Story Bird: Snowy

I am writing to you so that you may share this with others. It is about Snowy, the Goffin cockatoo, we adopted about a 6 weeks ago. He was a darling, smart, loving but troubled Goffin with 2 prior owners and had never really been cared for properly. He feather-picked so much that we had to take him to a veterinarian about a month after we got him. The vet put him on a sedative and it helped. However, he liked to get out of his large cage with play area on top and chew on furniture etc. Even after he was medicated he continued to have some behavioral problems. So this week we began to have to lock him in his cage daily while we were at work.

Unfortunately, I had not yet investigated his bowl holders as a potential problem. I looked into everything else...proper nutrition, toys, environment. Sadly, today he became trapped under one of his bowls between the bowl and the metal holder it sat in. Snowy was an extremely active Goffin and a resourceful escape artist. He was apparently trying to escape or using the bowl as a toy and became trapped while no one was here. Please, please, tell others about this unfortunate accident due to bad design of a cage that came from an avian pet store.

Thanks for your site. Even after this occurred I found comfort in reading about how bowls and bowls holders should be designed. I am sure I will be back to visit when and if we get a new bird companion. Snowy taught me what a wonderful companion birds can be. I thank him for being that light in my life even if it was for a short time.