I feel like a terrible owner...

Kiryon

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May 19, 2013
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Cockatiels - Oz & Kaila
I made a topic a while back about how I might move to my sister's place qith the birds during renovations at home and I did. Things have been going well, the birds were playing, flying and chirping away. The move didn't seem to stress them too much.

However, I forgot to do one very important thing when we got there. Examine the place for every single source of danger... I put away all the nonstick cookware, made sure there were no mystery plants or febreeze/airwick automatic divices and looked where all the electric cables are.

Every time I took em out, I put the cat in the bathroom and made sure I could always see them... But I still made a mistake that almost killed both of my birds. For 3 days now, they've taken to flying around the rectangular wall in the 4 1/2 appartment (one little hallway, a long one, the kitchen and the dining room are around that wall) and not once did I notice the very, very, very fast spining ceiling fan. I saw it as Oz was flying straight for it and screamed because I was pretty sure that my bird was about to be torn apart by the fan, but he dropped a bit so that he passed below it instead of trough it and seemed destabilized by the air from it since he crashed into a cupboard.

Of course, Kaila chose that moment to scream and take off, which prompted Oz to take flight too and all I could do was stand there terrified as both of them passed right by the fan since I knew that running after them would most likely scare them and they wouldn't land. Thank god, after 2 heartstopping runs around that wall, they both landed on me and I was able to put them in the cage.

They flew in proximity to that death machine for 3 days and god, I even made myself a sandwich with both of them perched on my shoulders right below that fan. I never noticed it and because of that, I could have easily lost both of them last night. I feel so terrible I can't stop shaking every time I think about it! Needless to say that fan as been permanently stopped for the duration of my stay and I'll be having a thorough look at the place once I get home from work...:(
 

gracebowen

Active member
Jan 14, 2015
1,439
3
San Antonio
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Cora lovebird
Sky parakeet
I have accidentally left my ceiling fan on 3 times. I am working on a way to make a cover for it lime with chicken wire or something
 

RavensGryf

Supporting Member
Jan 19, 2014
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College Station, Texas
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I think sometimes it's easy to overlook something that we're so used to seeing. You mean well, but this 'common sight' of a ceiling fan on is an oversight that many other people could have made also. Doesn't mean you're a bad owner ;).

Most importantly, thank goodness the birdies had the instinct to avoid the moving object (fan). Now that you're aware and it won't happen again, try not to beat yourself up.
 

Allee

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Oct 27, 2013
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U2-Poppy(Poppy lives with her new mommy, Misty now) CAG-Jack, YNA, Bingo, Budgie-Piper, Cockatiel-Sweet Pea Quakers-Harry, Sammy, Wilson ***Zeke (quaker) Twinkle (budgie) forever in our hearts
I'm so glad your birds avoided the fan instead of flying straight into it. So scary, glad it ended well and you know to take future precautions.
 

veimar

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Feb 5, 2014
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OMG, that's scary! Ceiling fan are my birds favorite place to perch, so we just never use them. :)
 

Velimir

New member
May 5, 2015
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I rescue, foster, and rehabilitate as many parrots as I can take in.
That is very scary. I know that accidents can happen, but I also believe the birds are smart enough to avoid rapidly spinning objects in their sight. Having said that, though, I will admit that all of the ceiling fans in my house are disabled. I could not run them if I wanted to.

Your birds are fine and you have corrected the problem. You are obviously distraught over the matter, but you cannot fault yourself for an oversight. It would have been a horrible accident, but an accident no less. You are not a terrible owner. Just an owner in unfamiliar environment.

Thank goodness everything is okay.
 

LaurenB

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Oct 28, 2014
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Pennsylvania
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Green Cheek Conure - Tiki //
Sun Conure - Nacho //
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Don't beat yourself up! I'm sure most of us have made the same mistake at some point. I let one of my parakeets out once when my bedroom ceiling fan was on. As soon as I realized it, my hand instinctively shot up in between the blades! OUCH :52: Glad it was me & not the bird though.

Accidents happen. At least you caught it before something terrible happened!
 
OP
Kiryon

Kiryon

Member
May 19, 2013
225
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11
Canada
Parrots
Cockatiels - Oz & Kaila
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Thanks guys, I do feel a little better about it today but that fan is definitely staying off even with the 28.5 to 30 celcius temperature that place seems to always have... I just hope it doesn't bother the birds since that's a solid 4 to 5 degrees more than what they're used to but so far they seem ok with it, I just make sure they always have plenty of fresh water available...

I checked the fan 3 times last night before letting them out, and was anxious I might have overlooked something else when they got out of the cage, but in the end we just spent 3 hours cuddled up on the couch doing homework, having dinner and watching TV series.
 

Allee

Well-known member
Oct 27, 2013
16,852
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U2-Poppy(Poppy lives with her new mommy, Misty now) CAG-Jack, YNA, Bingo, Budgie-Piper, Cockatiel-Sweet Pea Quakers-Harry, Sammy, Wilson ***Zeke (quaker) Twinkle (budgie) forever in our hearts
Kiryon, I'm glad you had a nice evening with your birds. I know it's probably hard to locate all the possible hazards in your sister's house so you feel safe enough to let your babies out. You're a great mom and you're doing a wonderful job in difficult circumstances.

That is very scary. I know that accidents can happen, but I also believe the birds are smart enough to avoid rapidly spinning objects in their sight. Having said that, though, I will admit that all of the ceiling fans in my house are disabled. I could not run them if I wanted to.

Your birds are fine and you have corrected the problem. You are obviously distraught over the matter, but you cannot fault yourself for an oversight. It would have been a horrible accident, but an accident no less. You are not a terrible owner. Just an owner in unfamiliar environment.

Thank goodness everything is okay.

As intelligent as birds are, they don't always avoid rapidly spinning ceiling fans, in fact, they often fly right into them. It's wise of you to disable your fans.
 

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