Breaking and Exiting

Odie again gets the spotlight in this one. Ever since we got him we've known that he needed a job. We didn't know that he would find one for himself.

For quite a while Odie has bee playing with the spring on one of the doors on his cage. He'll slide it up and then let it drop down, bite the bars to hear them ping, and then resume sliding the spring up and down the bar. When we got the cage for him I wired all the doors shut except the front one so I wasn't terrible worried about his constant fiddling with the door on the right side of the cage.

I was, therefore, quite surprised when I came into the kitchen a few days ago glanced toward the bird cages and did a double-take. There was Odie looking pleased a punch sitting on top of his cage. I didn't let him out. Richard didn't let him out because he wasn't home at the time ,and the front door of the cage was shut. When I looked a bit more closely I saw that Odie had managed to break the weld on one of the wires holding the side door so hat it was now hanging by one corner, the one I had wired. There was a nice little triangle of space just enough for Odie to slip through.

First problem: how to get Odie away from the cage so I could figure out how to patch it. Next problem, how to patch the cage. I couldn't exactly weld it back together and I didn't want to use anything that would be harmful to Odie. I called the vet and asked what kind of wire would be safe around birds. Answer: stainless steel. We didn't happen to have any of that in our possession so I decided that I could do a temporary patch. I talked very sweetly to Odie who was still on top of the cage. I asked his permission to put up the wooden perch we sometimes use as a bridge so he can go from his cage to the back of one of the dining room chairs to his bird gym. I moved slowly and he behaved himself and just watched instead of rushing and lunging for my hand.

I got the perch set up and opened the door; then I sat down at the table to wait and see what he would do. Eventually he climbed off the top of the cage, walked across the perch and started playing with the toys on his gym. I disconnected the perch from the cage. I didn't want some little green parrot with a sharp beak running up and attacking me while I was trying to fix the cage. I decided that I could take a piece of wood and simply tie it to the cage with cotton string. I knew that wouldn't last long but it only had to last until I could get out to get some wire to make a more permanent patch.

I managed to slip into the shop, find a suitable piece of softwood and drill holes to secure it to the cage. All the while I kept an eye on what Odie was doing on his gym. I hoped he wouldn't get it into his little bird brain to flap down to the floor because I sure wasn't in any mood to try to pick him up either with my hands or a perch. He stayed put and I got the wood tied onto the cage. Then I put the perch back, put an almond in his cage where he could see it and waited. It didn't take him very long to make his way back to the cage to get the almond. I shut the door and crossed my fingers that he wouldn't chew through the string too fast.

The next day I was out in the morning and was a bit nervous about what I might find in the way of destruction when I came home. All was well so I decided to leave things alone. Part way through the evening I came out into the kitchen and there was Odie on the top of his cage once more. He had, predictably, chewed through the strings and some of the wood and escaped again. This time Richard was home so he was able to babysit Odie while I fashioned a more durable patch.

That patch is still holding up. Every day Odie chews a bit more wood off it but, so far, he hasn't been able to break any of the wires. When he does, or when he manages to chew through the wood, I have a special wooden sandwich planned for him. I'll put a piece of maple or poplar on the inside of the cage and bolt it to a piece of softwood on the outside of he cage. I stocked up on stainless steel nuts, bolts and washers for the purpose. Each day I check the patch especially if I'm going to be out for a while. I want him to be busy with this arrangement as long as possible but I don't want him actually getting out.

Little did I know when I wished for a bird that was a bit more entertaining than the cockatiel and the budgie just how entertaining Odie would be!