Caique under the oven

[Mom of JoJo]

Hi!

We just moved to a new place...and our Caique is getting used to our new home. In our kitchen, our oven sits up a little higher, and our Caique's favorite place now is to crawl under the oven. He will crawl under there and whistle. We don't let him go under there when we are baking or using the stovetop, but I have concerns about him under there. He could be chewing some wire or something...

However, if I let him in the kitchen, he makes a beeline for the oven and will sit under there for 30 minutes at a time. To get him out, I have to open the front door or grab my keys and he'll run out from there.

I think he likes it because it's dark and feels secure....tight fit. He's not going to get stuck...there's enough room for him to walk, turn around... He likes to watch our feet in the kitchen.

What are your thoughts about this?

[Janette]

I would be too worried about letting him do that, I would somehow block that off. Like you said he could chew through a wire or somehow hurt himself on something sharp that you cannot see. Also what if he ran out when you were not ready and someone accidentally stepped on him?

Maybe the adventure is not worth it (just my humble opinion) - I like keeping my little home wrecker in sight!

[LeRoy's owner]

I have to agree with Janette- I like keeping Leroy in sight at all times. I think I would be worried about Waddly being under the stove. It just gave me a bad feeling when I was reading about it. I would find a way to block it off but you do what you think is best for you and your bird. This is just my opinion. I love the name Waddly!!!

[2goldens]

I feel the same way. Block that off. Ky is never out of my sight. His place that he likes to go is on top of my head. He will not stay on the top of his cage but he will sit all day on my head if I let him.


Anthony

[Jaclyn]

I agree with everyone that has posted. Also, ovens have teflon in it and I would not want to have my bird anywhere near teflon if I could avoid it.

[sweetpeaches]

My lovie used to love to do this too...she would make a bee line right for the bottom of the oven. I didn't think it was safe for her to be there so I took duct tape (which i'm sure a caique could probably pull right off!) and taped the gap so she couldn't get inside anymore.

[Holly-Noelle]

I agree with everyone on this. Be careful what you use to block Waddly's access to that hidey hole though, be sure it's nothing that could be toxic to him. A lot of screening materials would be bad for him, I looked into hardware cloth for an enclosure for another pet and found out it's really bad for parrots. I wouldn't want my birds to be able to go somewhere I couldn't get them, you never know what might happen.
Best of luck to you and your precious Waddly!

[jinx1764]

Definately block it off. We had to do something similar to Royal when we moved into our new house as well. There was a gap in the corner lower cabinets by the floor where we couldn't see it until he found it and crawled inside. I'm sure he would have loved hiding out in between the cabinets but if anything had happened we would have had to rip out the cabinets to get to him. We block it off with plastic and it took about a week or so for him to give up on it.

[suzanneorlando]

i would block it off as well...though it's adorable...safety is #1...
those caiques LOVe their dark spaces!!