Paranoia or cause for panic?

[Skittys_Daddy]

Most of you know how important Skittles is to me, and also how I obsess over his care, so I am hoping for some 'realistic insight' to the current situation.

Skittles no longer has a 'happy hut', I hated taking it away, but it was for his own good. However, he DOES have his rope perch bungee boings which he LOVES and I monitor them regularly (and trim as needed or replace).

However, I keep noticing little pieces of thread from the perches in his food dish and water dish that are in his sleep cage when I wake him up in the morning.

Skittles has a VERY healthy appetite and if I am being totally honest, he's a friggin' pig who NEVER stops eating. lol. Seriously though, he eats at LEAST every 20-30 minutes BUT he is free-flighted and at an ideal weight. His pooping patterns are normal as are his droppings, but I am still worried about the discarded threads. How can I tell if he is ingesting them? Does his appetite and droppings show any clue into this? I do NOT want to wait til its a life or death emergency, I'd prefer to take preventative action first. I don't want to have to deal with surgery.

Skittles is due for his annual in a couple of months and the vet says they can run a test to check for foreign substances, but in the meantime, I want to know what to look for.

Are there any signs or symptoms?

 

[Taprock]

I’m not sure what you would notice for small amounts. Large amount, I would be concerned if his crop doesn’t empty overnight. It would stay full and hard if he was eating non food or something not digestible. Then it would affect appetite and everything else.

 

[Flboy]

Well if you think you may be paranoid now!
Problems Associated with Toys and Cage Accoutrements for Pet Parrots » Currumbin Valley Birds & Exotic Vetrenarian - Gold Coast

https://www.parrotproblemsolving101.com/single-post/2016/06/05/The-dangers-of-Cotton

I know what is on my list today!

 

[EllenD]

I've often wondered about this due to finding strands of thread from toys they shred in the bottom of their cages, most parrot toys have some type of material that can be separated and shredded into strings. Besides that I've never seen any of my guys even bothering with the strands at the bottom of their cages, there is no way they could eat enough of one at one time for them to gag, choke, etc. on them...So the question really becomes "If my bird chews-up and swallows tiny pieces of discarded toys, is the material safe for them to ingest?"

The only way to really answer that question at 100% is to ONLY BUY parrot-safe toys that are made of safe, natural materials that actually say on the packaging that they can be safely ingested. That's really it. So I do my best to do that. I've never had an issue in 30 years of owning birds and buying bird toys, so that's the only reassurance I have.

The other thing you could consider doing, and that I've seen a lot of parrot owners do, is to discard all of his store-bought toys, and then either make him toys yourself that you absolutely know are 100% safe, or to start only giving him things to shred like cardboard boxes, paper, etc...I know a lot of people with very large parrots who do this anyway because their birds go through multiple toys a day and it would bankrupt them to actually buy them toys...

On another note, the "Happy Hut" note, I too had one for my Green Cheek and for my Senegal, they were the two that loved them (Conures in-particular seem to love sleeping/snuggling in things like this), and I took them away over a year ago when all the birds started getting injured and dying...And then I finally found a safe replacement for the Happy Huts that they both absolutely love...They now each have a medium-sized Ferret Hammock from Petco. They hang from their cage-tops, they have no exposed strings to pull or chew on at all, they are extremely soft and washable, and they love them. And in over a year neither of them have even attempted to chew on them. Petco sells like 4 different sizes, I think both of mine are either the 12" or the 14" ones, my Senegal fits perfectly and my Green Cheek kind of disappears into his, lol...Something you might want to try if your Sunny really loved is Happy Hut...

 

[Flboy]

From what I am reading, one of the major dangers with the cotton thread is very small pieces build up over years!

 

[EllenD]

From what I am reading, one of the major dangers with the cotton thread is very small pieces build up over years!

Well if it's actually cotton, then that's not true because cotton would be digested...that's the thing, you have to be sure of the exact materials used...

 

[Flboy]

From what I am reading, cotton is an insoluble fiber! In humans it is not digestible. For birds, I am finding conflicting information!

 

[BoomBoom]

Hi Skitty'sDad, I understand about the paranoia. You're in good company!

Now as far as threads, there is indeed a concern for ingestion and overtime impaction in the crop. I know this well because I made a post a few years ago due to Boomer's t-shirt shredding habits. He no longer chews my (cotton) t-shirts but when he used to, he could reduce one to a fishnet in 1 day if I let him. During this time, I read about a forum poster on here, with tons of bird experience, whose parrot died from crop impaction as a result of prolonged ingestion of fibers from a towel. The parrot could not move the fibers from his crop and starved. It's tragic.

