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Please Do Not Allow Your Bird To Chew Household Items

waterfaller1

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This thread reminded me-
I have been wanting to make this post since a thread awhile back showing a bird that had chewed on a remote..or controller or something.While these pics and threads are cute~
Think of a Keyboard{we see lots of those getting chewed up!}remote, a controller, etc. If you have never seen inside any component such as this, let me tell you. There are wire leads, often hooked to a board, chip, whatever, and attached with solder, which is usually LEAD! These items have all manner of metal and other things that your bird should not be coming into contact with. I have a friend who used to raise beautiful babies{she no longer breeds} She sold the most gorgeous long tailed young B&G macaw to a girl. He died shortly after. My friend wanted to see that the bird had a necropsy as this baby came from her best pair who always had gorgeous healthy babies. The girl refused the necropsy idea. She just could not go through with doing it. She was very torn up over her loss. BUT, the bird destroyed a remote. And my friend's vet said that is most likely what did it. That pair never ever had sick babies.

Food for thought.Please be safe. :hug8:
 
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lzver

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Great reminder Carole! Is there a way this could be made a sticky?

Tragic about the loss of the B&G though :(
 

waterfaller1

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Here is a pic of an example of what the inside of a remote looks like
rc4.jpg
See the shiny dots at the top where the wire attaches-solder-LEAD- WHICH IS DEADLY rc5.jpg
 

waterfaller1

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Here is the inside of a game controller
 

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waterfaller1

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And a regular keyboard
 

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Tangle Elf

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While there are many dangerous things inside of electronics and in our jewelry, lead is not likely to be one of them. There are very limited high-reliability applications where lead solder is still allowed, but most solder is lead free now. Flux residue, alcohol residue and the other metals are just as dangerous to birds.
 

waterfaller1

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My husband told me there is some{I checked this afternoon}, but he said this is the least of what is potentially harmful.
 

Tangle Elf

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My husband told me there is some{I checked this afternoon}, but he said this is the least of what is potentially harmful.
It's not allowed in solder for most applications. I thought about it after posting and thought, by American standards. The stuff made in China probably has lead solder. Then I thought, I wonder if there are any electronics that aren't made in China :)

Thank you for the warning. There are so many bad things in there. When I was an electronics technician, I worked in high-reliability soldering. Lead was safe compared to a lot of the chemials we use. The laminate on circuit board is pretty bad. The chemical used to remove the laminate from circuit boards is awful.
 

Mrcrowley

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Thanks Carol that is some very good information to know thank god I do not allow my birds to chew anything like that I find the only way, to keep my birds from chewing anything like that is to cover up those items with towels so even if I go downstairs to get myself a drink a cover-up my desk where my TV is I cover all of it with a towel a cover up the top of my cloth's drawer's.
 

bubblelady

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Good advice, Carole. But I must stress that I never ALLOWED Gussie to chew on any of those things. She has educated me in how to protect my electronics, and her. She has always stuck to the softer things, like key pads, cords, etc. and removing keys from keyboards and flying off with them. I have since gone totally wireless/cordless, automatically lay remotes etc keypad face down, and use my iPad when she is around. The laptop now lives in the back bedroom. It does now have an external wireless keyboard since she made off with too many keys. She ate none of them however. Just flew off and dropped them into a black hole before I could catch up with her. She trains me very well.
 

Deena Mathew

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Electrical cords are a very serious threat to a bird chewing through a cord could cause severe burns . There are other cords that can be chewed, including phone, computer, stereo etc. my cousin has a bird at hm it does the same thing.
 

Odin

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I am really appreciative of all these posts that you all have created. What about jewellery? Odin's favorite thing to do is sit on my chest and nibble my silver chains.
 

Hankmacaw

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If your chains contain any silver, yes they are dangerous to your bird(s). Silver is one of the heavy metals and the heavy metals accumulate into the bird's cells.

Silver is toxic!

Claims that it is safe have come primarily from the companies that make silver products - hardly a trustworthy source of unbiased information. Silver in any form is a bio-accumulative toxic metal, like mercury, lead, and arsenic. Its action as an antibiotic comes from the fact that it is a non-selective toxic "biocide."

It is known - and acknowledged - that long-term use of colloidal silver or silver salts deposits metallic silver under the skin, turning people's skin an ashen-gray color, an affliction known as argyria (see reference below). Argyria is considered permanent. It also accumulates in internal organs, continually exposing the cells of those organs to silver, wreaking unknown havoc, and it is likely that it actually interferes with the body's normal immune processes.

The former manufacturer of one of these products - Seasilver - actually claimed at the time that silver is an "essential" nutrient. This was an outright falsehood. The human body has no need or use for silver. The health claims made by the company - that it was an effective treatment for 650 different health problems - were so outrageous that they received a "cease and desist" order from the Federal Trade Commission in June, 2003, and now the company, allegedly "reconstituted," sells an innocuous product made from Aloe Vera, fruit juices, Pau D'Arco Extract, and some obscure sea herbs.
Colloidal Silver Is Toxic - The Dark Side of a New Health Craze
 

Odin

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Holy crap .... :( Is Odin going to be ok?????
 

Hankmacaw

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Holy crap .... :( Is Odin going to be ok?????
Probably, if he hasn't ingested any silver pieces. Heavy metal toxicity can be dangerous, but is easy to cure if caught early. Just keep an eye on him and find another toy for him.

Silver
Silver may biomagnify in some aquatic invertebrates (Adriano 1986). However, it is highly toxic to aquatic organisms (EPA 1992). Elevated concentrations can cause larval mortality, developmental abnormalities, and reduced larval growth in fish (Klein-MacPhee et al. 1984); growth reduction in juvenile mussels (Calabrese et al. 1984); and adverse effects on reproduction in gastropods (Nelson et al. 1983). There are some indications of toxicity in plants. However, there are other reports suggesting that silver is not highly phytotoxic. Silver is toxic to soil microbes, thus inhibiting biotransformation (ATSDR 1990b). Effects on mammals include pulmonary edema, congestion, and mortality.

Here is a list of all toxic metals; Ecological Toxicity Information | Region 5 Superfund | US EPA
 

Odin

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He chews/plays with the chains and pendants that I wear everyday... I only have toys in the cage that came from the pet stores.
 
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