My two little boys just surpassed 2 years old. I’ve read a lot of stories from a few years ago where people’s rats pass away before 2 years old and rarely live till 3. So I’m just curious how things are these days with the rats being bred and their lifespans and health concerns that come with.
I did a little analysis on Valko’s quote from the trailer:
“What’s so bad about wolves being at the door? One peek is enough for him to open the doors for you.”
The obvious reading is:
The wolf is outside your door.
If you peek, he’ll come in.
= The danger is to you.
But, my reading and interpretation flips the perspective:
The wolf is inside his own house.
You only have to appear once.
He’ll open his own door to you.
= The danger is to him.
That’s a really elegant reversal in my opinion!!
The question, “What’s so bad about wolves being at the door?”, suddenly isn’t just playful. It’s almost vulnerable. It’s like he’s saying:
“Everyone thinks the wolf is the threat. But what if the wolf is the one who can’t resist opening the door?”
That’s a classic romance trope: the supposedly dangerous character is actually the one who becomes emotionally exposed first.
When you add that MC is Hunter, it becomes even richer.
She’s literally someone whose job is to hunt dangerous beings (wanderers). If Valko is a werewolf-like figure, then on paper he should fear her, or at least be wary of her. Yet the line suggests the opposite:
One look at you, and I’d willingly let you in.
So who is really in danger?
The hunter could be in physical danger from the wolf.
The wolf could be in emotional danger from the hunter.
That’s the irony.
I think about classic tales like little red riding hood:
In that fairy tale, the wolf gains access through deception. Here, if my interpretation is right, there’s no deception. He’s choosing to open the door. He’s surrendering something voluntarily.
So instead of:
“Beware of the wolf.”
it’s closer to:
“Beware… because the wolf has already fallen for you.”
I got a missed call from this number a few days ago. I googled it and the first result is a Chapman university “Contact Us” page. But when I clicked into the site, this number was no where to be listed. So I’m just curious.
Today, I lost my child. A cockatiel parrot. (Account is written on June 16)
He was only 5.5 years old.
My teens were chaotic, tumultuous, difficult, first time studying and living overseas and all alone. Everything in adolescence seems so dramatic and hormone spiking — I went through situations where I wanted to end it all. But this little bird kept me going. I wouldn’t have made it without him.
I feel as if I don’t deserve to keep living since he is gone. Back when I was 16 I promised him I’d take so good care of him that he beats the cockatiel who lived to 36 years.
I still can’t fully process what happened because even now, none of it makes sense to me.
I’m 6 months into 2026 and:
• my grandma died of cancer suddenly. She was diagnosed with two late stage cancers and then dropped dead 7 days into treatment. (Still the longest living person in her entire family.)
• my grandpa suddenly needed brain surgery due to a super bad brain clot he got after falling due to grief over my grandma
• battling legal case against an evil family member
• my child just dropped dead mysteriously. He is my first official pet and… longest duration pet out of all my animals.
This early afternoon, i had someone deep-cleaned his cage (with bird safe products). Meanwhile, I brought him into my room. He spent the time singing, dancing, and being his usual happy self. He is obsessed with my vanity mirror. He always thought it was another bird.
But there was one thing that felt different.
He was unusually affectionate.
Normally, when he was in my room, he would spend most of his time singing to his reflection and getting annoyed if anyone interrupted him. If you tried to pick him up while he was busy flirting with himself, he could be quite feisty.
Today was different.
He kept seeking me out.
He cuddled against my face. He cuddled on my nose. He wanted to be close to me over and over again. (Every 5 minutes as he sung and danced and screamed at the mirror)
At the time, I just thought he was being sweet.
Now I find myself wondering if somehow he knew.
Afterward, I put him back in his cage. Later, I noticed that he looked super fluffy and a little sleepy. I thought perhaps he was tired from the day or maybe my air conditioning was too cold, so I turned the AC off.
I interacted with him and he still stepped up normally. He was responsive. Nothing seemed obviously wrong.
I figured he just wanted a nap, so I let him rest. So I gave him 10000 kisses and pets and told himhow cute he is and how much I love him.
My security camera shows that he was still alive at around 11 PM.
At some point during the night, I heard some unusual noises. I wasn’t sure whether they were coming from his cage or my other parrots cage. But my birds often jump around, climb their cages, and play with toys, so I didn’t think much of it.
At around 2 AM, I walked into the living room.
I found he lying on the bottom of his cage in the far corner, facing the wall.
I called to him.
I picked him up.
And he was gone.
I rushed him to the emergency vet.
