How do we know that rust is toxic to birds?

debbie276 · Post by **debbie276** » Thu Jan 09, 2014 1:58 pm

I had to deal with extremely hard water for years in our other house. Shower heads and faucets can be cleaned very easily by soaking them in vinegar. I would heat vinegar in a pot and let the heads soak till they were clean, it's pretty easy to do if you want to try it's a lot cheaper then buying new. Same goes for teapots, just heat up some vinegar in them and rinse. Hot water heaters etc can be a real issue though. We installed a whole house filter cartridge and I think it helped a bit.

Finnie · Post by **Finnie** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:44 am

paul-inAZ wrote: Phosphoric acid based rust treatments like Ospho or Locktite Extend convert rust to a hard black iron phosphate.

Iron phosphate is non-toxic.

One big advantage of these is that they are watery solutions that penetrate the nooks and crannies of the rusted surface.
The black iron phosphate forms a superb primer base for metal paints.

Just wipe or brush it on, let it sit a while and if you want you can later wipe off any excess. It does evaporate and dry on it's own. Rinsing it off will simply start the rust cycle again.

That sounds so awesome! Would the surface be smooth for the coat of paint, or would I still need to sand it some?

Finnie · Post by **Finnie** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 9:21 am

Nerien wrote: Protecting your birds from hazardous objects is always a great idea, like things they might chew on and eat chunks off of. But I have yet to see any accurate, supported, scientific data supporting a declaration of rust as toxic. Including it in a sentence or two, with no data, facts, case studies, does not make it so.

Nerien, Thank you, thank you, thank you! This sums up exactly why I started this thread. Because all I could find was people saying it was toxic, based on they believed it because they were told it, and nothing more.

paul-inAZ · Post by **paul-inAZ** » Tue Jan 14, 2014 11:55 am

finnie: Do not sand the black phosphate.
If you have previously removed any coarse scaly rust the surface is now an ideal base for paint adhesion.

Maddie · Post by **Maddie** » Fri Jan 17, 2014 2:07 am

Interesting conversation! I was just flipping through my vintage finch care book (It's quite interesting to see how pet care has evolved). It was was written sometime in the late 1800s/early 1900s and it says "a rusty nail in the drinking-water acts as a tonic if they appear weak."
If people frequently and purposely put rust into their birds' water in 19th century England, I'm going to assume it's not as harmful as we seem to think.

cindy · Post by **cindy** » Fri Jan 17, 2014 9:05 am

People back then did all kinds of things we would not dream of doing or using on our birds in this day and age. I did not forget to get the info from my vet, she was in and about to tell me but I had to get my daughter due to a family emergency and the topic was put on hold....going to check back in with her today. I am sure it is not so much that rust is toxic but that if they consume large enough or pointed sections of rust that it get lodged in the digestive tract and cause some sort of issue in that regard. Or if a bird takes to much of it in it can have an iron overload...to much of anything is not good.

Let you know her take on it.

Finnie · Post by **Finnie** » Fri Jan 17, 2014 6:49 pm

paul-inAZ wrote: finnie: Do not sand the black phosphate.
If you have previously removed any coarse scaly rust the surface is now an ideal base for paint adhesion.

Well, rats, if I still have to sand the rust off first. That's what I was hoping to skip! But maybe with this stuff I can just be a little less OCD about how well I sand it.

I did some searching, and it sounds like this stuff ends up looking like black paint? That won't work, as my cages are white! Unless maybe I just do tiny areas that don't respond well to the sanding, and then spray white primer over that.

This cheap cage rehab project is getting less and less cheap.

paul-inAZ · Post by **paul-inAZ** » Fri Jan 17, 2014 10:42 pm

Finnie:
You shouldn't have to do much sanding, just get any big flakes off.
The red oxide changes to black phosphate which is the paint base. It is unlikely that existing non-rusted paint will be damaged or changed. Only the rusted areas should react with it. Simply wipe excess off the intact paint and let it dry well before painting.
I wouldn't bother with a primer but just go to a rattle spray can of white paint formulated for metal.

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How do we know that rust is toxic to birds?

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