In your case, I think Skittles does not have access to large amounts of fiber to cause a severe threat of crop impaction. If he is indeed ingesting fiber from his rope and toys, it's a small amount BUT if the threads are long enough, it may accumulate over time. I'm giving you the worst case scenario of course and this may very well not be the case at all.

As a general rule, I avoid putting any cloth materials or artifical / man-made fibers in Boomer's cage. For fear of ingestion or entanglement. He has cotton toys outside of his cage which is okay because I can supervise when I'm at home. When I'm at work or when we're sleeping, he has unsupervised access to them which becomes problematic to me. As for rope perches, I was never a huge fan of them because of some posts / articles I've read in the past. Besides the fibers posting a threat of ingestion and maybe even entanglement, these perches also attract and retain so much bacteria even when they look clean. I've read of foot infections directly attributed to them.

My opinion is, for your peace of mind, to remove the rope perch and cloth / string toys from the cage. I know how it feels to take away something my bird loves, but maybe you can give him a replacement that he will love just as much. For example, the twisting grape vine perch https://www.pinterest.com/pin/496803402622805710/ has quite a soft surface. The uneven texture and winding shape are also healthy for the feet.

I hope this helps. Maybe there is nothing to worry about at all, so do what you feels is best for your situation. Regards to Skitty!

 

[Scott]

A great topic and one very difficult to address. Of course the gold standard is removal of all things fiber, but that can leave questions about accumulated buildup. It is certainly possible for a bird to aggressively chew a fibrous toy and never intentionally ingest a fiber, while others do so with reckless abandon.

I am wondering if an X-ray will clearly image a buildup of threads or other fibers? No question about discerning metallic or plastic objects. Might take a skilled radiologist to discern fiber from normal structures? Will have to ask my vet!

 

[EllenD]

Well I'm going to have to do some further research on this, as it was my understanding that cotton was fully digestible in birds, as per my CAV's advice, which is why I hae been buying certain "parrot-safe" bird toys online for years!!! This is a bit disturbing to hear, I'm going to go and do some reading right now to verify...uhg, that's all I need is birds with a build-up of cotton in their GI Tracts...

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I heard the same thing from my avian vet, Ellen. She told me to stick to 'natural fibers' like cotton. Any chance you could post a link to that hammock?

The vet told me they CAN do an x-ray but there is a less invasive test that checks their droppings for fibers. Skittles crop has never shown to be bulky. In fact, I don't think I've ever even seen it full and I hold him enough during the day that I'd notice. It's likely that he is burning it off faster than he can fill it. lol.

BoomBoom, I am going to look further into alternatives. The strands that I find are actually tiny little pieces, never a long strand- but they are obviously chewed up. The vet may be able to see inside his crop. They do perform something called a 'crop-wash', but I'm not sure if thats something that'd be helpful. It had been recommended for Peaches, but I chose not to take her in because of her frail health and the long drive to the vet. But Skittles does VERY well with vet trips. Peaches had an EXTREMELY difficult time at the vet visits.

Funny about Boomer and the t-shirts. I used to have to buy new ones constantly cause Skittles was always chewing them up. I fell asleep in my recliner one afternoon and in just a few hours he had torn half of my t-shirt up. In order to stop him from doing that, I would grab him and stuff him inside my shirt, lol. Now, he doesn't chew on my shirts anymore and instead climbs inside and snuggles. Its a riot.

 

[Aplanis]

Cozy Corner

I had read about the dangers of the happy huts etc. I had seen these at a local pet store and figured it would be better.

I did buy a cardboard tube but never seen my sun inside the tube.

She loves this and sleeps next to it is the perch. Usually will have her head inside the tube as I have the tube at the very top is the cage with a half circle perch under it with this on one end of the perch.

When cleaning the cage well I did notice that she chewed the strings used to secure this to the cage. I cut the strings very short so to be out of reach

So anyone else use these? Better or just as bad as the guys?

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[Skittys_Daddy]

I don't really think those are better. The fleece is just as bad. The happy huts I got for Skittles had fleece and he would tear them up. I wasn't worried about loose threads (since there never were any that I saw), but the fleece would be all torn up and Skittles had a habit of regurgitating in his happy hut which made me concerned he might ingest the fleece (since you know what birds do with their regurgitation, lol).


I've actually started using empty tissue boxes. I cut off the glue and plastic parts and I layer one empty box upside down on the cage bottom, then add plain tissues and plain paper towers as a liner and then I put another empty tissue box on top and he has a tunnel. He DOES use it, only thing is he chews it up too. Sometimes he just climbs underneath a paper towel.

 

[Quincy69]

Gee, I just made a bunch of toys for Quincy yesterday. Now I'm concerned about the twine or string I used. As well as the popsicle sticks and beads I got from the dollar store.