The veterinarian examined him as thoroughly as possible based on his physical condition. They could not find any obvious cause of death.
They told me that, physically, he looked like a very healthy bird.
However, the night before, one of my rats managed to get into his cage and pulled out a few feathers. HOWEVER, later deeper examination by a specialist vet determined the feathers were likely “released” by my bird on his own, since parrots do release tail feathers when jump-scared or wants to get away. There was a “blood feather”, that had not fully developed yet, so there was a small amount of blood. but there was no active bleeding at all.
(I did indeed make changes to their spatial arrangements and feeding arrangements. It stopped the rats for a long time so I was pretty shocked the other night when it suddenly happened again. I did put the rats on a heavier veggie diet this week for their diet plan, they likely got hungry faster and somehow found a way to dislodge the bottom tray…. Not sure what insane method they used)
<<<I know I didn’t go into detail here so here’s an edit:
It’s been really difficult for me to read some comments suggesting that I simply should have gotten a better cage, because the flight cage I purchased back in 2021 was actually one of the highest-rated cages recommended by experienced bird owners and parrot experts. I truly tried my best in every aspect of his care.
The cage itself has a locking mechanism at the bottom that is designed to prevent the tray from sliding in and out.
Back when I broke my leg, I had difficulty doing a lot of things, and that was around the time the rats first managed to get into the cage. At the time, they only went after the seeds that had fallen to the bottom. Initially, I had no idea how they were getting in, so I blocked off the access points around the gaps where the tray could slide forward.
Months later, it happened again, and that was when I realized that after deep-cleaning the cage, the lock had not been positioned properly, allowing the tray to shift. I adjusted the lock to the proper angle, and everything worked fine for a long time—until yesterday.
Since then, I’ve been closely inspecting the lock. I haven’t found any dramatic defect, but I have noticed that it feels noticeably looser than the lock on my other bird’s cage. My assumption is that over time, with repeated cleaning and normal wear, the metal mechanism may have gradually loosened. Since the lock is built into the bottom of the cage, perhaps enough play developed over time that force could somehow cause the tray to shift again.
I honestly don’t know with certainty. But I do think it is a real possibility.>>>>
The emergency veterinarian specifically examined that area.
They found no lacerations.
No puncture wounds.
No fractures.
No significant bleeding.
Only a tiny amount of dried blood.
They told me it was highly unlikely that a minor incident more than 24 hours earlier, with no visible injuries, would suddenly cause death. (similar incidents of the sort has happened two times in the past long ago.... I have since made measures to make sure my rats don’t invade his cage... he somehow they did it the other night.. it was extremely brief.)
I asked whether they could perform a necropsy to determine what happened.
They said they could send his body out for one, but it would be expensive—well over $1,000—and there was still no guarantee of getting an answer.
They explained that the process would involve dissecting his body and collecting organ samples for microscopic examination. Because of the nature of the procedure, his body could not be returned to me intact afterward.
The veterinarian even told me that they once had a client send a deceased cat out for a necropsy, and despite all the testing, they still did not get a clear answer.
The vet also told me something that was both comforting and heartbreaking.
They said they see birds die suddenly and unexpectedly far more often than most people realize.
Birds are prey animals. Their instinct is to hide illness.
Often, by the time they visibly show symptoms, they are already critically ill.
I told them that he went to the vet every single year.
Every year.
He never had a single health issue come up.
The emergency veterinarian told me that even if I had brought him in earlier, when he first seemed sleepy and fluffed up, there is a good chance they still would not have been able to save him. In their experience, when birds begin showing symptoms like that, they are often already very close to the end.
Most importantly, they told me they do not believe I did anything wrong.
I keep replaying everything in my head.
Every decision. Every moment.
Wondering if I missed something.
Wondering if there was one thing I could have done differently.
I feel like such a failure.
My child had more than 20,000 people have followed his journey over the years on social media
I’ve spent countless hours teaching people about parrots, educating owners, promoting proper care, and advocating for bird welfare.
And yet my own bird died at just 5.5 years old.
It’s hard not to feel like I failed him.
What hurts the most is that he looked exactly as handsome as the day I first met him.
There was no long goodbye.
No warning.
No gradual decline.
One moment he was singing and dancing.
A few hours later, he was gone.
He helped carry me through some of the hardest years of my life.
There were years when I struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts, and he was there through all of it.
I wonder.... how scared, confused, in pain he was when he died... alone. I was in my room.
It must been so confusing, scary and lonely for a small innocent creature.
