Crisis Averted

This is Kiwi. He almost died today. I arrived at his home to care for him and his other avian companions and noticed that he was not coming to the front of his cage.

Now someone, who is not bird savvy, might not have paid attention. It looked like he was enjoying hanging out in his stringy toy. I always observe everything about the birds that I visit. Their behaviors, their poop, are they active and eating? This little guy is always the alarm caller and guard dog of the three birds, even though he is the smallest. But, this time...he was up in the back corner of his cage. Something was terribly wrong. I immediately grabbed a small towel and a pair of scissors and gently removed him along with the toy that was wrapped around his neck and leg. Removing the toy was made extra difficult because it was fastened with a slotted keyring! These are also notably dangerous because little toes can get stuck in the slots. I cut the strangling strings and watched Kiwi on a small kitchen stand to see if he was injured in any way. He seemed weak but none the worse for wear. I sprayed him with a mist bottle and prepared his cage with his food, water, and vegetables. When he was returned to the cage he didn't stop eating! He dove into the veggies and it became obvious that he had been in this predicament for some time. He was ravenous! These string toys are "made for birds". They are the supposedly correct type of cotton string that is supposed to break easily. Not so in this case. If you have these toys in your bird's cage, beware. The strings that bound Kiwi were not particularly long but they were almost deadly. Kiwi is an active bird who obviously did battle with these fuzzy and fun toys and lost. I hate to think about what could have happened. Always keep a towel and a pair of scissors in your bird cage area.