Valentino's escape

[noblemacaw]

All week I have been getting up at 5:30am to be out the house by 6:20am in order to not get tangled up in rush hour traffic. Friday morning I did my routine and left the house with everyone secure.

I came home about 2:30pm and walk into the house to Julio calling out to me "good morning" and hearing Valentino's screams from upstairs. His cage was totally empty as he broke free from his jail. I FREAKED as I continued to call to him in a scream voice and he screamed back. I ran upstairs and found him perched on top of my bakers rack which has a variety of plants on it. On the bakers rack shelves, woodwork and carpet was a crap load of bird CRAP.

I have no idea how much time he has been out of his cage flying free in the house. I have no idea what he had..IF he had gotten into anything because other than the copious amount of bird dookie on and around the bakers rack I don't know if he got into any trouble. I am not sure the metal of the bakers rack and the solder joints of the decorations of the part he was perched on. I checked it for "chew" marks and could not see anything but I wonder how he entertained himself why he was free.

I am worried about some kind of metal toxicity and what ever other maladies he would of encountered that I don't know about. Sunday night I have to check into lodging for the VA that my day treatment coordinator set up that I spend the week in lodging instead of at home. They are trying to give me some separation from my Ex so I can work on my recovery. I get that but I don't really want to be seperated from Valentino in case he gets sick from something he got a hold of. I have to show up Sunday night to check in or there will be problems with my not showing up to check in. I cannot bail out of staying in the lodging.

I won't have much internet access while staying at the lodging place (called building 10) This place is where the veterans are placed to stay in the cities as some of the vets are from way up north or south of the cities. The only saving grace is I will have my car and after the day program is over for the day I can drive home and check on things.

I do not know how long Valentino has been out of his cage before I got home or if he got a hold of anything dangerous. My plants are pet safe so if he ate some ala vera or African violets that won't be a issue. I am surprised the cat didn't mess with him because her tree is RIGHT NEXT to the bakers rack. I found her on my bed asleep not caring the bird was out.

I pray that Valentino's escape will not result in anything. That he did not ingest anything that will eventually harm him or kill him.

 

[faeryphoebe1]

I'm so sorry this happened when you already have so much on your plate. What a sneaky guy! Hopefully he's okay. Can an avian vet do any sort of testing such as liver function studies?

 

[crimson]

I can only imagine your surprise when you got home, oh my goodness!

Glad he was ok, and you found him safe and sound....too bad you don't have a video of what he was up to all day, that would have been good to see.

btw, how DID he get out??

 

[GaryBV]

Well there is really nothing you can do about what has happened, and if the birds don't seem sick now, and you saw no obvious signs of them eating metal or other poisons, it's probably best to let it go and focus on how you can prevent escapes in the future. I found your post a bit confusing, but it seems a lot of personal stuff is going on with you. Maybe it's possible for you to take one or both of the birds with you for the week you will not be at home. Id definitely get a lock on both of their cages either way.

I've never had my birds escape from their cages, but I suspect that i'm in the minority on this one. Years ago, however, I lived in an apartment on the 3rd floor of a house, and I opened the window to get some fresh air in before I left for work. When I got home, the house was in shambles, and there were 3 pigeons who had gotten into my donuts!!!! and ate and crapped everywhere lol. I couldn't believe the MESS. I put them back out the window and then spent the next couple of hours giving the place a thorough cleaning.

 

[TessieB]

Oh, man, I freaked when my petsitter called to let me know Oscar my Orange-wing was out of the cage when she arrived. Since my birds live in their own building, I didn't have to worry about him drowning in the toilet or aquarium or some other family pet eating him. I did worry about the petsitter not being able to put him back in the cage. Thankfully, he remembered his stick training and went right back in his cage.

To ease your mind about leaving him for the day you might want to move him to a room that you can close off from the cats. And you can have a friend check on your pets during the day.

Hopefully your guy was too nervous to chew on anything dangerous. And while your mind can think of all kind of scenarios, focus on the fact that he wasn't hurt, and think of ways to prevent this from happening again.

Good luck and take care of yourself so you can take care of your pets.

 

[MomtoPercy]

Oh, I bet he had a royal time! If someone can check on him while you are away (teach them what to look for that may indicate problems), he should be ok. I agree with a previous poster - if he hasn't showed any ill effects from his adventure yet, he'll probably be fine. That said, I can totally understand you concern so get your petsitter up to speed on sings of trouble, just for your own peace of mind.
Good luck with your personal issues too. Take care of yourself. ((Hugs))

 

[GaryBV]

After reading this story I don't think I could trust any 'petsitter' again unless it was a relative:

Woman Accused of Starving Dog to Death | NBC Connecticut

 

[MikeyTN]

Usually when they get out their cage roaming around they behave rather well. At least my birds did, I won't say all would behave good, the U2 that I used to have would of wreck my house. Willie on the other hand behaved well and sat on his cage waiting for me to get home.

 

[noblemacaw]

I have figured out how Valentino escaped from his cage. He had worked open the food dish door because the triangle steel part was not screwed down tight enough. I am so not use to a morning routine where I have to be somewhere at a specific time. Even though I get up early enough to take care of things before I leave I have been finding myself forgetting at least one thing. Checking the tightness of the bolt on the food dish door was one of them.

I felt such panic when I walked in and heard Valentino calling to me from upstairs. I do not think he was out all day because his fresh food was all eaten and his bird crack (zupreem) I put in the foraging wheel was also eaten. It takes time for him to do these things so I am guessing he was out for several hours and not all day. The plants he has access to while perched on the bakers rack were not even chomped on so he was full enough not to eat my plants. I am "hoping" he went up there to find me, realized I was not home and probably roosted up on the bakers rack falling asleep. I see no evidence of poops or destruction anywhere else in the house.

I will be staying at the VA this week and hopefully be coming home during the day to check up on things. I won't be able to do it every day but maybe at least twice this week. Lupe will have to care for Valentino for me while I am staying at the VA. She loves him also and will not "do shoddy work" with him. I will be coming home on the weekends and going back on Sunday night.

While at the VA I will have scatty internet access though their computers. I don't know if I will have access to this site because I don't know what sites will be blocked though their firewall. I don't have my own system to use the wireless WIFI.

Thank you for somewhat putting myself at ease. Valentino seems fine with no ill effects which makes me believe he was not too naughty. Except for crapping all over that area there is no other evidence of destruction.