WARNING TO ALL PARROT OWNERS - Now On Way To Emergency Vet

[Scott]

Glad this turned out well, thanks to your quick actions and a skilled vet. Bella is fortunate to have a great parront and care team!

 

[WakaWaka]

I use both the kind that caused Bella’s injury and the pear-shaped ones. I made sure to tighten all the ones with the screw thing, though.

If you are using the pear shaped ones shown in the pic that dhraiden posted, please remove them ASAP if they are spring loaded. We have some for hanging cords, antenna line etc in the basement but with the strong spring and the sharp barb where it closes I would consider them a death trap for a bird.

Please double check what you have.
If they have a screw locking mechanism then you may be ok as long as they are really tight and you check them regularly.

Thanks
Kelly, Karl, and Arika

 

[ChristaNL]

Whoa- this story almost gave me a heartattack!
Poor Bella! (and her humans of course)

It's amazing that parrottoys come with parrot-unsafe material attached to them.
I thought I was doing the right thing by replacing the clip-ons with the ones you tighten.
Now these are also a risk (if not checked regularly)?

I also have a few of these (RVS of course)-

https://static.webshopapp.com/shops/218225/files/118809299/500x350x1/rvs-harpsluiting.jpg

but they are not "parrot-proof" either I think - a mechanical inclined bird will be able to unscrew it and down the toy (and maybe the bird hanging on it) goes ...


Just wondering what else there is out there?

 

[April]

So sorry Bella and you , good to hear she is doing well and thanks so much for the heads up I had a few of these on toys too !not anymore

 

[EllenD]

I'm not sure that I've ever seen a "spring-loaded" quicklink on a toy before, I can't picture it...All of mine are the ones you have to screw in and out by hand...What a freak and traumatic accident...Lucky it didn't go through her upper-pallet instead of the bottom one...it's amazing what can happen in just a split-second, and with a toy made for birds...

 

[Sandy19]

Mine are also the ones you have to screw in and out by hand.

One thing I noticed the other day though with my junk mail is that within two seconds Peanut removed the staples out of one of those advertising magazines. I put the mail on the table not even thinking about it and the next thing I knew Peanut had a staple in her mouth. She let me take it from her, but I wont be leaving those magazines out anymore.

 

[Mariar]

Omg i have those quick links in every cage..for all my animals! I am so hapoy yor baby is ok....what an eye opener!..thank u for sharing.

 

[EllenD]

Oh, I now think I know what they're talking about by a "spring-loaded" quicklink...We're talking about basically a Carabiner, right?

That's funny, as I've not seen a bird toy with a fastener like that before...weird...I think every bird toy I've ever purchased has had the screw-in-and-out type...But now I can certainly see how that could be dangerous and do what it did, especially if it was a strong Carabiner...

 

[ChristaNL]

Sailboat: don't get me started on staples .. just when you think you've banished each and every one from the house ... there is a grey with a bleeding tongue because *he* managed to find the one you missed (by gnawing through an innocent looking carboard box of the type that doesn't usually has any staples in it )


We should have another topic "painting with parrots" -> it's amazing how many places they reach with food, drink and bodily fluids ...

 

[LaManuka]

OMG I just read this yesterday and I think it bears repeating! ScoMo’s fruit/veg kabob thingy had a spring-loaded catch which has just been binned! What a heartbreaking ordeal for all involved, thank heaven you were home at the time. I hope Bella has fully recovered.

 

[Laurasea]

Lamanuka! Yikes I was freaking out then realize this is long past!!!! But I'm glad to read it a d check my cages!!!!! Because I think I do have some!!! So thank you. And glad Bella is alright. Learning everyday just how much I don't know!

 

[LaManuka]

I know right - EEEEEK!!!!!

 

[EllenD]

I remember this post very vividly...I went and checked every single one of the bird's toys that had metal clips/links to make sure that none of them were the "spring-loaded" type, but I didn't have any...Took me a minute to understand what was even meant by a "spring-loaded Quick-Link", stupidly too, lol, I just couldn't picture what was being talked about, maybe because none of my bird toys have this type, mine seem to all be the "screw-in" type (which by the way are a pain in the ass, and I totally would have switched-over to the spring-loaded type had I known that they existed, prior to this thread)...

I finally came out of my "brain-fog" or whatever was wrong with me, lol, and realized that the "spring-loaded Quick-Links" are actually Carabiners...

It's amazing that how such a freak thing, something that you'd never think about happening, can not only suddenly happen, but also suddenly change your life.

 

[Anansi]

So sorry for the delay with the picture of the offending item!



It was this thin one. But it was the bottom part and the wide screwing barrel that went through her skin under / behind her beak and all the way up through into her mouth.

So I'd advise only using the much thicker ones and tightening them with a tool like Mr Wrench does for Salty.

For clarity's sake, just quoting this post by Violet_Diva as a reminder of the exact clip that caused the injury. I know the same thing happened a few years back to Katie's Jasper. The clip sliced right in through the soft skin beneath the lower beak and into his mouth. So definitely not an isolated freak incident, here, but rather a very real danger.

 

[ninamom]

Just to clarify that pear clips tightened like these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GVJ317S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

should be ok as long as they are not spring loaded?

 

[OutlawedSpirit]

Just to clarify that pear clips tightened like these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GVJ317S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

should be ok as long as they are not spring loaded?

No, not necessarily. Although the spring loaded ones add an extra element of danger, if your bird can get the link open, they are dangerous. Once open, the beak can get caught on the end of the link and it becomes dangerous. If you are going to use links like this, please take all necessary precautions to ensure that they are properly tightened and check them often to make sure they remain tightened.