R.i.p.

I came home today to find this guy lying dead on the floor of the cage. I have no idea what happened. He was fine when I left the house.
All this time working with him and now this.
What a Christmas.

steve i'm so sorry for losing your baby. you did such a great job taming him too. hope the kids are dealing with the loss as best as can be expected. no idea huh as to how it happened? so sorry again.

Steve, that's just awful. I'm really sorry to hear that you lost him. I hope your kids didn't take it too hard. What a bummer.

My daughter was crying when I told her.
Out of the blue this happened. The bird was fine when we left and when we came home he was dead. I don't get it. Could he have fallen off the perch and landed wrong and died from the fall?

I highly doubt that falling off the perch could have caused it. In fact, I wouldn't believe it if someone told me. The number one reason for "unexplained" deaths that I've ever come across was some sort of solvent or fragrance in the air that overwhelmed the bird's respiratory system. Febreeze was a culprit for a while, because they claimed their product was pet safe although it had not been tested on birds. BUT, a lot of unexplained deaths stay that way--unexplained--even after a necropsy. I doubt it was anything you did since you obviously took very good care of them. It's no condolence, but random & unexplainable deaths just happen sometimes.

That sure is sad, Steve. I agree totally with what Paul said above. Even the odors from a self cleaning oven has killed birds. There are a million different things that they can die from but falling off a perch will not kill a bird. Birds hide illness very, very well and by the time you notice the bird is sick it's almost too late to get it to a vet.

So sad for your daughter and your whole family.

Very sorry to hear about the bird, Steve. It just sucks to lose an animal, especially around the holidays. I hope your daughter gets over it quickly.