Took every precaution and then some....

[crimson]

Before we went out for dinner tonight with our family, I went into my bird room and decided to let my breeding pair of cockatiels have some free flight time.
They haven't been out in days due to a hectic schedule. Normally I am home when I let any of my birds out and with good reason. Tonight was an impulsive momentary decision I wish I hadn't made.

My bird room is full of birds, mostly finches and canaries, behind closed doors.
The other pair I have in there are a pair of lovebirds. Before we went out I clipped all the doors shut on their cage,as the female knows how to escape very easily.
I also covered the cage with TWO blankets to cover the entire cage. Then I clipped the sides of the blankets so there would be no chance of falling off.
This cage was covered completely and clipped(2 clips per door,one on each side)
when we came home from dinner 1.5 hours later, I checked on my cockatiels.

I was shocked when I found my female lovebird out of her cage!!
somehow she got out. She must have worked the clips up enough to get one of the doors open.

My female cockatiel was on the carpet,she is not tame and will bite and bite hard.
she let me pick her up without incident....I found it very unusual.

I placed my tame male back in with her, but after looking at her, I found she had blood on the under part of her belly.
She had a cut/gash on the upper part of her leg, and had almost stopped bleeding. She'd been bitten by the female lovebird.
Poor Sundance, she had no energy to fight while we put on some stiptic powder to her wound, and cleaned her up.
She looked so tired, and was lifting her foot up slightly when we put her back into the cage.
I decided to remove her again after 5 minutes to give her some Heal x cream by Harrisons.
I also added 1 drop of iron drops into their water.

this is the second time in two weeks these lovebirds have escaped from their cage and have attacked my cockatiels, once when they were in their cage. The female bit off my male cockatiels toenail while climbing his cage, after she had escaped, with all the clips on the doors.

Tomorrow I'll be going to the hardware store and getting better clips.
If Sundance needs to see a vet I'll be taking her on Monday.....I wish tomorrow was Monday.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I'm so sorry, that must of been horrible to come home to that
How much blood did she loose from the wound? If she lost a lot she needs fluids as soon as possible and a vet visit. Watch her carefully.

Hopefully this helps a little bit here's the source

A healthy bird can lose as much as 30 percent of its blood volume with minimal problems. For example, a cockatiel weighing about 100 grams could actually lose three milliliters of blood and still potentially be okay. If blood loss is greater than the bird can tolerate, it will go into shock. Shock is a body’s attempt to survive and is described as a multisystemic response.
When shock occurs there is an increased heart rate to increase the output of blood, the arteries constrict to help maintain an adequate blood pressure and to keep vital tissues supplied with blood, and the spleen and veins constrict to translocate blood to the central arteries. It is very important to recognize that the constriction of the arteries is done to support blood flow to the brain and heart at the expense of the other organs; if this occurs for a long enough period of time, it permanently interferes with oxygenation of the tissues, which results in death.
If blood loss occurs, the body attempts to make new red blood cells and plasma, if it has the necessary nutrients to do so. After blood loss, it is recommended to give a bird fluids (ideally by the intravenous or intraosseous route or by the subcutaneous route), an iron injection and a B-complex vitamin injection. In cases of mild blood loss, oral fluid therapy can help replace the liquid portion of the blood, and an oral iron and B-vitamin supplement can be helpful until the tissues can create more red blood cells to replace those lost. Treatment for shock or severe blood loss should be performed by an experienced avian veterinarian.

What type of cage do the lovebirds have? Would you be able to use a small padlock instead of a clip?

 

[crimson]

It's a double stacker cage, they are on the top and my finches are below.
there are 2 small doors on either side of the cage for seed cups, then a larger middle door.
she wasn't dripping blood thank goodness, but still bleeding a wee bit when we tended to her.
why do these things always happen on the weekends????

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I was reading a old thread and they said they use dog clips, have you tried that type before?

The weekends are out to get us because we look forward to them

 

[crimson]

that is what I was going to get tomorrow, thanks for helping....how's Rosie doing?

 

[Featheredsamurai]

She's been doing really great, the last month she's started to really enjoy her chop mix. I made 3 months worth and on the last 5 bags she finally decides she loves it lol. I decided to give her chop mix for her dinner and she is so happy to be eating it, she even nibbled on a bean, something she usually tosses out. Hopefully she'll start liking her fresh greens soon.

 

[crimson]

that is great news.It's so good for them, and it gives them a chance to forage thru food.
I put hard boiled egg yolks and broccoli through a blender/chopper and all my birds love it. It's the first thing they go for on the plates.
I have started feeding my birds beans,cous,cous,chick peas, etc...and my senegal Safari and my 5 cockatiels love it the most. it gets smushed all over their beaks,lol.
I have 3 pairs of gouldians, they are incredibly difficult to turn them onto vegetables. It took months and months, but now all 3 pairs are eating their veggies

I just checked on Sundance, she's perched, but just waking up. I'll be putting that cream on 3-4 times today. It will give me a better chance to see what her wound looks like, and to make sure she's eating and drinking throughout the day.
I was quite worried about her last night, she didn't look right at all
right now I'm not too happy with my female lovebird...grrrrrrrr.
thanks again for your help!