Testing for Zinc in toys, play gym and cage

[Ninjette]

I read a Testing for Zinc in toys, play gym and cage article, and I did the experiment with muriatic acid.

My findings -
all washers come with the perches have zinc
the screws and hex nuts for the play gyms have zinc
the eye screw for the play gyms are fine
the quick link connectors and chains of all of my toys are fine
the cage is fine

My new Amazon, Melon, loves to chew on metal parts, so I replaced all the washers with stainless steel ones from Home Depot
will buy some stainless steel screws to replace the ones on the play gyms tmr

hope this helps

 

[Kiwibird]

Gotta be oh-so-careful with zinc. It unfortunately appears in products intended for birds. Congrats on Melon BTW!

 

[Ninjette]

I'm still concerned about the cage because it's magnetic, means not stainless steel. It didn't have the foaming reaction when I tested it with the muriatic acid, so I guess it could be powder coated.. not sure..

btw, I'm taking Melon to the vet for a first check up about 45 min away next Saturday. That vet hospital also sells safe toys.. Will ask the vet more about safe toys and cages

 

[Scott]

Ninjette, can you describe or post a link to the article regarding zinc testing? Would love to do this on my cages and toys as well!!

 

[Ninjette]

Here's the link. forgot where I got it from. probably the bird trick emails..

Testing for Zinc in Parrot Toys