I tried to give him the best varied diet. Perfectly sized flight cage. Flighted, trained, well traveled on harnesses. I also made parenting mistakes. Yelling at him whenever he attacked and made me bleed due to aggressive hormones, how he would scream while I try to sleep as I’m an insomniac, how I once suffered an ear infection so it hurts my ears when he screams to show dominance... I don’t understand any of it.
‼️UPDATE:‼️
I was able to get a same day “cosmetic necropsy” done. It’s a very mild form of autopsy that preserves the corpse as much as possible. I do want him to be transformed into taxidermy. (I’m a pretty big taxidermy enthusiast).
They did the cosmetic necropsy and couldn’t see anything unusual through his stomach, liver or chest cavity. No signs of free fluid, blood, clots, hemorrhaging, abnormality in tissues or organs (couldn’t see the heart directly due to the angle and limited movement to preserve corpse), no signs of internal infection/disease. Couldn’t even get any abnormal tissue to a lab because nothing looked wrong. Vet said “he looks like he just fell from the sky”
The doctor cannot open up the skull because it would ruin the taxidermy
He did try to pry open some feathers with water to see if he could see a bruise, but he couldn’t find anything unusual with his limited view.
But he said that even if he did skin the entire body and cut open the skull, there’s only a 50-50 chance of seeing any bleeding.
The vet here that examined my baby said, it could be a bunch of factors as to what killed him.
Could be that he had hardened arteries since cockatiels are so inbred. They’re known for having a bunch of genetic issue that show up later on and no one would know because vets don’t test for everything unless needed. (he couldn’t see the heart through the mild autopsy or arteries)
It could also just be the rat that maybe smacked him on the head and maybe a bruise slowly swelled a whole day later. But at the same time, he couldn’t find any pools of blood in his chest or stomach. And through a limited view on his head, he also couldn’t see any visible bruise or anything abnormal.
He says that he doesn’t believe I did anything wrong or got him killed on purpose. He thinks I give him the best five years of his life…
“You didn’t kill him! You did everything right, you did everything the best you could. It’s not like you knew hypothetically that he has a bad cage or something and did nothing about it. It’s not like you knew something was dangerous and just let it happen on purpose. Even cats and dogs drop dead randomly with no clear cause all the time. My wife did everything right and still died of cancer at 65. You had a pretty decent system working at home all these years. Don’t beat yourself up about it, and don’t do anything less for your other parrot”
‼️Information update 2‼️
Update: I did consider to speculating that my bird may have developed some sort of internal infection from rat saliva following the incident.
I brought this possibility up directly with the veterinarian who performed his necropsy. During the gross pathological examination, no abnormalities suggestive of infection were identified. There were no visible lesions, inflammation, abscesses, or other findings that would have prompted tissue sampling for further histopathology.
Based on the findings, the veterinarian felt that an infectious process was unlikely. While no definitive cause of death could be established, he felt that the other possibilities he discussed with me—including, congenital or vascular issues, trauma or other microscopic causes that cannot be detected without obvious abnormal tissue—were more likely explanations.
I also asked the veterinarian about the area where some of my bird’s feathers had come out.
After examining the area, he felt that the injury appeared very minor. He noted that only one blood feather appeared to have been compressed or damaged. His suspicion was that while my bird was trying to fly away from the rat that was holding him and sniffing him, the blood feather was accidentally torn out.
As for the other feathers that were missing, he explained that cockatiels are capable of voluntarily releasing feathers, particularly tail feathers, as a defensive response when trying to escape from something. Because of this, he believed that many of the feathers may have simply been shed during the struggle rather than forcibly ripped out judging by the appearance.
He carefully examined the area and found no lacerations, puncture wounds, or other significant injuries. Given how minor the area appeared, he felt that the feather incident itself was unlikely to explain his sudden death and suspected that other underlying factors were more likely involved.
Today, I lost my child.
He was only 5.5 years old.
I still can’t fully process what happened because even now, none of it makes sense to me.
This early afternoon, i had someone deep-cleaned his cage (with bird safe products). Meanwhile, I brought him into my room. He spent the time singing, dancing, and being his usual happy self. He is obsessed with my vanity mirror. He always thought it was anothrr bird.
But there was one thing that felt different.
He was unusually affectionate.
Normally, when he was in my room, he would spend most of his time singing to his reflection and getting annoyed if anyone interrupted him. If you tried to pick him up while he was busy flirting with himself, he could be quite feisty.
Today was different.
He kept seeking me out.
He cuddled against my face. He cuddled on my nose. He wanted to be close to me over and over again.
At the time, I just thought he was being sweet.
