Zinc poisoning....

[wildirish]

This is from another board, they put up an aviary and thier Too is now going through treatment....

http://www.skarlettsweb.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2653

[The Outlaw]

I was aware of the GAW and vinegar washing. The vinegar removes the zinc coating that is what causes the toxicity in parrots. Anytime you see the whitish residue, the cage wire MUST be rewashed with vinegar. The really bad part about that is zinc is what retards the rust. In other words, by removing the zinc coating with the vinegar wash, sooner or later the wire rusts.

When I built my aviary a few years ago, I could not find 10 guage SS wire anywhere. When I eventually replace this wire, it will be 10 guage SS. For the record, MOST breeders use GAW wire and have for many, many years.

[wildirish]

I knew about that part too, but what got me was it seemed she did all of that, so is my stuff now not safe?????

[The Outlaw]

No, she DIDN'T vinegar wash it. That's what she says in her post, that she wasn't aware she was supposed to.

As for using dog kennel, I would assume that the same thing applies. Simply vinegar wash it annually or more often if you see the whitish residue. The biggest problem with the dog kennel chain link is the size of the openings. I would be afraid of birds getting their heads caught. I think that the openings are usually 3 x 3 inches.

[wildirish]

Yeah I went back and read it again, thought she had done, but guess not! Ok I just wanted to double check!!!

[Luvmygreys]

I wasn't aware my bird was sick.......He was his normal talking sweet self, Sunday, whe I woke up Monday morning he and his toy where on the bottom of the cage....I had no clue what was about to happen other than I had a very sick bird on my hands overnight......An emergency visit and 2 vets later he died. The Vet doesn't understand how he lived from Sunday night to the following Saturday following surgery with such extreme high zinc levels of 6.5....

[jimpierce7]

For the time being all three of my birds are in GAW cages. All have been wire wheel washed with vinegar. Due to a suggestion by the breeder I also went over the entire mesh surface looking for burs or blemishes (which meant I had to put on my glasses) and file/gring off anything that the fids might see and want to pick at.