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!! Dangerous toys list !!

Lady Jane

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If anyone with small birds purchased a preener during auction please check and see if you have a ring like I do. I am speaking of the lowest ring that is striped in the photo. I have been discussing this with @Jenphilly this morning and letting her know I was not comfortable with the shape and size of this ring for my budgies. She has been very kind in guiding me with a video on how to fix this. It was a simple fix with a pair of scissor. photo.jpeg r.jpg
 

saroj12

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If anyone with small birds purchased a preener during auction please check and see if you have a ring like I do. I am speaking of the lowest ring that is striped in the photo. I have been discussing this with @Jenphilly this morning and letting her know I was not comfortable with the shape and size of this ring for my budgies. She has been very kind in guiding me with a video on how to fix this. It was a simple fix with a pair of scissor. View attachment 266808
Dianne, my caique Chickie almost broke her neck panicking when it got stuck in the green baby link in your photo in this post. Dangerous for caique size birds and any bird whose head can go through the opening!!
 

Jenphilly

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Dianne, my caique Chickie almost broke her neck panicking when it got stuck in the green baby link in your photo in this post. Dangerous for caique size birds and any bird whose head can go through the opening!!

Here is my response to you for the same message you sent me...

My friend's conure is in the vet's office right now because he got hung up in a quick link that was closed. Anything put in a parrot's cage can cause injury if they try hard enough, there is no such thing as a totally 'safe' bird toy.

I can understand you don't like the C rings... I have seen injuries with being involved with a parrot rescue due to quick links and metal / plastic chains used in toys. I don't like quick links... I don't like chains...

I appreciate your worry, feel free to post, but every single toy can be picked apart. Even the photo showing a toy hanging in the background has a twine loop that is large enough for a tiny head foot or leg to get caught in... The wood plank perches, small birds have gotten toes caught between the wood and the bars of the cage. The list goes on and on... and don't get me started on how dangerous rope perches are. Many many many more birds have been injured and died because of rope perches.... everything we put into our bird's cages is about supervision and monitoring. If you have a bird that puts their heads into everything, I would recommend zip tying their toys directly to the top of the cage, so there is no link whatsoever of any kind. If you have a bird that picks at strings or such, I would recommend removing all rope perches or cloth toys, even the preeners that are made with non pull fabric.

I appreciate your concern, but as much as you find fault with a plastic C link, I find as much fault with a quick link or having a loop of string as you earlier suggested...

Jen
 

saroj12

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Here is my response to you for the same message you sent me...

My friend's conure is in the vet's office right now because he got hung up in a quick link that was closed. Anything put in a parrot's cage can cause injury if they try hard enough, there is no such thing as a totally 'safe' bird toy.

I can understand you don't like the C rings... I have seen injuries with being involved with a parrot rescue due to quick links and metal / plastic chains used in toys. I don't like quick links... I don't like chains...

I appreciate your worry, feel free to post, but every single toy can be picked apart. Even the photo showing a toy hanging in the background has a twine loop that is large enough for a tiny head foot or leg to get caught in... The wood plank perches, small birds have gotten toes caught between the wood and the bars of the cage. The list goes on and on... and don't get me started on how dangerous rope perches are. Many many many more birds have been injured and died because of rope perches.... everything we put into our bird's cages is about supervision and monitoring. If you have a bird that puts their heads into everything, I would recommend zip tying their toys directly to the top of the cage, so there is no link whatsoever of any kind. If you have a bird that picks at strings or such, I would recommend removing all rope perches or cloth toys, even the preeners that are made with non pull fabric.

I appreciate your concern, but as much as you find fault with a plastic C link, I find as much fault with a quick link or having a loop of string as you earlier suggested...

Jen

didn't mean to upset you.
 

Jenphilly

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didn't mean to upset you.

I'm not upset, it is just the reality and honest truth of having a parrot in your home. Reality is everything we offer our birds can be a danger.... heck, birds have went to the vet with wood stuck in their mouths from shredding and playing with wood toys... There is nothing entirely safe with parrots, but please do not present to someone that there is a clear cut answer and one definitive way - such as quick links. Every bird is different, in my home one bare eye cockatoo has rope perches, but the other one cannot have any type of rope in her cage because she pulls it apart thread by thread and ingestion / impaction is a huge worry. Does that mean every rope perch is listed as dangerous, no... it means as a parrot home, each of us should monitor how and what each of our bird does / plays and adjust their cage / setup accordingly.

I agreed with LadyJane that the specific shaped link used for her preener could be a danger if her bird tried hard enough and gave her several options to remedy the situation, but you wanted her to put it on a quick link... for me, you won't catch me putting a quick link in my budgies cage.

There is never a single solution, please understand a quick link is not always the solution. And as much as you do not like C baby links for hanging toys, others won't like quick links... and yet still others won't like loops of twine... and still others won't like the small plastic C hangers... others will say no way to zip ties...

There are many solutions... being involved with a parrot rescue, we are always problem solving for the constant ongoing challenge of trying to keep the parrots out of trouble and harm's way... they are incredibly intelligent beings, much like a small child, you can safe proof all you want and they will find a way to get into trouble!



