bad storm/ bad bite

[Boysmom]

So this evening we had tornadic activity in a bad storm. Lights out and Ruby was scared. I walked past her cage to the door and when I walked back she grabbed me. Ruby grabbed my nose as I walked by and latched on. It was dark, she was scared, and it was my fault im sure. I gently reached up to remove her from my nose and took a bad bite to the hand also. So a word to the wise, if you can't see your bird, it can't see you either. No stitches required, but I have learned to be more careful in bad weather.

 

[weco]

If you're in a storm situation like Boysmom, with no lights, talking to your bird(s) will go a long way to settling them down.

Though we don't know for sure, even though her bird may have known who it had grabbed, the bird, being anxious about the storm & darkness, may not have realized who was reaching up to touch it & bit out of reflex.

I have had to move birds in the dark, in severe storm situations & always keep talking to them, letting them know what I'm doing or going to do. I once had to pack up & move 18 birds in 14 travel cages, in a similar storm situation & I like to think that all went well because of our trust factor & because I kept talking with them.

 

[antoinette]

Ruby was definitely scared, it must have been extremely frightening
When Mishka is scared I sit quietly talking to him, calming him down, never attempting to touch him.

 

[94lt1]

I agree...be the "bird whisperer". In situations like that...I talk to my birds...let em know its alright..try not to be nervous...they can pick up on it...I let me birds know that if they bite me "I'll eat the chickens" that's code for kisses...o eat da chicken...was started with Monte and has spread to starburst...they spread their wings and give me kisses when I eat da chickens...


Talk to your flock...smile when ya do!!

 

[Kiwibird]

Poor Ruby! She was probably scared half to death by the storm :-( I hope it's over now and she can get some cuddles from her mommy.

My general rule of thumb when power is out, is to keep Kiwi in his cage (unless there's enough daylight for him to see). I figure he knows the inside of his cage much better than anywhere else in the house when it's pitch black, so it's the safest place for him to be. A few years back, we got a brutal blizzard that knocked power out for almost 2 days. Beside the screaming 70MPH winds that sounded like they would rip our roof off, a tree came crashing through the neighbors roof at about 1am and I thought Kiwi was going to jump out of his feathers! I just talked to him in the pitch dark, trying to calm him down. I guess after he lept from his perch for the falling tree, he didn't bother climbing back up, as we found him still cowering in the corner the next morning. Storms are very traumatic for parrots!

 

[drlisaort]

Ah, poor Ruby and poor Ruby's mom--Ouch! I've never been through a storm with Oliver yet so I take your wise words of advice quite seriously. My closest catastrophe was when my tire peeled like a banana on 95 while I was going 75 miles per hour and road work was being done leaving me no where to pull off. I ended leaving my car half on the highway and had to crawl out the window onto and over the wall with Oliver in his carrier.

 

[Boysmom]

As daylight came, we could tell we did have a small tornado. We thought it was a tornado we saw, as it came thru our tree line and accross the backyard, but it was dark and hard to tell. Ruby was definately terrorified, and I did get her off my nose and into her cage by gently telling her to please stop eating mommy's nose. She calmed down once she was inside her cage. The storm just hit hard very fast and no lights with Ruby on her playstand. I should have thought to cage her first, but I needed to look outside to make sure of what was happening and if we needed to leave. Our home has no basement and we sit atop a hill with a 100 acre field as our backyard.
we still have no power after almost 20 hours, but the generator is running the fridge so our food doesn't go bad. We were very lucky and Blessed last night.

 

[moni.k]

I'm so glad to hear that you and your family are ok. Natural disasters aren't to be taken lightly at all. I would have been terrified in a situation like that, I can't imagine how Ruby must have felt.

BTW, is it just me or am I SUPER jealous you live on a 100 acre field!!

 

[Peeker]

Glad to hear you are all ok! Sudden storms like that must be very frightening!

 

[Joshuwaaa]

Hey, glad your through it okay, cant have been easy and must have been frightening

hope your well

 

[Kiwibird]

I'm glad to hear you and your family are ok, and that the tornado didn't do any major damage! I've never experienced one, but from all I see on the news, they are extremely destructive and hit fast. At least the storms we get here come with a few days warning so we can prepare. Is Ruby all better now that the weather has calmed down?

 

[drlisaort]

Wow, what an ordeal for you and your family! I admire you for "gently" telling Ruby to let go of Mommy's nose. Amazing!

 

[Boysmom]

We were told it was an F1 tornado. Ruby is fine now, and our yard is back in order. The scab on my nose is healing nicely also. Thanks for all the well wishes, If we dont share these moments others cant learn from our mistakes.

 

[drlisaort]

I'm so grateful you shared! I learn so much from you. Thank you!

 

[natv]

Thanks for sharing! Glad you're healing up.