Cage Locks

[Takoda]

Well, I've had my Havoc (severe macaw) for a year and a half. In that time, she has managed to unlock her cage door, slide open the food doors, and escape. It is a really huge cage, not sure the brand, it has doors like HQ cages. The front has the latching one (she can unlatch) and the food doors have the swinging circle latches. Every single door has either a heavy chain with a pear link or a jungle talk plastic link toy or both strung across it. At this point I'm just trying to have so much stuff there by the time she's at my last line of defense I will have put back up all the others. She can untwist pear links without trying, she can unscrew screws. My top front door (it's a dome cage) has a heavy chain (all my chains are bird safe) with a combination lock deal that I found elsewhere... she ripped all the numbers off so I can never open that door again without cutting the chain off, but i'm okay with that, I never use it.

What do you guys use on your cages that don't have locking doors? I'm not interested in a new cage, this one's enormous and perfect except for that. I saw D rings are sometimes recommended, but I'm sure she could outsmart that too. I did a google search but didn't come up with much. I'm sure the rest of you with similar birds have figured out something! :)

Thanks!

[ROYJOY]

use paddle locks, but hide the keys.

[Buteo]

Yup....
Gene's Military Caw, Jack was the same way - an escape artist supreme!
As far as I knew, he'd never come a cross a latch he couldn't undo or open in less than 10 mins.

I've seen some warnings about using the D-Rings due to the potential for injury to the bird. Some birds have been known to get get them open, but then the ring gets caught on the beak and can damage the tongue & soft tissues in the mouth.

Using keyed padlocks and hiding the keys is about your only option.

[Takoda]

that's what i figured. oh well, at least it wasn't a hard solution :) just moderately inconvenient when changing bowls. Better than a new feathery dog toy though!!!!

Havoc says thank you! (actually she said WHAT??! but in her own mini macaw way that means thank you)

[PowerBBS]

I use a combination lock with three rolling dials rather than the standard circular one.



This lock is a little harder for your fid to chew up and grab ahold of the dials to rip off the numbers. Plus the lock lets you change the combination as you see fit. However, I would never recommend you use one for protecting/securing your belongings as it is easily cracked. Took me less than 2 minutes to learn how (and I actually figured out how on my own - without any help). Learning how easy it was to cracky my lock, I was wondering just how easy it would be to crack the stand combination lock that most people trust their stuff with.

Interestingly, while I was out on the web trying to find this picture of the type of lock I use, I found a video teaching people how to crack the combination of a standard dial combination lock. I couldn't resist.. here's the link: (I think I'm gonna never use a combinatino lock again for protecting my stuff after seeing these).

How To Crack A Combination Lock Video

For those interested in another link on cracking locks here's a text version of how to crack them:

How to Crack a "Master Lock" Combination Lock - wikiHow

And for the fiesta resistance... the fastest way to pick a combinatin lock:

YouTube - Lock Pick Brinks

Sorry I know it's off topic, it was the comment in this thread about a bird who had basically eaten the dial off a lock used on his cage that prompted my mind to wonder into this.

My bad. Sorry... enjoy though.

[Takoda]

That's the combination lock she ripped the numbers out of ;)

i think the ones with keys will be harder for her to destroy

[birdlady49]

I use padlocks and keep the keys hanging nearby for my access. Since I've become so paranoid about theft, I lock the cages whenever I leave the house for more than an hour.