Now I find myself wondering if somehow he knew.
Afterward, I put him back in his cage. Later, I noticed that he looked super fluffy and a little sleepy. I thought perhaps he was tired from the day or maybe my air conditioning was too cold, so I turned the AC off.
I interacted with him and he still stepped up normally. He was responsive. Nothing seemed obviously wrong.
I figured he just wanted a nap, so I let him rest. So I gave him 10000 kisses and pets and told himhow cute he is and how much I love him.
My security camera shows that he was still alive at around 11 PM.
At some point during the night, I heard some unusual noises. I wasn’t sure whether they were coming from his cage or my other parrots cage. But my birds often jump around, climb their cages, and play with toys, so I didn’t think much of it.
At around 2 AM, I walked into the living room.
I found he lying on the bottom of his cage in the far corner, facing the wall.
I called to him.
I picked him up.
And he was gone.
I rushed him to the emergency vet.
The veterinarian examined him as thoroughly as possible based on his physical condition. They could not find any obvious cause of death.
They told me that, physically, he looked like a very healthy bird.
However, the night before, one of my rats managed to get into his cage and pulled out a few feathers. There was a “blood feather”, that had not fully developed yet, so there was a small amount of blood. but there was no active bleeding at all.
(I did indeed make changes to their spatial arrangements and feeding arrangements. It stopped the rats for a long time so I was pretty shocked the other night when it suddenly happened again. I did put the rats on a heavier veggie diet this week for their diet plan, they likely got hungry faster and somehow found a way to dislodge the bottom tray…. Not sure what insane method they used)
<<<I know I didn’t go into detail here so here’s an edit:
It’s been really difficult for me to read some comments suggesting that I simply should have gotten a better cage, because the flight cage I purchased back in 2021 was actually one of the highest-rated cages recommended by experienced bird owners and parrot experts. I truly tried my best in every aspect of his care.
The cage itself has a locking mechanism at the bottom that is designed to prevent the tray from sliding in and out.
Back when I broke my leg, I had difficulty doing a lot of things, and that was around the time the rats first managed to get into the cage. At the time, they only went after the seeds that had fallen to the bottom. Initially, I had no idea how they were getting in, so I blocked off the access points around the gaps where the tray could slide forward.
Months later, it happened again, and that was when I realized that after deep-cleaning the cage, the lock had not been positioned properly, allowing the tray to shift. I adjusted the lock to the proper angle, and everything worked fine for a long time—until yesterday.
Since then, I’ve been closely inspecting the lock. I haven’t found any dramatic defect, but I have noticed that it feels noticeably looser than the lock on my other bird’s cage. My assumption is that over time, with repeated cleaning and normal wear, the metal mechanism may have gradually loosened. Since the lock is built into the bottom of the cage, perhaps enough play developed over time that force could somehow cause the tray to shift again.
I honestly don’t know with certainty. But I do think it is a real possibility.>>>>
The emergency veterinarian specifically examined that area.
They found no lacerations.
No puncture wounds.
No fractures.
No significant bleeding.
Only a tiny amount of dried blood.
They told me it was highly unlikely that a minor incident more than 24 hours earlier, with no visible injuries, would suddenly cause death. (similar incidents of the sort has happened two times in the past long ago.... I have since made measures to make sure my rats don’t invade his cage... he somehow they did it the other night.. it was extremely brief.)
I asked whether they could perform a necropsy to determine what happened.
They said they could send his body out for one, but it would be expensive—well over $1,000—and there was still no guarantee of getting an answer.
They explained that the process would involve dissecting his body and collecting organ samples for microscopic examination. Because of the nature of the procedure, his body could not be returned to me intact afterward.
The veterinarian even told me that they once had a client send a deceased cat out for a necropsy, and despite all the testing, they still did not get a clear answer.
The vet also told me something that was both comforting and heartbreaking.
They said they see birds die suddenly and unexpectedly far more often than most people realize.
Birds are prey animals. Their instinct is to hide illness.
Often, by the time they visibly show symptoms, they are already critically ill.
I told them that he went to the vet every single year.
Every year.
He never had a single health issue come up.
The emergency veterinarian told me that even if I had brought him in earlier, when he first seemed sleepy and fluffed up, there is a good chance they still would not have been able to save him. In their experience, when birds begin showing symptoms like that, they are often already very close to the end.
Most importantly, they told me they do not believe I did anything wrong.
I keep replaying everything in my head.
Every decision. Every moment.
Wondering if I missed something.
Wondering if there was one thing I could have done differently.
I feel like such a failure.
