Are sponges safe?

[Awarren6]

I have a male parrotlet, Albirdo Hot Wings, he will be one year old the 1st of May.
Since he is the only pet in our home, we let him free fly most of the time. Over the last few months he became territorial of a handled dish sponge. At first I tought I'd just let him have it. It wasn't used and he likes to pick it into little pieces.
Over the course of time, he would get defensive about it if I approached to do the dishes and that turned into him being defensive if we walked through the kitchen.
So, I removed the sponge.
My question is, are these sponges an acceptable toy for parrotlets?
We travel with him a lot, and I thought if it was safe, might give him a piece of sponge in his travel cage to keep him occupied .

 

[Mizzely]

My biggest concern would be that if ingested, it would swell and potentially cause a blockage or internal infection. I would not personally allow my bird to play with one. There are so many materials that ARE safe that taking the risk to me is unnecessary.

Have you tried balsa with him? It shreds too which might be the attraction to the sponge.

 

[Kodigirl210]

The other issue with sponges is used or not - as soon as it gets wet it starts growing bacteria. So no thank you, bacteria farming is for chemists and R & D - not our birbs. Another alternative is the yucca bird kabobs. They have kind of the same holy, rough texture but a lot give. All 3 of mine love them.

 

[AutumnRain]

As far as sponges and bacteria goes, that's very true. I still use sponges though, but I get them very damp and microwave them for a full two minutes before using them on any of my tiel's bowls. I do this twice a day, and immediately use them right after microwaving so they don't get a chance to grow a lot of bacteria on them. I like doing it this way as I don't want to use so many paper towels (because of trees). That being said, they're probably not a good idea to have around your little guy because of the bacteria mentioned by @Kodigirl210. My tiel has a kabob as well, and goes nuts for hers too.

 

[fashionfobie]

I agree with the other posts that you can easily safe alternatives. So why not start with yucca, balsa or something similar. My little boys also love ripping stuff up into a little pile! So I can see why your Albirdo enjoys it too

My guys also love ripping up cork, but I don't give this to them in their cages. They toss it around the play stand. Hope this gives you some more ideas.

 

[Dona]

Gigi loves anything with sola wood. It's soft and able to be destroyed by the littler birds. And that's the point, right?

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

My tiels and lovie love chewing on loofah sponges. Now these loofah have never been put in water and never used for anything but a bird toy. So this is one sponge that is safe for birds and was recommended by my vet as a chew toy.

 

[Awarren6]

Thank you all so much for the wonderful advice. I would be devastated if something happened to Albirdo because of my ignorance. You guys are awesome!

 

[JoeyCR]

Interesting topic i was wondering about this myself, my bird a Jamaican Conure / Olive Throated Conure loves the dish washing sponge. It is about the only thing she really loves other then me and my things, she's not really interested in toys bought for her.
At first she was ripping up one a month, slowly increasing to one a day. I was able to find extra thick sponges with double the amount of yellow which has slowed her down back to one or two a week.

I'm not worried about her swallowing's anything... for what its worth she has chewed and shred styrofoam, chewing gum and sponges for 2 years. I was more concerned with the dishwasher liquid used, that is held inside the sponge, i checked for the obvious toxins and switched to bottled detergent so she cant get 2 it. She can fly and sleeps in the wine glass cabinet over her cage, so hiding is not a option she usually gets into it before anyone wakes up, and it gives me a hour or 2 of daily sleep.

I'm gona try throwing the loofah in to the sink to see what happens.

Regards all,
Joe