Opinions- Is cardboard safe?

[Kiwibird]

So, I have received a bunch of items recently I ordered online, and thus, have a bunch of cardboard shipping boxes. Certain areas of said boxes look clean and don't have tape, ink, dirt ext... Kiwi isn't a big chewer, but I just can't help but think of him before I recycle all of these boxes. Do you think if I select clean, areas of cardboard to cut up it would be ok to give him to rip up? I have given him TP/paper towel rolls in the past, but never shipping boxes.

 

[Birdman666]

I've given it to them for years.

There are people that are fearful of the glues used in making cardboard. I've never had an issue...

Mine play in boxes. I use them for foraging toys. Can't get cheaper bird toys than what is essentially going to be garbage anyway.

You can entertain a cockatoo or a CAG for a couple of hours with the right stuff in an old box...

I also use old nutriberry buckets for foraging toys.

 

[Pinkbirdy]

I use it [its the only thing my Goffin Pearl really likes] . It keeps us all sane

 

[Terry57]

I use it as well and Xander and Talli go crazy for it.

 

[getwozzy]

Cheap entertainment.

 

[Betrisher]

ROTFLMAO! I haven't got a pic to show you of Dom's cardboard fetish - he chomps everything I give him into tiny confetti pieces. Years ago, I made a simply box-cover to hold all our phone books out of a bit of copy-paper cardboard box. I covered it in adhesive vinyl and it has sat on a bookshelf in the kitchen for ages. Dommie has totally turned it into a doiley! He's even made significant inroads into the Yellow Pages (sigh).

The birds seem to know what's OK to chew, they really do. Dom and the Beaks don't chew the yucky bits (with glue or tape or nasty tasting stuff). They just chuck those bits away. The Beaks aren't as keen on cardboard as Dommie is: they prefer wood. But Dom can turn an eighteen-inch box into swiss cheese easily in a day. He LOVES the boxes that bottles come in (eg. spirits bottles). He'll crawl all the way in and start chewing on the bottom. By the time his little pink bum peeks out, most of the box is gone.

So yeah, I'd be giving Kiwi plenty of cardboard to chomp on. I bet he loves it!

 

[MonicaMc]

I think cardboard is safe to chew, but if they decide to eat it, then it might be an issue. I don't know how well they can digest cardboard, so if they are eating it, it might not be a good idea to provide it. If they shred it to pieces though, then go for it!

 

[MomtoPercy]

The birds seem to know what's OK to chew, they really do.

You know, I've recently been thinking that same thing! It is as if Percy instinctively knows (well, most of the time anyway) what is chew-worthy. Case in point - I was wearing a costume jewelery necklace the other day and forgot to take it off when I got home from work. Percy was instantly enamoured by this new thing that hed never seen on mom's neck before - he usually nibbled my collars for ages (luckily not biting holes in them, just mouthing them) but I never wear things around my neck for his safety. The neck piece in question is a thin "gold" stringy thing with different sizes of "gold" balls on it. Well, Percy literally pounced on it and grabbed himself a foot-full, stuck it in his mouth, chomped down and spat it out and gave me a nip too boot (obviously to reprimand me for wearing such inedible crap). I've seen this behaviour before too. Very often he just won't chew what isn't appropriate.

Back to cardboard - YES!! Use it! Percy looooves cardboard. If you have a whole, good size box, you can even make an impromptu playground in there. Poke a few holes in it and thread some sisal through the holes, tie knots in the rope, add a bead or something here and there...and don't forget you have a bird LOL! Because you won't see or hear from him for a while

 

[Kiwibird]

Thanks everyone! I know people use cardboard, but I didn't know if you bought new boxes or just used clean ones you'd had stuff shipped in or whatever. I want to cut it up into small chunks and string it up into toys to see if he likes it. He doesn't chew on wood toys, or anything else besides the office chair (which he has a vendetta against for god knows what reason). I actually have wood beads I've sterilized and been re-using since the first year we had him. All the dye has boiled out, and no significant chew marks yet:11:

Getwozzy- your pic remind me of the few times my mom gave Lucy boxes with a hole cut in the front of. Lucy would not chew the box at all, she would rip up carpet around the box and lovingly attempt to nest in the box I think that's probably why my mom stopped it. Lucy LOVES ripping up carpet, she does not need encouragement to pull up more. Her wooden nest box she's had for 30+ years actually has no chewing damage either, but the closet door that held her back from it at one point got a birdie-door chewed right out of the middle:54: Mind you she never actually laid an egg, let alone reared chicks, but she sure likes her nest box (and any thing that resembled it). I don't think that Kiwi shall be introduced to the concept of a whole nest-like box he can fit in. He already likes to run behind stuff or get under stuff and regurgitate:52:

 

[sam4life]

I certainly did it in the past, and my parrot seemed to enjoy it, but I wouldn't do it today.

