Toy danger

[rylierules]

I just returned from my vet and found out that my 8 month old Sun Conure had heavy metal poisoing. The vet of course questioned his accessibility to the house and what he may have gotten into. I assured him that he was rarely anywhere but on me or one of the kids, or on his playplace. I returned home and read the literature that he gave me on zinc and lead poisoning and still couldn't figure out what the culprit might be. My husband began inspecting his play place and looked through all of his toys and lo and behold, there were links, bells, and hooks on these toys that were not stainless steel, but galvanized steel and zinc. These are store bought toys that I never thought to check because I just assumed that they would not use anything harmful to my bird. All of my homemade toys of course were fine. Moral. Don't trust the pet stores to sell material that is always safe for your bird to play with. Check each piece before you buy it. I wish I had known, it would have saved my little guy a lot of heartache and me a lot of money.

[Lori L]

Also I posted this in another thread, the rod the goes through the cement perch might not be safe either. Sorry to hear this, is it cureable?

[Spinnergirl]

Glad to hear you have a diagnoses.

And thanks for the tips :)

What kind of symptoms did your bird have??

What did they do to treat it??

[birdsnthings]

That is one of the things I am concerned with when I have other toys come in. I do point out to the customers that I am not sure if the hardware is all SS when they purchase the item. I have also reminded customers not to buy a particular toy since they had one checked and it tested for zinc when their bird had zinc poisoning. I got a big "Thank you" on that one.
Sorry to read this happened to your bird.
Alice

[Myst]

Zinc poisoning is bad stuff. I have an african Gray who went through Zinc poisoning before we got her - Lethargy, shaking are early signs, tremmors, weight loss are more. (We fell in love with her but did not get her until she was given a vet clearance - If we had not wanted her she would have been shipped back to the breeder) Treatment varies - if there is metal in the bird's system then chelating chemicals are used, or surgery or anything to encourage the bird to pass the item. (Chelation chemicals are hard on the bird, they bind to the metal to help the bird pass them. The chemicals are almost as bad for the bird as the zinc is.- think of a person with cancer who is having chemo to treat the cancer - chelating chemicals are like that) If the poisoning is from toys and their is no metal in the bird, time and lots of foods high in fiber. (oatmeal, prunes, apples pureed and force fed if necessary for over 2 weeks straight) My CAG was gotten from a pet store, customers gave her coins to play with. The whole mess left us with a super bird, who is less than she could have been. She has what we think are neurological problems because of the mess. She also has low calcium problems.

Good luck with your baby and you already have a great vet - not many check for metal poisoning if x-rays do not reveal metal in their systems. Zinc is nasty stuff to birds. Please keep us posted on how your baby is doing.

[svolk]

How do you tell what certain metal pieces are exactly? On Jerry's playgym there are some hooks, some are silver looking and some are a light gold. I am going to find a magnet to test them, hubby thinks the light gold ones are brass. I don't have the box of the playgym anymore but I will try to look the company up.

[FeathersNFur8]

I am going to find a magnet to test them.

How do you test with a maagnet?

[svolk]

Originally Posted by FeathersNFur8

How do you test with a maagnet?

A magnet will not stick to brass. That's the only thing I know to do at the moment. Other than that, I'm not sure how to distinguish just what kind of metal it is..

[carriesb]

Yeah how do you tell which metals are safe I'm worried about that.

[Myst]

I know the person who owns http://www.busybeaks.com/ Her toys are all stainless - She is my source of toys for my CAG and other fids. I know Jan has refused to carry alot of stuff because the companies would not switch to stainless on their toys. She also has lots of toys you can get elsewhere, but her's are ALL stainless, not just the "exposed" parts. She has stuff available for all sizes and kinds of birds. Most of her toys are tested by her own fids under supervision. Jan also has nylon pear and jump rings that work well - even with Macaws! (She has some dog and cat toys too)

If you are not sure about metal in a toy part then either remove the metal, or place something around it such as PVC. If I purchase toys somewhere else, I will re-thread or string them onto something I know is safe.

When in doubt - I remove and replace! Once you have seen a beloved pet with metal poisoning, you are super careful.