Anyone have this issue with rope perches before? Potential safety threat!

Kiwibird

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2012
9,539
111
Parrots
1 BFA- Kiwi. Hatch circa 98', forever home with us Dec. 08'
Yesterday, I washed Kiwi's cage (with the perches in it, so they could get power hosed too). After letting it dry, I did go through an make sure all his perches were tight and securely attached (they seemed to be). This morning after I woke up (before Kiwi was up), I hear him make his usual "feather shuffle" when I turned on the lights in th kitchen, immediately followed by a few flaps and a thud. I ran over and pulled back the cage covers and see him on the floor of his cage absolutely stunned. I tried putting my hand in to get him out and it was like I wasn't even there. I tried looking around his cage (in the still pretty dark living room) to try and see what happened, and stepped on the end cap of the rope perch he sleeps on and once I realized what it was, sure enough the perch was dangling loose. He eventually got on my hand and I looked him over to make sure he wasn't hurt. Thankfully he was just really frightened, but not injured. When I went to unscrew the other end of the perch, it literally just slid off. I noticed the inside of the cap was still wet, and it basically worked like a lubricant to keep it from screwing together properly. The caps seemed to screw on fine again after I dried it (though I will be replacing it just to be safe). I just wanted to warn others to be sure to dry the insides of those caps after you wash your birds cages so your babies don't get the fright of falling off their perch in the dark.
 

Grinder

New member
Jan 26, 2013
264
1
East Coast, U.S.
Parrots
Military Macaw - 'Lady",
GW Macaw - "Jazzy"
I'm sorry Kiwi had a rude awakening. It's good you brought this to people's attention.

What everyone needs to know is that the threads on end of the rope perch as well as the cap must be COMPLETELY DRY. The water doesnt act so much as a lubircant as it just doesnt let the cap fully screw on. Basically you have a few drops of water sitting in the threads and it has no where to go once you start tightening the cap on. So to you, it feels like the cap is on tight, but it really is isn't. Eventually the pressure helps the water move out of the cap and threads leaving you with a loose cap.

Remember, it only takes a super thin amount of water under your car tires to make you hydro plane just as water can slowly break away stone. So a few drops on the plastic threads of a perch are practically nothing when it comes to what water really can do.
 
OP
Kiwibird

Kiwibird

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2012
9,539
111
Parrots
1 BFA- Kiwi. Hatch circa 98', forever home with us Dec. 08'
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #3
Thanks Grinder for the further explanation of how that worked. I never really thought about a tiny bit of moisture being dangerous before, seeing as they are threaded. I sure know now even a tiny bit of water can be a bad thing!
 

MonicaMc

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
7,960
Media
2
43
Parrots
Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
Poor Kiwi! Hope he's fine!

I've never had that issue, but I do have an issue of the bolts of a cage coming loose and falling out.

I have a bolt and a nut. The nut fits onto the bolt, but for the life of me, I can't figure out where the bolt came from! The bolt is far too long for my cages, and both are a gold color, so it's a bit of an unusual color... most hard ware pieces we have are the silver-ish color. I only have one cage that even uses gold colored hard ware, and I can't find a short bolt that would go with the cage (it is missing hard ware, got it that way) as I'm sure the nut came from that cage... but the extra long bolt has left me clueless!
 
OP
Kiwibird

Kiwibird

Well-known member
Jul 12, 2012
9,539
111
Parrots
1 BFA- Kiwi. Hatch circa 98', forever home with us Dec. 08'
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
Poor Kiwi! Hope he's fine!

I've never had that issue, but I do have an issue of the bolts of a cage coming loose and falling out.

I have a bolt and a nut. The nut fits onto the bolt, but for the life of me, I can't figure out where the bolt came from! The bolt is far too long for my cages, and both are a gold color, so it's a bit of an unusual color... most hard ware pieces we have are the silver-ish color. I only have one cage that even uses gold colored hard ware, and I can't find a short bolt that would go with the cage (it is missing hard ware, got it that way) as I'm sure the nut came from that cage... but the extra long bolt has left me clueless!

I know the bolts on Kiwi's cage where the seed guard goes are longer than the others. It's so the seed guard can "hang" on them. Don't know if your cage has a seed guard, but that may be where the mystery bolt goes and why it's too long. As for keeping the nuts tight, I use a very small piece of cling wrap around the treaded part of the bolt, and it holds much tighter (he has a perch that has a loose nut).
 

Jtbirds

Banned
Banned
Mar 6, 2013
1,110
1
Pennsylvania
I've heard of this with them striping out and not screwing in tightly, but I've never heard of them being wet and slipping off. I'll have to watch that when I pressure wash my cages:p glad kiwi is ok!
 

Pinkbirdy

New member
Feb 26, 2013
2,203
1
Clifton Springs Newyork
Parrots
macaw,LS2,congo grey,2Blk Hd caiques,Hawkhead,yellowstrk lory,Blue frnt amazon,sun conure ,Yellow sided greencheek ,Goffin ,Rosebreasted Cockatoo,Greenwing Macaw,Blue and Gold Macaw,Nanday conure,Ecle
I pressure wash my cages too [glad hes ok ] :)
 

MonicaMc

Well-known member
Sep 12, 2012
7,960
Media
2
43
Parrots
Mitred Conure - Charlie 1994;
Cockatiel - Casey 2001;
Wild Caught ARN - Sylphie 2013
The cage does have seed guards, but I've never used them. In fact, I'm not entirely sure where they are at! I'm sure I have them stashed away somewhere...

This extra bolt is at least twice the length or longer than the bolts for the cage, so it wouldn't even make sense if it was for the seed guards. I don't have the bolt in front of me atm, but it's like 2 or 3 inches long, while the ones for the cage are an inch or shorter.


I do have another cage that is partially put together (to take pics, not to use), but I kept all the hardware together with that cage (the cage is sitting on the stand, not screwed onto it atm, everything not used is in a plastic container).


Definitely do need to figure out a way to keep the bolts and nuts together on that one cage! Never would have thought of cling wrap, so might have to try that! Thanks!
 

Most Reactions

Top