Since the number of birds has been reduced drastically, I am able to let them wander around when I can supervise them.
One of the weirdest behaviour changes is that many of them now prefer to walk around instead of flying, so I can hear the tick-tick on the hallway floor and be reassured that they are just nosing around.

Three days ago I was in he kitchen and the tick-tick stopped.Keith and Bubu flew to me yelling like devils, so I ran to see what was happening... and found poor Strider splashing in the toilet trying to get out, in full panic mode, with his friends screaming all around.

I fished him out, dried him, then put him in the sink and gave him a good rinse. Then I diluted some F10 and used cotton pads to clean him with it, then rinsed him again.
In the meantime he was happily biting me as hard as he could, the little devil!

At the end of all this cleaning, he was so miserable that he accepted to rest on my chest rolled in a clean towel. He was shaking like mad, poor baby!!!
When he stopped shaking and was almost dry I let him go and he sat on my shoulder, not moving for a couple of hours, very untypical of him!

Usually I put one of those big blue pills in the cistern to keep the bowl sanitised between cleans, thank god the last one was completely dissolved already (I put it in last month and it lasts 2 weeks) so I don't think he got any poison from it, but anyway the toilet water is ALWAYS full of germs so I was terrified that he'd get something nasty from it.

He seems ok now, was a bit subdued for a day but maybe it's because the shock, he was really panicking poor little baby

No matter how many times I scold Paul to keep the lid down, he just forgets. I think it's part of men's genes...
Anyway now the bathroom door is ALWAYS shut and I hope Rocks will be ok.

Did it ever happen to any of you? Do you think that my treatment was right? I didn't have a lot of time to think so I did what seemed sensible at the time, but if you have a better method to respond to such an emergency please let me know!

I had a budgie who fell in the toilet on two different occasions while we were watching. She flew in and landed on the edge of the bowl, but it was so wide and smooth that her feet didn't have anything to grip, and the momentum from flying made her slide right into it. After that we started being a lot more careful about closing the lid.

I think you did exactly the right thing. We didn't use any disinfectant on the budgie, but we did rinse her off well in warm water. Rocky is lucky that his friends were there to alert you to what was happening!

I am so grateful that they do that. The same happens when Douglas, who has very few feathers, goes for a fly and ends up on the floor or grabbing the curtains... Hamish starts to yell like a fiend and I go scooping up Dougal and put him back on top of the cage.
Maybe they understand that I run when they scream, who knows!

Lord, this is scary! It was so nice of other birds to let you know! I remember when Yellowback hit something and got fatally damaged (but still was alive on the floor) my whole flock froze in horror (and complete silence of course)
Toilet incident haven't happened to us yet but I always wondered what would happen if a bird falls in... I also try to keep the lid down and the door shut but of course it's not getting done all the time (Also, if I am missing a bird, I instinctively run to the toilet the first thing).
Chipper once flew into sticky fly ribbon... when I had very little experience with birds. He was a mess.
I am glad Rocky is all right!
what is F10?
I'd like to ask about the very first phrase (the number drastically reduced) - did you rehome them?

It's fairly common for pet birds to drown in toilets so it's definitely dangerous. They do have the ability to float for a while but they usually need help to get out, and if someone doesn't rescue them pretty quickly it can be tragic.

Good to see you sounding more chirpy!
One of my P'lets went down the toilet, there was cleaner in it the blue stuff, I washed her off well and dried her, she was shaken up but ok.. this is over a year ago she is still here. So yes you did the right thing.... My biggest scare was the other P'let going down behind the radiator, this winter when it was full on, she was ok also...
Birds who'd have em! We all would!!

F10 is a brand of products used by vets usually, there are many different types depending on what you need. It is expensive but I have the one you dilute, so it goes a long way.

What tiels do in the toilet is trying to get out and slip on the surface, and I noticed that the long tail was helping him not to go under water, fortunately he was facing the curved side. If he was facing the wall my God he'd be dead in two minutes.
I think tiels have a little advantage over p'lets and budgies, because of the tail, but the space is too narrow for them to try flying up, maybe a smaller bird could do that?

This definitely helped me to understand how toilet bowl accidents happen. I was wondering, "Why would a bird fly into the toilet bowl?" Now, I see, they want to land on the shiny seat, lose heir balance, and fall in. It's more than fantastic that you got there in time to save the poor birdie.

The P'let couldn't fly out of the loo...
had to be lifted...

Poor babies, they must've been scared to death! Birds just have it in them to do dangerous stuff. This morning I fished bubu out of the shopping trolley.