Panic of my life this morning
Normally I put Cairo's breakfast in right before I go to work. It's still dark, and he usually just peeks at me and decides whether he wants to wake up then and there for breakfast or if he wants to sleep some more. Even when he wakes up for breakfast, he usually goes back to sleep after.
So yesterday he was sleepy early because of our flight session in the late afternoon. I tucked him in early because no point making the poor little guy stay awake and he doesn't automatically fly into his cage to sleep just yet. Which meant this morning, he was happily awake for breakfast.
He walked from his sleep perch and started clambering down the side bars of the top and door area when suddenly he slipped! His wing feathers threaded between the bars and he couldn't get a grip with his feet and his beak was just trying to latch onto something. He was screaming and I had to quickly check to make sure he wasn't holding onto the door before I could swing it open. I shoved my hand under his feet and body, lifting him up and away from the bars. He immediately went quiet. My first priority was to calm him so I could check him over (yeah right, this bird doesn't like to be touched to be examined). He relaxed a little, then took off flying his usual route through the house, which turned out ok since I got a good look at the front and back of his wings as he went up and down the hallway. I was frightened he was going to fall flat when he took off from my hands so suddenly.
Luckily he didn't even break a feather. Phew! I was terrified his struggling would cause him to break his wing. And breaking a wing would be so devastating for a free-flighted bird like him - he'd go bonkers trying to recover from that kind of injury. I mean, he gets grumpy if he doesn't get regular flight time.
I immediately angled the rope perch on the door, so that he'd have a clear walking path. He seemed perfectly fine after his short morning flight. I put him back inside to see if he was ok with the cage still, and straight away, he went for his breakfast. Even when I left the house, he was noming away like nothing happened.
My partner checked on him throughout the day and said Cairo's completely normal. I'm heading home now after work to cuddle him with my eyes since he doesn't like physical cuddles.
But wow, I guess the bars are too slippery. I did thread banana leave through them, but that wasn't really enough I guess. I might have to add more perches where he normally climbs sideways on the bars or shift things around some more. Maybe a Salty-inspired flat perch would be a nice addition if I can find it.
