Those photos are so cute! How long have you given them Timothy hay? I bet the chances of them getting sick is low unless you have a asper prone bird like a pionus. I won't be trying it with Rosie, I'm disappointed but I don't like taking unnecessary risks. I'm kinda paranoid about stuff like that lol. When I worked at Petsmart we had to have Timothy hay available to finches/canaries all the time, none of the birds ever got asper.
I'm going to try to find a good alternative.
I first introduced it in July of last year. I don't give it all the time, either, but Casey loves the stuff! I do understand the concern, especially if it gets wet. But that can be said for any bedding, if it gets wet. Heck, even newspaper can be a danger if you keep it around for too long, even if it doesn't get wet.
MonicaMc A question Can the animals that it is packaged for be bothered by that same fungus? I have been looking at the tunnels and toys made for rodents, rabbits and ferrets at the pet stores made out of hay and I had thought they would be great for small parrots to chew and play with. Your cockateil looked like he really enjoyed that hay
Aliray, I don't know. I would assume so, but I am not a small animal person. I have kept rabbits before, in the past, but they were never given hay. They had pellets and the occasional fresh grasses (i.e. whatever grew in the yard). That was years ago when I was in elementary school and knew limited info about caring for them.
I've never owned any other kind of rodent before, although my sister did own a hamster at one point in time. He never received hay, either.
I thought about those same tunnels, toys and houses, but my concern would be if a bird thought it was some kind of nest, so I've stayed away from them. I think it might be great for a larger parrot if you could stuff it with foraging thigns, but many of those aren't in packaging, so there's always a concern of cross contamination, too.
And yes, she does enjoy the grass!
BTW, the wooden perch in front of the hay feeder is also from the small animal section. One side is flat, the other has bark on it and is rounded.
Thank you!