 

Lady Jane

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We all should be concerned for our birds safety and welfare. It's a never ending responsibility of having a companion bird in your life. We should be anticipating any thing, situation or environmental hazard that could harm our birds. As far as I am concerned we "need to be perfect" when it comes to bird advocacy.

I learned this long ago in nursing. Always be your patients advocate. Now it's always be your birds advocate!
 
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Lady Jane

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On my monthly toy and safety inspection of cage interior I found the Disco Ball to be in the category of dangerous toy. It is mostly in a small bird's cage. If anyone has this toy in the cage I recommended you remove it. I see where my birds have picked off the reflective surface in a few places and working on more. Yikes!

danger (2).jpg
 

webchirp

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On my monthly toy and safety inspection of cage interior I found the Disco Ball to be in the category of dangerous toy. It is mostly in a small bird's cage. If anyone has this toy in the cage I recommended you remove it. I see where my birds have picked off the reflective surface in a few places and working on more. Yikes!

View attachment 277395
Any metal on those small toys you purchase from the store should be removed, replaced. There is a mirror with a bar that goes across to hold a bead...it needs to be removed...per Dr. O and metal safety.
 

Peachfaced

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ThisLittleBird

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Hello,, can anyone tell me if the coloring that bird manufacturers put on beads and other things are safe? I can't find any information except that the packaging says "bird safe material" I always wash anything new that goes into Zak's cage and I am concerned with the coloring/dye they use it because it just keeps coming off. Thanks for your replies! :)
 

calibird

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California Bird Nerds uses Vitacritter which is made specifically for birds and other small animals. Vitacritter is not a colorfast dye. So when you wash the items the dye will come off. If the company is using Vitacritter or any food coloring the dye will come off when the items get wet.
 

finchly

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Hello,, can anyone tell me if the coloring that bird manufacturers put on beads and other things are safe? I can't find any information except that the packaging says "bird safe material" I always wash anything new that goes into Zak's cage and I am concerned with the coloring/dye they use it because it just keeps coming off. Thanks for your replies! :)
It is actually t he ones that don’t come off you need to be worried about. The toys that are brought in from China with the brighter color dye, what kind of dye is that? How toxic is it?

Those are just a couple of questions I would have if I were buying bird toys.
 

Laurie

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If anyone with small birds purchased a preener during auction please check and see if you have a ring like I do. I am speaking of the lowest ring that is striped in the photo. I have been discussing this with @Jenphilly this morning and letting her know I was not comfortable with the shape and size of this ring for my budgies. She has been very kind in guiding me with a video on how to fix this. It was a simple fix with a pair of scissor. View attachment 266808
Just a general safety rule of thumb. All loop and rings should either be too small for your bird to get it's head in or large enough for the birds entire body to pass through. It is impossible for toy makers to make a toy that is safe for every sized bird. We can only make recommendations. So here is mine. Assuming your bird's cage is safe then all links, loops, circles, square and openings should be no larger than the space between your birds bars unless they are so big that the birds entire body will pass through the space.

For instance the regular sized baby links are fine for budgies and parrotlets they can perch right in the middle and pass in and out of them. Also they are fine for Macaws to play with because they can not get their head in. However, the links fit perfectly over a caiques head and their shoulders can not pass through. That means that if they put their head in and panic they can get seriously injured.

It is a really good rule of thumb to follow and should answer alot of questions.

I personally also try to imagine what the toy will go through as it is used and is deconstructed by a bird and I try my best to factor that into my toy making as well.
 

Macawnutz

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I personally also try to imagine what the toy will go through as it is used and is deconstructed by a bird and I try my best to factor that into my toy making as well.


We should just trade back and forth for testing. :D I make at least three demos of every new toy and send it through my testing squad. Quite often I make changes after seeing how the birds dismantle them. The little toys I have a hard time with as I only have larger birds. ;)
 

Laurie

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We should just trade back and forth for testing. :D I make at least three demos of every new toy and send it through my testing squad. Quite often I make changes after seeing how the birds dismantle them. The little toys I have a hard time with as I only have larger birds. ;)
Seriously, lets do it! I have some really big blocks that I need feedback on.
 

Laurie

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Only if we trade product testing photos too! :laugh:
Of course, that is even better. I really want to learn more about making toys for bigger birds. I had a lesser sulfer crested too once but knew nothing about toys back then so caiques have been my biggest birds.
 

faislaq

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On my monthly toy and safety inspection of cage interior I found the Disco Ball to be in the category of dangerous toy. It is mostly in a small bird's cage. If anyone has this toy in the cage I recommended you remove it. I see where my birds have picked off the reflective surface in a few places and working on more. Yikes!

View attachment 277395


Any metal on those small toys you purchase from the store should be removed, replaced. There is a mirror with a bar that goes across to hold a bead...it needs to be removed...per Dr. O and metal safety.
Dang it, we have both of these! The current disco ball is still unworn; the green cheeks usually break the plastic hangers on them pretty regularly, so I haven't had any of the balls themselves last long enough to really wear. And they love the beaded mirror so much I'm kicking myself for not thinking about the wire. :(
 
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