Story Bird: Chico

There have been a lot of posts on different bird lists regarding toys with chains, but there are other toys out there that can be just as dangerous, such as toys with odd shaped bells on them.  I have a two year old very active, and playful, female Red Belly Parrot named Chico.  One Sunday morning after breakfast, I returned her to her cage so that I could start my usual Sunday routine.  She went into her cage with no trouble and started playing happily with her toys.  I left the room and went back to the kitchen to clear away the morning dishes when all of a sudden I heard Chico screaming.  I had never heard her scream like this before, so I knew immediately something wasn't right.  I ran back into the room and there she was hanging from her favorite toy.  At first glance I wasn't quite sure what had happened.  She was fluttering violently and then I realized that she had gotten her beak caught inside one of the bells that were hanging off the end of the toy.  I immediately opened the cage and reached in to try and free her.  She was panicked and for a few seconds it seemed like I wasn't going to be able to get her beak out.  But she managed to stop fluttering long enough for me to gently pull her beak out of the bell.  I picked her up and
brought her out of the cage and put her on my lap.  She wasn't cut and didn't appear to be hurt in any way which was lucky for me.  I cuddled her for a little while until she was fully calm and then put her on her T-perch. I immediately took that toy out of her cage and threw it away.  I'm still unclear as to how she managed to get caught in the first place.  The only
thing I can think of is that she was trying to remove the clapper and because the bell was shaped more like a mini cow bell than the usual bell shape, she got her beak in there just right and got caught.  I don't even want to think about what could have happened if I wasn't at home at the time.  Since then, I make sure that any toy she has does not have a bell of
any shape or size on it.   That was her favorite toy, but if it's not in the cage with her, she won't miss it.  It has been replaced with many more safe toys without chains or bells.  Just wanted to make everyone aware that chain toys are not the only ones that can hurt our babies.

Editor's Note:  There are some bells manufactured that have a safer bell clapper arrangement so that the bird cannot reach up and get their beaks caught.  If you are not sure about it, don't use it.