My Green Cheek Conure Died

[dhraiden]

You have made good progress in understanding the why and how of this tragic accident - this also happened to one of the client's I work with, who did not realize his pet parakeet was on the ground. It is a devastating guilt to cope with, but you are doing right by using as means to prevent further tragedy. My SO has become used to me regularly querying "Where's Mango/Mochi" when they are out, so that we always know where our bodies are in proximity to them, and are awareness is heightened when we're moving around and they aren't directly perched on us. Also, I try to discourage them from crawling around on the floor unless I am home alone and not otherwise sedentary myself.

 

[RavensGryf]

First, I’m so sorry for your unexpected loss .

A few years ago, I was extremely lucky. I stepped on Griffin’s head. Not with full weight obviously, but enough to dislocate his beak and make his head look oval shaped. Also extremely fortunate that it happened at a time my busy vet was open and miraculously had an opening right then and there.

I can just imagine how devastating and horrifying your experience was. It’s only natural to blame one’s self even though you shouldn’t. It was an accident. I hope in due time, your sorrow will turn to happy memories of the time you had together.

 

[YSGC]

This is so heartbreaking.
I feel so bad for you.
I'm sorry.

Our conure Pico has never flown.
The breeder trims his chicks' secondary feathers, and I've maintained that.
I don't want to hijack your thread with the wing-clipping controversy but we all know of the many dangers to flighted birds - windows, mirrors, ceiling fans, etc.
I know being stepped on is one argument for leaving birds flighted.
I see this tragedy as an opportunity for a bit of a PSA, so some good may come of it.

From day 1 Pico has been free to roam the house.
My SO is his favored person so Pico often roams the house to find him, so we stay VERY vigilant.
Like having child just learning to crawl, we've sort of developed a sixth sense about always knowing where Pico is.

Being an intelligent bird and a lifelong crawler, Pico's figured out that feet are dangerous; he avoids them.
There has never even been a near miss, he just clearly understands the danger.
He'll walk away if we step within 3 feet of him, though he will walk over to a hand offered to pick him up off the floor.

I often hear that being flighted protects birds from the danger of being stepped on, but your tragic accident demonstrates it's no guarantee.
In fact, I'd say a flightless bird, that is experienced walking around the house, is actually safer from being stepped on because it has developed a healthy respect for walking feet.

Again, so sorry for your loss.
I've had dogs and birds most of my life and I totally understand and share your experience of parrot being a nearly human member of the family.

 

[Inger]

I’m so very sorry.


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[Orin2017]

I am also very sorry. Although nothing I say can really console you at this time, I would point out that your accident could have happened to me or my wife. Our conure is spooked and set a flight by sudden noises; even the tearing of paper, or the breaking of wind, can result in our conure flying to the ground.

It’s a matter of balancing the needs for safety with the conure’s need to be involved in all that we do. What’s done is done. All you can do is try to learn from it and move on. You are not the only one, I’m sure, to have an unfortunate tragedy—or near miss—like this happen. Truly. Sorry again.


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[Tealaweez]

Wow. I don’t know what to say. I guess I’ll share my story. My heart bleeds for you and your family.

I’m Billie Birds mom. He passed away 3 days after Christmas of 2018. I was returning home after picking up my kiddos from their fathers home. My oldest son (15) had to use the bathroom really bad so he ran into the house very fast and straight for his bathroom. Billie Bird always greeted us upstairs in the kitchen. But when my son was running so fast all the way upstairs, Billie Bird wanted to see what all the commotion was about. He flew to follow him and when my son shut the bathroom door...... Billie Bird got slammed in the door.
It’s hard for me to type this. My middle son (13) started screaming and I knew something was wrong. Billie Bird was able to fly downstairs and land on top of his perch on top of his cage. I witnessed this and thought, “ok, maybe he’s fine” But then he fell off from the top of his perch. I told my 13yo to please pick Billie Bird up and just hold him calmly while I go upstairs and talk to my 15yo and my 10yo. I knew I had to remain calm and tell everyone that there is no one to blame and that we all need to be around Billie Bird at this time. We went downstairs and my 13yo started screaming again while he was holding Billie Bird in his arms, “HES NOT BREATHING RIGHT, HELP, PLEASE HELP” As I went over to pick up Billie Bird he had a seizure in my sons arms. It was horrific.
I gently took Billie Bird and snuggled him in my arms with all my kiddos hugging me, hugging each other and petting Billie Bird and saying wonderful things about him. I knew he had passed away right after the seizure but was not ready to let the kids know just yet. Or maybe I wasn’t ready to accept her death. After about 45 minutes of what was so painful yet so beautiful, I felt the warmth of life leave the little body and Billie Bird no longer shared the warmth with me.
I then told the kiddos that he just now passed. My 13yo opened the sliding door and said that he’s letting Billie Birds soul leave the house so he can go fly to heaven with the other birds. We filmed the aftermath because I wanted to document what I saw. I was examining his body and saw where the injuries where. I felt it important to do this with the kids watching so they can learn and not be scared of death. Anywho..... it was horrible and we talk about him every day. This was about 8 months ago and although we shared only 2.5 years together, this has been the most painful experience in my life. My life is another story. Let’s just say I’ve experienced a lot of misery.
I know this story won’t help and maybe it will make you feel worse. I want you to know you’re not alone. Get all the tears, anger, regret and “what ifs” out. Let it out. There are some interesting videos on YouTube on how to deal with the loss of a pet that I found very helpful. However it will not make me miss Billy bird any less and I can assume you’ll always miss your GCC. Sending you a very warm and heartfelt virtual hug.
❌❤️⭕️