It's funny how we can so calmly post when someone has an emergency and offer the assistance they need, provided we are qualified.

I have a 5 1/2 month old Congo Grey that I fell in love with at the store and brought home a couple of months ago. He reminded me of E.T. as a baby and stole my heart.

On Monday evening, I was home on the computer and he was out playing on his stand. Got busy on PC and then happened to go into the L.R. I found my grey perched on a gift basket someone made me. He had opened it and took out about 6 small Reese's peanut butter cups.!!! They were all opened and half gone!! (I did find a lot on the floor later).

I was panic stricken - literally running around like a moron! I called my dear friend (one of the store owners) and told her what happened. I was hysterical. She became hysterical. We must have "exchanged hysteria" for what seemed to be 5 minutes but was probably much less. (It's funny now, but wasn't at the time). It was late and my vet is over an hour away. I needed to figure out what to do.

Anyway, she finally calmed down and got me calm and said she believed chocolate could cause a heart attack and to put him in his cage and try to give him some extra water or food and keep him calm. Maybe something to clean out his system or get it moving to get the chocolate out. Then I remembered - HE LOVES GINI'S BIRDIEBREAD! I gave him literally six muffins which he tore into and ate. He started making all these cute noises and then started whistling. I kept a constant vigil on him. He seemed fine and his droppings were fine. I checked on him throughout the night and all seemed perfectly normal with him.

It's funny to laugh at it now, since he is fine, but talk about being panic-stricken! While I won't say that BIRDIEBREAD is a cure, if getting food into him did the trick, the Birdiebread absoutely helped!!!

In all seriousness, though, it made me think - does anyone know the real anecdote to chocolate?

What a story Kathie... OMGoodness.. I was in Hysteria just reading it!...LOL

I do not know what you can do, if a bird or a dog or who ever eats too much chocolate. But I myself have used Gini's BirdieBread as a quick fix also... Isn't it funny how quick the birds go for it.... I had one little guy that had got caught up in one of those stringy toys... I was at work, and did not know how long he was stuck... So when I got home, clipped the strings from his foot... put him, a little bowl of water and a beanie muffin on the couch right next to me... he went to eating like a champ... drank some water...and crawled up on my shoulder, cuddled up on my neck and out for a little nap...
Needless to say no more little stringy toys in my cages!

Activated charcoal or med to make him vomit are they only things you could probably do at home. I looked this up five years ago when I got Libby, Libbys previous owner would give her m&m's s a treat and I knew then that that was a no no.
A vet would most likely induce vomiting and give him anti siezure med through IV.

Milk chocolate is the worse. I always thought it was the dark or bitter.

The best method for holistic treatment is to flush out the body with food and water like you did.

After things were okay, I realized that maybe he had not ingested that much - but in a medium sized bird, what is considered "not much", you know?

I always thought dark/bitter chocolate was the worst, too, at least in dogs.

Susan- you said charcoal. Is there a specific amount based on weight?

Cathy - thanks. I was in such a panic I could not think.

I don't know that there is an antedote to a bird eating chocolate. You probably did the right thing, feeding him. This article just tells the results of a bird eating chocolate, not what to do for the bird, but it sounds as if it happens fairly suddenly with distinct symptoms. If it has been a few days he must be fine.
Old World Aviaries: Toxicoses in Birds

Very interesting article, Elizabeth - thanks! I will say he was chatting and whistiling a lot!!

So I guess Kathy was correct in that it could cause a heart attack (not that I would ever doubt her -she's a wealth of knowledge!)

I am just thankful that he apparently ingested a lot less than I thought initially (once I was calm) - or maybe it was the Birdiebread! In all honesty, he actually gets excited when he sees me coming with it!

You have no idea how much my fids enjoy your birdiebread. Seeing as how I absolutely detest baking, it makes my life easier and theirs more healthy!