FINCHforum

Members have recently requested that a sticky be made warning members about some of the common hazards that we may find in our homes or sold in pet shops for use in our bird rooms. I will make this a sticky, but this subject has already been covered in detail in the Finch Information Center:

http://www.finchinfo.com/general/toxic_ ... angers.php

You will note that one chemical listed is paradichlorobenzene, an ingredient in mothballs. It is also an ingredient in the hang-on cage lice and mite protectors that are often sold in pet shops. Here is an article from the National Pesticide Information Center on this chemical:

http://npic.orst.edu/ingred/pdb.html

Sally

Thanks Sally.

Ooh, I've got one....

CHAINS

There are some bird toys (and metal balls cage things used to contain Timothy hay and nesting materials) that are suspended from chains.



These chains can pose a serious danger to birds of all sizes. They can catch up their feet, toes and nails (depending on bird size). This can kill the bird if they're caught up for an extended time or suspended upside down. They can also break toes, feet and legs.

So be sure to avoid anything with a chain.

Even jump rings - those small metal loops about 1 cm in diameter - can pose a similar danger. They're sometimes used to connect toy components (like those toys with multiple plastic hoops that they can play with and perch in.)

See the metal jump rings in this pic:




ETA - You can replace chain with a thick craft wire. Just beware of any sharp edges on the cut end of the wire. You can usually position the wire so the sharp cut ends are out of the cage.
If not, you can wrap the area with the sharp end with electrical tape.

Years back when I had my first gouldian pair, I used spring loaded metal treat clips. My male got his foot caught in it one day, and he went downhill very quickly. Haven't used them since.

MiaCarter

You're right! chains are a huge danger

One of our parakeets got it's toe caught in a chain and broke it..I have never used anything with a chain on since

Sally


Under "May be problematic" is cuttle bone..Why would that be?? I thought all birds needed that.

the cuttlebone metal holders they sell in with the cuttlebone can cut feet badly.. I toss those and use a plastic clip/perch holder

This was great info. Thanks so much.

I have another one. I'd posted this previously:

I wanted to share a quick safety caution on an in-cage bird bath that nearly killed one of my babies today.

Here's what one of them looks like:


The safety problem surrounds the two little clips on the top edge of the bath hood, circled in red. You're supposed to lift the cage door and snap it into the clips. But they're a tad too big and don't hold the bar securely. This caused the door to come crashing down, trapping the bird inside the bird bath!

I have no idea how long he was in there -- up to about 90 minutes. I woke up from a nap to crazy sounds from my bird room and all three of the others in that cage were *screaming* in distress and fluttering around the area of the bird bath.
The bird who was trapped inside was all puffed up and clearly starting to suffer from hypothermia. He was lethargic and couldn't fly properly; just "fluttering" and landing on the cage floor again.
I picked him up and he was clearly shivering. So I moved him to a hospital cage with a heat pad to warm him up.
He snuggled on the heating pad for about half an hour and is returned to normal. I'm monitoring him for a couple more hours before I return him home.

This could have easily been fatal if he'd been trapped in the water for much longer.

I experimented and it takes just a small amount of wiggling to cause the cage door to come crashing down, trapping the bird inside the bird bath!
Those clips DO NOT hold the cage door open securely!
This can be *deadly*, even with room temperature water. Any prolonged exposure water that's lower than body temperature will cause hypothermia!

I bought two different cage-mounting bird baths (different manufacturers) for two different cages. BOTH had the exact same "universal" clips and both product's photos and directions tell you to mount the clips in the same way.

But this problem is easily solved!!
Those clips slide off. You simply turn them upside down so they cradle the bottom bar of the cage door.
Simple fix and it could mean your bird's life!
I've also secured the cage door in the open position using some craft wire as a fail-safe.

I've emailed both the manufacturers and left notes and reviews for the sellers on Amazon, but I wanted to share here too in case someone has a bird bath with these clips!
Just flip them upside down, opposite of the way they're depicted in the photo, and it solves the problem and may very well save your birdie's life!

MiaCarter

I had mounted a gouldian breeding box onto my cage window only to not realize the cage door closed on it. The cage door has been now securely fastened open with a zip tie.

Just think what would have happened if it trapped mother and babies one day INSIDE??

Oh that poor little one! So glad you found him alive and not limp!

Mia take a small bungee cord and connect it to the top of the door in the lifted position... take the opposite end of the the bungee and hook it to the top of the cage...this will prevent the cage door from slamming down. I use this method when attaching external nest boxes and external baths to fronts of the cages.

cindy and Babs - yes, it could have been super dangerous! I was lucky I discovered that bird when I did. Close call.

That post was from a few months ago. I ended up using some heavy craft wire and wrapping it around the top of the door and a horizontal bar to secure it in an open position.

Incidentally, nobody really ever used that bath. They kept trying to put nesting materials in there, so I gave in and let them use it as a nesting box instead! (Which is a bit odd...you'd think the clear walls would be off-putting, but they seem to like it!)

MiaCarter

As long as they like it and its safe! No more trap door nonsense! Yay!

mine bathed, nested and were even used as feeders, mine had flat bottoms

cindy - Yep, we used it as a feeder too for a while!

One of the cockatiels also found those baths to be an appealing hut. She has a tendency of breaking into the cages at night to steal millet and other goodies. On a few occasions, I found her cuddled up in the bath box! (Rather funny because it's just a tad too small for a cockatiel! So she was pickled in there.)