Possible Labor saving Atomic Hoop/Orb Thing

[TAG54]

Greetings
We were thinking of making the Hoop Ball thing for our fidomatics (and if they turned out well, make some for our Bird Club's Raffle Table (rosecityexoticbirdclub.com)

Does anyone have any thoughts/knowledge/opinions about using Electrical Nonmetallic (flexible) tubing. Mfg is Carlon. We tested our CAG & U2 (but not B&G Macaw yet) and they had no problems gripping it. We could wrap SOME poly rope around it in spots for color, hanging toys, put in SS eye screws to hang stuff from and use connectors so we can bend sections of it to form the orb/shape we want.

It APPEARS to be a safe plastic item. Any chemists that could confirm it?

The material comes in diameters from 1/2" to 2" and in fun colors. The fideroos can't get their toenails caught in the rope if the rope becomes shredded. SAVE BIG TIME LABOR, not wrapping rope.

If I get some backup on the safety of the material, I'll make a sample and post pictures.
Thanks

TAG54..
Okay, my name is Terrie...I'm the member of a flock that includes my husband, Leroy - B&G Macaw, adopted; Tequila - U2, adopted; Hope-CAG older, purchased from breeder, and Tango (beep beep zip Tango!) CAG, purchased as baby. Oh, 3 dogs, 3 cats

I'm also a pathological punster

I'm looking forward to your replies
Thankewverymuch

[Lisa B]

hi and welcome! I will bring this post to the attention to some that might be able to help you!

[Valo's Moirana]

Originally Posted by TAG54

Does anyone have any thoughts/knowledge/opinions about using Electrical Nonmetallic (flexible) tubing. Mfg is Carlon. We tested our CAG & U2 (but not B&G Macaw yet) and they had no problems gripping it. We could wrap SOME poly rope around it in spots for color, hanging toys, put in SS eye screws to hang stuff from and use connectors so we can bend sections of it to form the orb/shape we want.

It APPEARS to be a safe plastic item. Any chemists that could confirm it?

it's an extruded PVC (polyvinylchlorid) with different dyes for color coding. they don't specify if they add plasticizers which are low molecular weight compounds to soften the material and could off-gas. my bet is that they add some plasticizers as PVC is normally stiffer and not bendable. most commonly used are phthalates. these compounds have gained more and more interests recently regarding their health effects but so far i'm not sure they really came to a conclusion. (the study focused to phthalate leaching from plastic products designed for infants).

my personal opinion - if you get it, and it smells i'd let it sit around for a while away from the birds... if the smell persists, i'd give it a NO.
if the birds continuously chew on it - also a NO. for climbing around on it and occasional beaking, the material should be fine.

regarding the dyes - usually not a problem, but as with most things i wouldn't let my birds chew excessively on it

[catschair]

I think the only real hard evidence is that high doses of phtahlates early in development can cause issues in rodent endocrine function. Lots of anecdotes and hand waving, but I haven't seen anything too convincing -- though I am far from an expert (or even a dedicated reviewer) in this area. As long as the birds aren't actually ingesting or chewing on it for hours a day, I think you should be fine. I see a lot of info about ENT on the Carlon... an industry-leading manufacturer and marketer of thermoplastic enclosures, fittings, and wire and cable management products for the electrical, industrial, commercial, data and telecommunications markets. site, but the MSDS is not popping out at me -- they will provide it upon request.

[r2rusmc]

I was waiting for our resident chemists to reply.

My thoughts as someone who has made several:

I like the idea of having the tubing wrapped. Gives the birds something to chew on besides the tube. With the work and cost put into making one, I sure don't want them destroying it any faster.

I will however check out this product at my local stores and see if it triggers any other ideas or thoughts.

[TAG54]

Hi..everyone has been so helpful...technical...(that's why I flucked chemistry) but helpful.

I DO want to wrap SOME rope around parts of the do hickey...as well as bits of cloth (like a mummy) and whatever I find that will provide interesting textures.

When we buy the material, I'll check it for vapors/odors and wait till they evaporate, if necessary. I was also thinking about the "floppy" braided hosing that was discussed on another thread here. Make a smaller do hickey for conures/cockatiels...about 15" in circumference (7 1/2" diameter?) I figured that small (wrapped of course) it would support itself as opposed to making a huge mongus one.

Please drop by the club's website...we're trying to redirect our focus to education/seminars/fostering and adopting. We're also considering becoming a non-profit (501C3) organization. So if anyone has any advice, thoughts, etc about that...I'd be happy to hear them.

Looking forward to posting some pics soon.

Thanks again
Terrie

[huntress]

OMG!! BIG WORD OVERLOAD

[Kodiak]

We've used this exact tubing for making orbits like you've described. It had NO smell whatsoever when we bought it and both our conure and macaw can grip it easily. Good luck!