the harm of tearing up/ingesting furniture?

[happycat]

I own two small parrots, a cockatiel, and a kakariki, and since I have to work in other rooms in the house a large portion of the day, I usually let them out of their cages to do their own thing. (which I now learned I shouldn't do)

Well, today I noticed a bunch of white pieces of dried paint on the ground near my dresser and saw a HUGE chunk of furniture missing. Like, a 3 inch long piece of the dresser is gone.
So obviously one or both of them have been tearing away at it. Theres no way they did it all at one time, since its so big, so I assume it happened over the course of a few weeks or months without me noticing. It looks like something a cockatoo or macaw would do.

They haven't showed any symptoms or anything, but I worry that they ingested wood or the paint. Should I be?

 

[itzjbean]

I would for sure call your vet and get your birds in to get checked out!!

The wood is one thing, but it's the paint that scares me. They could possibly get heavy metal poisoning from it depending on how old it is, as some paints have LEAD in them, depending on how old your house/residence is. I believe lead was used in both interior and exterior paint up until regulations changes in 1978 and it is NOT safe to ingest.

Birds are just like children. They will get into ANYTHING if they are able. You have to supervise them at all times, or put them back in their cages if you are going to be in other rooms doing other things. Keep us updated!!

 

[SailBoat]

There is no question that they could do that much damage in that short of time. The larger Parrots can make toothpicks of a full piece of in that time period.

As stated above, the age of the furniture and therefore what paint was used is the greatest concern! If it contained lead, it off to the CAV to check for heavy metal.

 

[plumsmum2005]

Yes it is amazing how quickly they can cause damage.

Plum is giving me a sharp lesson in complacency at the moment, stuff he never looked at before in seven years, he suddenly has decided to so beware!

Hope they are OK?

 

[EllenD]

Considering that many birds have been poisoned by simply picking the paint/coating off of their cage bars, I'd say you should certainly take them to their avian vet for heavy metals blood work because of the paint. It takes very little to make them very sick or worse, especially since we're talking about two very small birds. Sooner is much better than later in this situation.

Just as an FYI, as you've already realized this I think, but letting your birds alone and free in a room without supervision is a big no-no. I know it's difficult sometimes, especially if you work from home, but you just can't do it. It takes only a split second for them to eat something, fly into something, fall off of something, knock something over onto themselves, etc. And that's forgetting about the damage they can cause.

I'd suggest that if you work from home for hours at a time, like in front of a computer or at a desk, etc. that you either buy or less expensively build them a play gym or play stand and put it in whatever room you're in at the time. I have several T-stands and one very large play gym that I made out of PVC pipe myself. They all have multiple toys hanging from them from eyelets and s-hooks so that they have things to chew on, and each T-stand has a stainless steel water dish and food dish attached to it. The play gym has at least 10 bird toys on it of all kinds, large wooden ones hanging from it to chew on, then all kinds of kabobs and plastic toys, along with a swing I made out of 3 small pieces of PVC pipe, some s-hooks, and eyelets. The play gym is in my office/music room where I write, record, and practice, and the T-stands I can just carry to whatever room I'm going to be in. I make sure they have water and some millets, a few seeds or some fruit or nuts, and they don't ever bother me, in fact they don't even know I'm in the room I don't think, lol. That way they stay out of trouble and I get my stuff done. I think I built the large play gym for around $20-$30 plus the toys, I buy all of my PVC pipe pieces, fittings, couplers, etc. at Lowes, they have a much larger selection of pieces and sizes of pipes than Home Depot and they're cheaper too. The only thing that cost anything was the PVC pipe cutter, which I think I paid $8 for at Lowes. Easy, cheap, convenient, and they love it.

"Dance like nobody's watching..."

 

[GaleriaGila]

Seconding all the above.
Since the Rb is flighted and fearless, I can't leave him unobserved for a moment.
Electric cords... paint... curtain rods... fire-resistant fabrics...