First, by going in the box, your bird is basically going into full hormonal drive thinking he or she is making a nest. Like I said, I let my parrot, Sam, do that for years, and he loved it, but I've since read that, unless you are trying to breed, it isn't a good idea to stimulate their hormones in that way. I don't know what to think about that.

But if I were to give my parrot a box to play in/ destroy, I would not give a shipping box. Think of all the things that are in an average UPS truck, including things that are very toxic to parrots. Then think about the fact that they need to fumigate those trucks to deal with bedbugs and other pests. You may not see or smell these chemicals on the box, but paper is highly absorbent. So not seeing it on the outside is no guarantee it isn't in the material. Finally, there is a bunch of nasty chemicals in cardboard itself that you might not want your parrot to be chewing on.

In short: I did it for years, and my parrot enjoyed it; I wouldn't do it now. But I'm a risk averse person in general, and I'm feeling especially risk averse now that I feel that I contributed to my parrot's death.

 

[getwozzy]

I think it is important that we be careful when selecting boxes for our fids to play in- making sure they're clean, but if it's a huge concern you could always go out and buy new boxes I suppose...

As for my galah playing in boxes- she's not even sexually mature yet and has no idea what nesting is lol but it's all up to the individual bird and their habits when they are hormonal... And hormonal seasons come and go, so if playing in boxes is a nesting trigger then don't let them play in it...

 

[Kiwibird]

Eh, the little chunks of cardboard I added to some new toys for Kiwi held no interest for him (vs the other components of the toy). It just became a unwashable poop magnet and now I have to take the whole toy apart instead of washing it because of the poopy cardboard I also tried to put a sizable chunk on his stand to see if he'd like that better, but he ran down and flung it off.

In conclusion- Kiwi could care less about cardboard and I won't be going out of my way to use it in his toys anymore. I think I must've got the one parrot on planet earth who has little to no interest in shredding anything lol

 

[TessieB]

My birds love them! My amazons aren't into box shredding that much unless food is involved, but the cockatiels think boxes are the best thing since scrambled eggs and cheese. If the boxes are clean and odor free, I'll use them to entertain all my animals. Even the horses get exposed to cardboard boxes either as trail obstacles or a treat box. Feral cats find them perfect to place a litter of kittens. Spiders find them a great place to hide. And a box comes in handy as an emergency transportation device for a nosy black snake who found my chicken eggs easy pickings. Yes, I really like cardboard boxes.

 

[Newbsi]

Cardboard boxes

Are using cardboard boxes (like you get when you order amazon safe for the birds to tear up? Plain? The ones with ink?

 

[Rockford]

Re: Cardboard boxes

You never know what kind of things a shipping box has come in contact with and what the cardboard has absorbed.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Re: Cardboard boxes

Are using cardboard boxes (like you get when you order amazon safe for the birds to tear up? Plain? The ones with ink?

Newbsi, I merged this thread to an older one that covered the same exact subject. If you read through the responses, you can see that opinions regarding boxes vary greatly.

Mine get them to play with (depending where they came from and what they smell like). They LOVE boxes. They shred them - they don't eat them. Never had any issues at all with boxes/cardboard.

 

[Kiwibird]

Still haven't had any "interest" in boxes from Kiwi since starting this thread. Now what comes IN the boxes, now that is usually of interest No matter what it is, a certain something must come down of his cage and check it out Even better when it's toys for him!

 

[RavensGryf]

Raven absolutely loves boxes. He has a toy box that keeps getting replaced because the box itself is part of his "toys" too.

 

[jasper19]

Yes, my opinion, is that its safe.

In my experience, birds don't just ingest tons of random stuff. Chew up and shred, yes. But the birds i have seen, angel included, can be picky eaters.

 

[Rockford]

A bird may not actually swallow something contaminated with unknown chemicals/germs but that doesn't mean that putting it in their mouth is harmless.