This was not part of a toy. Léa's cage is locked by a spring loaded lock. I trust this lock with all my other birds but her..pretty early on she tried playing with it so I figured it would be best to also have another locking mechanism in place - which, until yesterday, was this small chain closed with a quick link.
I placed it underneath her platform perch so it would be hard of access and for nearly 11 months it did the job.
Until last Sunday. I caught her playing with the quick link and this made me realize that we had lowered her platform perch when we had put it back in after a wash. So I raised her perch once again.
But it was too late. The "damage" was done, Léa knew of it's existence and all she had on her mind was that. There is no denying that her ability to focus on something outweighs Joey's, who goes from one thing to another on the flip of a dime.
When I let her out on Monday afternoon after work, I didn't notice the chain so I figured the Boy forgot to put it on (he does the last check on the birds in the morning). I brought Léa to the orange room and didn't think much about it until the Boy came in with the chain..and showed me what Léa had done. Probably frustrated by being unable to open the quick link, she did the next logical thing, she opened a link of the chain and that was it.
There is no point of putting it back - she knows what to do and it'll take her a fraction of the time it probably took her on Monday to figure it out. She's smart. The only thing that would work is to get a completely welded chain and that might last us a little while longer, until she figures out the quick link.
It has become apparent that I need to be very very careful with her. I've been weary of using chains on toys in the bird cages for a number of reason but this is a new one to add - as I didn't really have any concerns with the smaller guys opening such things. If using anything that can be opened by Léa's powerful beak, it's seems like it will be necessary to have it welded shut first. I can't say how happy I am that when I ordered what has always been one of her favorite toys, the Super MegaFone from Grey Feather Toys, that I had asked the owner to please weld all pieces shut - otherwise I'd probably be considering removing it to avoid any possible injuries.
This all has prompted me to very much look forward to a recent purchase I've made - a new stainless steel cage for Léa.
I have always thought that I would upgrade the cage she's in now so that she could have something bigger and was always strongly considering going with stainless steel. This was made definitive back in June when I saw her chew on the bars of her cage - knowing the damage she can do, I'd rather the bars be made from a material that is as safe as can be.
The cage will be custom made by Expandable Habitats - I have heard a lot of good things said by people who own them and when comparing the prices of those cages to some that I could get locally, they still seemed more affordable and would be made to my specs. While I wasn't thinking of ordering right away, Léa's new obsession with her cage bars combined with the fact that Expandable Habitats was having a sale in June consisting of 10% cages, I took the plunge. The cage should be shipped to me sometime mid-September and I can't wait!
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