My Fault

[Khaiqha]

A terrible string of events happened this weekend, and it's my fault.

I purchased a budgie to give to a friend for his birthday (I made sure he wanted and was ready for one first). Well, he lived out of town and wouldn't be able to pick it up for a week. I took the week to tame the budgie, who I had named Sky Captain.

Sky Captain was special. He was fully flighted and was the most active, inquisitve, and feerless budgie I saw, so I chose him for my friend. By day one he was eating out of my hand, by day three he had no issues about being put back in the cage, and by day six he was flying to me and learning to sit on my shoulder.

The first mistake I made was doing this in view of my irn, Ace. Quickly Ace got jealous of Sky Captain. Then, one day I came up to my room from the kitchen to find out in horror that Ace had jumped off his cage, crossed all the way into my office, scaled what I thought was an unclimable shelf, opened Sky Captain's cage and bit his foot.

Captain's claw didn't look good, and I stopped the bleeding. Though he didn't want to put pressure on that foot, he would still use it to climb or grab things. I called the animal ERs, and the closest one was an hour away through a storm. I decided to wait till the morning to go to the usual bird vet, and then found out he was on vacation for the weekend.

Well my friend came to get him. I actually had a group of friends over (3 of us contributed to the gift for the 4th friend) and we were checking on Captain. We left for food and when we came home, I found out again in horror that not only can Ace open his own door, one of us had left my office door open. Sky Captain was in such bad shape that I had to get someone else to put him down, as I could not do it myself.

Once is an accident, twice is just unexscusable. My friend was not angry with me, as none of us can remember who went out of the office last and left the door open. I still feel like crap though. I ordered a new cage for Ace, along with climbing hooks to latch his door shut. The worst is that during all of this Ace said his first words - thank you.

I miss Sky Captain. I was so proud of him trusting me so quickly, and then I betrayed that trust. Ace leaves my roommate's budgie alone (not that we ever give them a chance to meet). He seemed to hate Captain because he took attention away from him and could fly. I don't know what to do, because I know at some point in Ace's lifespan I will want to have another bird. How do breeders deal with this, when either their actions or a bird they own causes the death of another?

- I mention breeders btw because I assume they continue to get new birds, but the question can be for anyone who loses a bird then gets another.

[liz]

I am so sorry that this happened. And sorry that Captain went throughsuchtorture. I don't have a solution but wanted you to know that I will morn Captain also.

[laducockatiel]

This story is sad, but it is not your fault. You just wanted to give your friend the best gift. r.i.p sky captain

[Conure_Concierge]

I'm sorry for your unfortunate loss of Sky Captain and the pain you feel for his loss and Ace's actions.

FID jealousy is one of my worries too, due to the size differential between my two birds. I recently purchased fancy magnetic-locks for my GCC's cage doors, but he immediately opened them and later destroyed one. He hasn't figured out how to open his doors yet, but I want to be sure neither he, nor the UnCape are able to do so. I plan to put simple heavy duty, stainless steel spring-loaded latches on each of his doors this weekend. My UnCape's cage door latches don't appear to be a problem. The issue is when the GCC is caged and the UnCape is not; during cage cleaning when I'm too busy scrubbing to supervise properly.

Every time my UnCape unnecessarily defends himself, or attacks my GCC I have to remember that they are essentially toddlers (victim and perpetrator alike) and I must forgive and continue loving them both. Though I haven't been tried by the injury, or death of one FID by another; I hope you'll accept my condolences in the spirit in which they are offered.

[rebeccaturpeinen]

I am so sorry for your loss That is one of my fears too when I eventually get another bird. It wasnt your fault though.

[viki]

what a heart breaking story. bless his little brave heart. its times like this i really do hope theres a nice place for them after life. try not to blame urself and just know now that u have learned...

the only thing i can think is to insure every1 gets special one on one time wit u and that no one can escape from their cages but mayb someone else might have a better idea

[dohcsvt]

Sorry for your loss. I am sure that you are not at fault.

[Cage Cleaner]

I disagree with everyone else that has posted, and agree with you that it was indeed your fault.

However, it was also an accident and I know you didn't mean to make it happen. I'm sorry that it turned out this way, and am glad that you are taking steps to prevent something like this from happening again in the future.

[sora no tori]

I'm so sorry to hear about this.
There's no contest between a irn and a budgie. If you want to get another bird someday, I'd try to set my sights on something that is an even match, or stronger but less aggressive. Don't use me as an example. Logan is no match for Conrad. My secret for keeping the peace is territory division, personal time for both, and giving them my full attention when they are out together. The instant Conrad does something that looks like aggression, they get separated. I can't say this is the best way to go about it--birds do naturally fight to establish dynamics--but I can't risk it.

[drif]

Sorry to hear about what happened.

I've noticed a few people talking about cage-door locks and wanted to share a story about what happened to a red-capped conure, Nikki, that I had about 25 years ago.

Nikki was my second bird who was everything that you could want from a conure. (S)he, never sexed, was playful, friendly, and generally a great fid. We rarely kept her cage door shut because she would open it anyway. My relatives came for a visit and brought thier cat so we bought cage locks from the local petstore. The locks allowed the doors to open about a quarter inch but then would not open any farther.

We used the locks from the time my relatives visited and had many laughs watching Nikki try to open the door, fail, etc..

One day I came home from school to find Nikki laying dead half out of the door. (S)he got the door open far enough to wiggle into, got stuck, and ended up with a broken neck from trying to pull back through the door to get unstuck.

I'm posting this so that if you decide to lock your fids cages that you do it right.