My child had more than 20,000 people have followed his journey over the years on social media
I’ve spent countless hours teaching people about parrots, educating owners, promoting proper care, and advocating for bird welfare.
And yet my own bird died at just 5.5 years old.
It’s hard not to feel like I failed him.
What hurts the most is that he looked exactly as handsome as the day I first met him.
There was no long goodbye.
No warning.
No gradual decline.
One moment he was singing and dancing.
A few hours later, he was gone.
He helped carry me through some of the hardest years of my life.
There were years when I struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts, and he was there through all of it.
I wonder.... how scared, confused, in pain he was when he died... alone. I was in my room.
It must been so confusing, scary and lonely for a small innocent creature.
I tried to give him the best varied diet. Perfectly sized flight cage. Flighted, trained, well traveled on harnesses. I also made parenting mistakes. Yelling at him whenever be attacked and made me bleed due toaggressive hormones, how he would scream while I try to sleep as I’m an insomniac, how I once suffered an ear infection so it hurts my ears when he screams to show dominance... I don’t understand any of it.
‼️UPDATE:‼️
I was able to get a same day “cosmetic necropsy” done. It’s a very mild form of autopsy that preserves the corpse as much as possible. I do want him to be transformed into taxidermy. (I’m a pretty big taxidermy enthusiast).
They did the cosmetic necropsy and couldn’t see anything unusual through his stomach, liver or chest cavity
The doctor cannot open up the skull because it would ruin the taxidermy
He did try to pry open some feathers with water to see if he could see a bruise, but he couldn’t find anything unusual with his limited view.
But he said that even if he did skin the entire body and cut open the skull, there’s only a 50-50 chance of seeing any bleeding.
The vet here that examined my baby said, it could be a bunch of factors as to what killed him.
Could be that he had hardened arteries since cockatiels are so inbred. They’re known for having a bunch of genetic issue that show up later on and no one would know because vets don’t test for everything unless needed. (he couldn’t see the heart through the mild autopsy or arteries)
It could also just be the rat that maybe smacked him on the head and maybe a bruise slowly swelled a whole day later. But at the same time, he couldn’t find any pools of blood in his chest or stomach. And through a limited view on his head, he also couldn’t see any visible bruise or anything abnormal.
He says that he doesn’t believe I did anything wrong or got him killed on purpose. He thinks I give him the best five years of his life…
‼️Information update 2‼️
Update: I’ve seen a lot of comments speculating that my bird may have developed some sort of internal infection from rat saliva following the incident.
I brought this possibility up directly with the veterinarian who performed his necropsy. During the gross pathological examination, no abnormalities suggestive of infection were identified. There were no visible lesions, inflammation, abscesses, or other findings that would have prompted tissue sampling for further histopathology.
Based on the findings, the veterinarian felt that an infectious process was unlikely. While no definitive cause of death could be established, he felt that the other possibilities he discussed with me—including, congenital or vascular issues, trauma or other microscopic causes that cannot be detected without obvious abnormal tissue—were more likely explanations.
I also asked the veterinarian about the area where some of my bird’s feathers had come out.
After examining the area, he felt that the injury appeared very minor. He noted that only one blood feather appeared to have been compressed or damaged. His suspicion was that while my bird was trying to fly away from the rat that was holding him and sniffing him, the blood feather was accidentally torn out.
As for the other feathers that were missing, he explained that cockatiels are capable of voluntarily releasing feathers, particularly tail feathers, as a defensive response when trying to escape from something. Because of this, he believed that many of the feathers may have simply been shed during the struggle rather than forcibly ripped out judging by the appearance.
He carefully examined the area and found no lacerations, puncture wounds, or other significant injuries. Given how minor the area appeared, he felt that the feather incident itself was unlikely to explain Cairo’s sudden death and suspected that other underlying factors were more likely involved.
Oh my good heavens… reze actually went back to the cafe… and Denji will never know that in the end she went back for him. Him hugging the flowers… her saying that she also never went to school. THIS IS SO SAD.
Whenever they detect my hands are wet with water, they instantly obsessively/eagerly lick my hands and fingers until no drops are left. Are they really just thirsty? I mean they have access to water 24/7… so I’m just curious. Anyways here’s my lovely boys!
Any tips on how to defeat the giant BOW for Chris campaign? I’m running real low on ammo despite the crates they give you. I watched tutorial but oh my goodness I can’t defeat this BOW. I don’t understand how this is supposed to work. I think I’m suppose to shoot the giant sacks on the side of its body?? But goodness it just won’t die.