One of my budgies was killed last night

[Peacemakr]

I had not owned this budgie for very long but what upset me the most was I do not know how it was killed and (presumely) eatened. Its hot in the summer (I live in California) so we keep the birds outside and just cover them up with a thick blanket. In any case today I found only its two wings still in the cage and alot of its feathers in the cleaning tray. The door to the cage was closed.
I just don't see how it could have been killed and taken out of the cage without the door being opened so I was wondering if anyone had any theories. We have cats, racoons, skunks, rattle snakes, and rats by our house (I live essentially in the foothills) so I'm guessing it was one of these culprits but I just don't see how it was possible to get to my budgie and eat it with nothing remaining but its two wings. The day it was killed I notice my budgie looked puff out or bloated and it wasn't moving well so I'm guessing thats why it was caught but it just seems crazy that something could have eaten it through the cage. (the cage my budgies are in is actually a rabbit cage that has even less space between bars than your average bird cage)
In any case I just thought I'd try my luck here since I have no answers at this point.

[Celyste]

Do you have martens there? They are nasty vicious little weasel type rodents. They can kill a full grown cat in a blink of the eye and aren't much bigger than a rat (so it could have slipped between the cage bars). That would be my guess if you have them around.

[issy]

I'm so sorry to hear about your budgie - that's really really sad. And baffling. I hope it doesn't happen anymore, that's very devastating. You and your budgie are in my thoughts.

[Nika]

Gosh, I felt sick to my stomach after reading this post.
Very sorry this happened to your budgie.
Poor little one.

[Nikoletta]

It's so sad.. I am really sorry..

[pal0m1n0]

That is sad. I'm sorry to hear it. No theories though. :(

[BUUZBEE]

I'm also in the foothills of so cal, i would bet it was a racoon.

[Budgiekin]

I am so sorry to hear about your loss. I don't know what I would do if I saw one of my budgies in that state. I'd be absolutely devastated....:(

[tweet 52]

So sorry for your lost.I dont know what I would do if that happen to me ,I feel so bad for you and your fid.

[atvchick95]

Sorry to hear about your loss

You said that snakes often roam around your house, that is most likely what got your bird, snakes can fit in the smallest of spots and they can eat things bigger then their self.. and they could get a bird out with out the door or lock being messed with

I've had snakes ( not huge snakes either not sure what kind they were but they were not much bigger then a Garden snake but looked completely different) eat my rabbits, I saw one take off with one of my Lops - and it was NOT a mini lop it was the normal sized lop and those rabbits are fairly big - specially against a snake

I'd walked away for 2 mins to go get some more cleaning supplies to clean the cages and left the door open on their hutch and I've done this a million and one times, my lop was a extremely tame rabbit it never tried to get out what so ever when i left the door open

I walked back to the building i had all my rabbits in, just in time to watch that nasty snake take away my rabbit

[Peacemakr]

Thanks for the replies everyone. ATVchick about how big were the spaces between the bars in your rabbit cage? I thought about the possibility of a snake but dismissed that because snakes usually dont rip their prey to peices but rather swallow them whole and my bird was ripped to pieces as evidenced by the two wings remaining. The only thing I can think of was that my bird was probably sick and could not climb up to the perch (that day I noticed it looked kind of puffed up or bloated and was having some difficulty climbing/flying up) and a raccoon (or something like that) was able to reach it trough the bottom of the cage and rip it apart. The problem with this theory though is that like the rest of the cage the spaces are only about 1 cm square but I just can't think of anything else and one of the wings was kind of stuck to the bottom of the cage like something was pulling on it through the cage. Still the attack seems so far fetched...I'll probably never know exactly.
I'm going to buy another partner for my remaining budgie in a couple days. Sadly he seems traumatized (he's not trained so he's always a little jumpy when people are around but he seems more so) and this is also the third partner he's lost (the others flew away). In anycase I guess he has some luck too since he was completely unharmed.

[Piper]

Im so sorry to hear about the loss of your budgie :(

[kcasey_72]

This is so sad, do you think you can keep them inside now so they are safe. I would hate for you to lose another one. Good luck with the one that is left and I know you will be giving it some tender loving care.

[pal0m1n0]

If it was a racoon, they can be extremely clever getting into things. The hump on their back is all fat so it compresses and they can go through much smaller wholes than you would think. Still, whatever it was would still have to pull the bird through a hole that should be too small for the budgie to go through. Could you put motion sensors around the aviary? Either something that would make noise or those spotlights that you can buy which turn on when they sense motion.
What is the floor of your aviary made of?

[xxxIcarusxxx]

Oh no that's horrible. I would say it was a rat :(

[swishmom98]

I'm so sorry to hear about your budgie. May your budgie RIP...:budgie:

[keet_tweet4]

I am very sorry to hear about your budgie. RIP bird. :( :(

I am guessing a snake. Snakes can climb up cage bars and a thin one could easily slip thru the bars and get your budgie. I have heard about snakes climbing aviaries and going into nest boxes and eating eggs and chicks. :(

[BUUZBEE]

What is the floor of your aviary made of?

I'm pretty sure it was a cage placed outside, not an aviary.



I am very sorry to hear about your budgie. RIP bird. :( :(

I am guessing a snake. Snakes can climb up cage bars and a thin one could easily slip thru the bars and get your budgie. I have heard about snakes climbing aviaries and going into nest boxes and eating eggs and chicks. :(

a snake will eat the bird whole, not leave ripped apart wings.


The last possiblilty would be a hawk (i'm dealing with a pair on a daily basis!), they will shred a bird thru the bars/aviary wire, but the blanket would be off for that to happen. I still bet it was a racoon.

[keet_tweet4]

I was thinkin' maybe the bird spread its wings so the snake couldn't eat them? :S I don't know

[BUUZBEE]

a snake would have just swallowed the wings that way, they have no way to rip them off.

[Seattle Rain]

I'm going with the raccoon. It's the only thing mentioned that's actually smart enough to open a cage. The wings are kind of puzzling though, because raccoons are very neat when it comes to their prey. They usually take it into a river and wash it.