Uh-oh... escape artist

[beckyg]

:omg: I just remembered that Saturday I was in my living room with my friend. Luna was squawking up a storm and shaking her bell as hard as possible in her cage. Then she just flew over and landed on my shoulder. I know this sounds like nothing, but the door to her cage had been shut! She shook it open or something. It is one of those doors that closes at the top, it just snaps on tight enough for her not to be able to open it (or so I thought). She hadn't ever done this before. Hopefully she won't do it while I am at work. Now I am worried...:(

[Pips mom]

Shaking her bell as hard as she can----Oh, Pip does this all the time! He also lifts up his door to try to open it! I have some video of this, and was going to post it and say----do you think he's trying to tell me something?? lol I still have to upload it----I put a clothespin on the door so it can't be opened when we are not home.

[Kristina]

Fenway did the same thing over the weekend! I about peed myself! I'm glad Luna is okay.

I had put him back in his cage with new food and went up stairs for about 30 minutes. As I was coming down the stairs, I heard loud tweets. I went back up the stairs and turned the light on. He was half way up the stairs! He waddled himself all the way through the kitchen, living room, foyer and half way up the stairs! He somehow managed to bypass the dog AND cat in his little adventure. I also think it's kind of sweet that he knew almost exactly where he was going, straight to my computer room. LOL.

I bought stainless steel clamps at Lowe's. They are easy to take off and put on. I didn't clamp his food bowl door and apparently, he was waiting for the right opportunity. LOL. I don't remember what the technical name for the clamps are, but they're easy to open with two fingers. It's kind of like what you would find at the end of a dog leash.

[michael]

Sounds like some sort of locking device is definitetly needed. Once these birds find a way to open something up their memory works perfect for the next time around. What we found was, although the style of doors clamped at the top can't be "pushed" open too easy, they can be "pried" open easily with a trusty little beak.

If you decide to use cage clamps or other hardware, one good way to judge their effectiveness and "safety" is to make sure their secure enough in that if there's any amount of "movement" or "forgiveness" in the door while their in use it should not excede the cage bar spacing requirements. Generally, a good number of these devices are intended for larger cages and (bigger beaks!), so some don't work too well with smaller cages and will still allow just enough room to get the head or body stuck...................:omg:

[carrier]

There must have been something in the air last week....:roll:

I came home from work last Friday, 9 1/2 hours after I'd left, and was taking care of my puppy's immediate needs and in the background there was the usual chatter from the boys. YET...Fenway's chatter seemed really loud to me. I looked up, and there he was, on the top of the doorway right above me.:omg: He'd been out of the cage for I don't know how long! :x

I ran to the cage and the doors were shut and Wrigley was inside, sweet as can be. Then I noticed I forgot to lock one of the doors when I had given them thier morning veggies.:blush:

Long story short, Fenway got out, shut the door behind him (leaving Wrigley inside) and I have NO CLUE how long he was loose!

I am thanking my lucky stars that nothing happened, especially since he LOVES to taunt the puppy, dive-bombing her and always wanting to see what she's doing, hanging out as low to the ground as he can, if not on the floor, to get a better look. :x

We all have some VERY crafty birdies on our hands!:rolleyes:

[adibabee]

At our house it's Yoshi who likes to let himself out to go find his "pet boy". Our best solution has been to keep clothes pins on the cage doors. They keep the doors shut tightly and are easy to take on and off for daily cleaning.

[beckyg]

Well, Luna was fine last night still in her cage like I left her. She hasn't done it again, I am thinking I didn't get the door snapped all the way on Saturday. I am just glad she didn't do it while I had been at the grocery store that day. Right now I have a twisty tie holding it closed. :) I need to figure something else out though.

[Flapjack]

Both my birds have 8 or more doors on their cages.
I bought those little butterfly clips for hair (The tiny ones- like about 1/2 inch across). They work perfectly and are the perfect size- and very quick to take on and off. Neither one even attempts to chew on them. They come in clear, so they're hardly noticeable.
I've clipped the doors since day one with Jack, on his first cage since coming out of the brooder. Chino, too, from his first day with me.
Maybe I'm paranoid, but, better safe than sorry...

[thebubbleking]

I use twine to tie my cages closed and open i have a fear of the door slaming down on a toe or head so tie them when i open them also.

[spiritwolf46]

There is definitely something in the air! My lutino male has escaped three time in a 24 hour period. We thought that we crossed all the T's and dotted all the I's, but he is still getting out. Personally, I think that I should place a nanny cam in the room to see how he is doing this. we are really perplexed. Hmmmm......that booger!