and i hope some if not everyone takes it on board, sorry for laughing, tee heee


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Dont worry i just laughed even though i shouldn't... Anyway i used to get wrong for sleeping with my son when he was a baby (14 years ago) but gladly nothing bad happened.
I have baby sleeping at the bottom of the bed with me now and he is the one who jumps on me  sniffs me then when i wake up to find him running at the bottom of the bed going back to sleep


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## angelpink (Dec 27, 2010)

i have angel sleeping with me during nap time, but i only sleep for an hour and i dont sleep deep, i have napped with baby animals for 20 yrs, and never had a fatality, thank god, i am very carefull and use pillows to make sure i dont roll over on them


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Tina & patch i used to sleep in the bed with which they took up most of the bed and chuck the blankets of when they was hot and paws in the air


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

the only fids i feel comfy enough to sleep with are my kitties. birds are so delicate id be scared. that and who would watch the cats if i fell asleep D: that'd be a disaster waiting to happen....


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

My hubby is absolutely petrified of sleeping with the birds...I think he actually did roll over on one when he was a child. So we never have them sleep with us, the only time that ever happened was when Fuzzy went hunting for me after I accidentally fell asleep and I woke up as soon as he was on me. I love them to much to put them in danger...


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## Lilly (Dec 2, 2010)

My Mum once accidentally vacuumed up a budgie. Luckily she noticed and got it out quick enough that it survived.

Also, one day my Mum was cleaning one of my Cockatiel's cages outside while she was still in it. Mum came inside only for a second and when she went back outside the cockatiel was covered in blood and missing feathers. She'd been attacked by either a crow or one of the naighbourhood cats. Luckily she recovered. This cockatiel also survived running away (she literally walked across the road and went on an adventure) and flying away (and landing inside the house of a friend's friend just down the road). She was incredibly lucky to have lived so long and having her has taught us to be much more careful around the birds we have now and the birds we will have in the future.


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## lperry82 (Aug 2, 2010)

Lilly said:


> My Mum once accidentally vacuumed up a budgie. Luckily she noticed and got it out quick enough that it survived.
> 
> Also, one day my Mum was cleaning one of my Cockatiel's cages outside while she was still in it. Mum came inside only for a second and when she went back outside the cockatiel was covered in blood and missing feathers. She'd been attacked by either a crow or one of the naighbourhood cats. Luckily she recovered. This cockatiel also survived running away (she literally walked across the road and went on an adventure) and flying away (and landing inside the house of a friend's friend just down the road). She was incredibly lucky to have lived so long and having her has taught us to be much more careful around the birds we have now and the birds we will have in the future.


Wow what did you name her Lucky lol


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## jeev12 (Jan 14, 2011)

To add.

*letting the bird off the cage without switching off the celling fan. *
It happened at my friends place, he was playing with his cockatiel (hand feeding) due to a sudden external disturbance, the bird took off and hit the fan........don’t want to write anymore.

PS: Plz excuse if this point is repeated.


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## jc119007 (Dec 28, 2009)

My first cockatiel died when my brother let him out of the cage and promptly fell asleep on the floor while watching TV. Spok's favourite trick was to snuggle up to you while you were sitting watching TV. I came home that afternoon (I'd been at band) to find my brother asleep on the floor and my bird squished under him.


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