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[bingbing]

Wait a minute. I have seen a number of these posts about the happy hut being dangerous due too the threading being a not safe or digestible item for the bird. I did read many posts in regards to this. Non thread bearing fleece is said to be safe for parrot's. You may not care for them due to them being torn up by the bird but non thread bearing fleece will not harm the bird based on what I have read. In another post about this topic I stated that amazon has a number of fleece non thread bearing tents for sale as well as some made from seagrass. I suddenly feel like all of my birds favorite things could kill him. Obviously we are all doing our best too keep our little friends safe and these open discussions aid in that. Here is a link to the one I just purchased to replace his happy hut before anything bad happens.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078RCVLWW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[GaleriaGila]

As a self-described Queen of Paranoia, I'd do away with anything that inspired the least bit of suspicion. The least. Better safe than... you know! I approve of your paranoia! Maybe I'll appoint you a Knight of the Paranoid Realm.

An yes, Avian Vet asap, for reassurance, and whatever testing is rcommmended.

Good for you for your vigilance. Paranoia.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I know I tend to be overprotective of Skittles, but I'd rather be safe than sorry. While not all tragedies and injuries can be totally preventable by parronts, when there is a higher likelihood of something becoming a hazard, I prefer to take the safer route. But ANYTHING they have access to is not 100% safe, just like with humans, so being diligent with inspections daily DOES provide more safety. About 90% of the concerns I have relate to situations in his sleep cage when I can't supervise him.

I removed Skittles happy hut when he was about 6 y/o (he's 8 y/o now) even though the vet said that if I hadn't had any problems after 5 yrs of it (more like 3 or 4) then it's not really a concern. Thing is, Skittles found a 'new cuddle hut'. Climbing inside my shirt. Which turned out to be a great alternative on multiple areas. He gets his cuddle fix AND doesn't chew up my shirts anymore. I like it when he cuddles and burrows inside my shirt. He started doing that AFTER I removed his cuddle hut. He DOES have a cuddle hut on his playstand, but he only has access to it when I am home and he is out of his cage. So if he REALLY wants to use on, he can. But he doesn't anymore, he uses the shirt I'm wearing instead.

I'm going to get a definitive answer from my vet on the rope perches AND cotton. I do know she told me to stick to 'natural materials' such as cotton, and avoid synthetic and man-made but I'm gonna get another reassurance. She tends to be overly cautious (which just feeds my paranoia, lol, because thats why she does it, she KNOWS how much Skittles means to me and that is a GREAT reassurance).

Truth is, and this is no exaggeration, I really don't know if I'd survive losing him suddenly. ESPECIALLY, if it was caused by something preventable. When you have NO family in the area, few friends and multiple mental and emotional issues, companion animals can be just as essential as food and water.

 

[Aplanis]

I had also read of dangers of cotton ropes inside the cage. I can see that with regard to their talons getting caught.

I replaced my rope perches inside the cage with natural wood perches as sisal

Since I have a tall cage I had a comparable rope perch but replaced it with a similar sisal rope

Sisal Rope Boing Swing Bird Toy Perch Large Blue & Green Adjustable https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GH04NB4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_Rd7qOdOTt6WEu


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[LordTriggs]

with the rope and boings you could change over to using sisal rope? I've not heard of cotton being digestible, an interesting subject to look into but from what I have seen/heard/been told/divined from the stars/seen in a fortune cookie Sisal ropes seems to be preferred for birds, one thing I've seen is it's easier for them to break out if they do get caught and the lack of dyes is better if they do eat any though I myself am not entirely sure on it.

Of course another option could be to keep rope and boings as an outside toy to have placed around making outside time even more enjoyable

 

[EllenD]

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/you-and-me-ferret-hammock

Here's the link to the ferret hammock at Petco...This only shows one size, but in the store they have 3 or 4 different sizes listed by inches, I use either the 12" or the 14", I don't remember...

Both my Senegal and my Green Cheek have had these in their sleeping cages for about 2 years now, THE SAME HAMMOCKS! And that's after a weekly to bi-weekly washing in the washing machine too! No frays, no strings, nothing hanging from them, they look the same as the day I bought them more or less. They both love them and they sleep in them every night...my Quaker and my Cockatiel hate them, they hated the "Happy Huts", they just sleep on their swings. But when I had to find a solution to the Happy Hut crisis for the other two birds I went to Petco and thought "What the hell, I'll try them and see". They are super-soft and look/feel like they'd be ultra-comfy, I'm kind of jealous!

The big deal here is that they are still in one-piece and have no frays, no strings, nothing.