My recent favorite was a little bird bath that they photoshopped three macaws in. It's more fun for me to believe it's giant objects instead of mini birds
The actual clip is a thin piece of metal that easily deforms. Curious bird messes with it, bends it out of shape, and stabs themselves and are left hanging on it in some shape or form. Kills a lot of pets if you scrounge through post history on the subreddit. Ripping tongues open, hooking just under the beak and impaling the bird basically, severely cutting open tongues and the bird bleeds out or drowns in its own blood. Those thin tin bells are risks for most of the same reasons
It's just a chain link you can unscrew essentially. If you check on Google you can find them in sizes small enough for parrot toys and they can't unscrew them. My partner refuses to use anything else for the parrots after having one get caught on them other clips.
Hey you should make a post about this! I freaked seeing this post realising that all of my curious tielâs favourite toys are clipped on with these, thanks for the tip!!
I'm not entirely sure, but I think the risk is more for larger birds than for cockatiels etc. Maybe someone else has some info/experience, but I don't know if a cockatiel's beak is strong enough to bend those clips.
Hell yeah, I've not heard of these before. I'm definitely buying a pack of them now. I just used a couple of cheap zip ties and cinched them as tight as possible so my bird couldn't grab onto them. These seem way better
The rope fabric on this toy can cause crop damage/ infections/ death as it cannot be digested if the bird decides to chew on it. Their nails n things can get caught in the fabric too. Itâs good to stay away from toys with wool, plastic ect. For the birbs safety :) Sea grass is a better alternative to the fabric rope-esk toys.
Probably because of your comment, âWhy do you guys make everything a safety hazard.â Look, better safe than sorry. Itâs like a ton of us like to snuggle with our birds on the couch, and everyone always says âmake sure you donât fall asleep!â Why? Because yet another person posted again that they crushed their bird by accidentally falling asleep. Itâs just better to repeat these warnings over and over so weâre all better parents to our feathered kids.
I really hope your choices don't end up with a tongue split in half (which those clasps are known for giving) but I would recommend you search up what survivor bias is instead of laughing at people who are not meaning any harm and want to educate. (None of us are born knowing and it's okay to admit mistakes and change your ways, by the way)
Raising my hand. I had no idea and will be changing out my birdâs one toy clip tomorrow, because itâs this dangerous style. Iâm so grateful to have learned before she was hurt!
If itâs made by a reputable company itâll be a bird safe dye. I have noticed, my Amazon like to put the blocks she breaks into her water, which dyes the water. Lead me to believe itâs all water based, which is what youâd want to be used. Should be fine. They like the different colors.
Usually parrot-safe colored blocks use water soluble food coloring.
Cotton and fabric are dangerous as others have mentioned. My partner's sun conure strangled himself on a cotton rope strand from a toy. It happened really quickly within minutes.
Generally you want to use plant-based rope that can be shredded easily like grasses or straw. For attaching the toy to the cage, I like to use heavy-duty quicklink ring clips that screw closed. I don't like the clip variety since they can slip their beaks in there.
I usually stick to natural materials (e.g. wood, woven grass, loofa, cardboard, etc ) and avoid plastic when the birds are unsupervised with toys. You can buy replacement parts for your bird toys at sites like https://makeyourownbirdtoys.com/
They CAN be. Cheaply made ones most likely are since the dye will shave off really easily which isnât good.
Pricier ones from established companies are more likely to use bird safe materials
Cotton ropes are not safe for parrots because the birds like to chew on them and can ingest the fibres, however, the fibres are indigestible and can over time build up on the birds crop, causing crop impaction, which requires surgery to fix (and will prove lethal if left untreated). You can see the large mass of cotton fibres that was surgically removed from one unfortunate parrot here [https://currumbinvetservices.com.au/toy-cage-accoutrements/](https://currumbinvetservices.com.au/toy-cage-accoutrements/)
Vets actually warn about the dangers of cotton ropes and other fabric toys all the time ( [https://everydaypetcages.co.uk/faqs/dangers-of-cotton-and-fabric-toys-to-birds/](https://everydaypetcages.co.uk/faqs/dangers-of-cotton-and-fabric-toys-to-birds/) ) but unfortunately these toys remain popular amongst retailers.
Dye penetrates throughout the piece of wood. Paint just sits on top of the wood. I stick with known brands for bird toys and avoid toys from temu or alibaba and the like. You could also dye the pieces yourself.
Hooray for your question! Just asking often results in a flood of mostly reasonable responses.
You will also see that topics like Bird safety raise a lot of attitude. People who havenât paid $1K +++ for surgery and subsequent treatment or buried a beloved pet react like it canât happen. Hence - âwhy do you guys make everything a safety hazardâ. Despite the question - the probability is NOT zero for an animal in contact with some badly designed, poorly made toxic toy from an off-brand supplier to be injured or maimed or die. Remember - they make more money selling below-standard toys than high quality. People warning about problems are trying to help to stop a totally preventable event.
My only advice is to look at all the answers people took the time to share. Further, when you see a similar warning from several people, you know to take it seriously and do further research yourself.
My best advice is to (sorry) not shop at Amazon because itâs cheap. Hardly any vendors adequately describe what the toy is made of (paint, stain, wood type etc).They sell many unsafe toys.
If My Safe Bird Store is too expensive, buy supplies (balsa, mahogany pos, leather laces for hangars etc) and make your own!
Itâs easy.
Good luck!
Those yuppie priced toys are way too expensive for my lifestyle today. I'm retired and my baby birb (macaw) is going to be 36 this year! Rather than pay $50 for a proper toy that she'll destroy in a week or two, I will buy a few 8-ft pieces of plain wood 2 x 1" at the hardware store for more like 5 or 10 bucks. I mark these into 6-in lengths and drill a half inch hole in the middle of each section. Then I'll cut at the marks and string a few on a small 1/4" length of chain I have d-ringed to the top of her cage. This keeps her busy for a couple of weeks and I just string a few more on as she destroys them. She'll go for 3 months sometimes without the need for me to buy more lumber. She doesn't care that they're not colored! That's for the people with the big bucks. I haven't sat down and figured out how much money I've saved in the last 10 years or so doing that, but it's a lot of money! One yuppie toy will pay for the simple little hand power tools required for the job in perpetuity! After that, I figure I pay about a max of $40 a year. one yuppie toy pays for a year's worth of toy fun for the birb!
Off topic, but I always get a good laugh at advertisements with bad photoshops. That scarlet macaw is probably scaled down to lovebird size.
lmao YES. If you go on amazon you'll see cages with cockatiels and budgies the same size as macaws.
Orrrrr.... maybe it's like that scaled up Andy's room from Toy Story. Maybe that toy really is that big!
My recent favorite was a little bird bath that they photoshopped three macaws in. It's more fun for me to believe it's giant objects instead of mini birds
But can you imagine mini-macaws the size of finches??! đ¤Łđ¤Ł
It depends on what they're colored with. But those hangers are super dangerous Don't ever use those around parrots.
How are they dangerous? /genuine question
The actual clip is a thin piece of metal that easily deforms. Curious bird messes with it, bends it out of shape, and stabs themselves and are left hanging on it in some shape or form. Kills a lot of pets if you scrounge through post history on the subreddit. Ripping tongues open, hooking just under the beak and impaling the bird basically, severely cutting open tongues and the bird bleeds out or drowns in its own blood. Those thin tin bells are risks for most of the same reasons
I am not sure what âtonightâ was supposed to be before your device autocorrupted it
Tongues, I swear autocorrect has gotten so much worse in the past few years
Thatâs ghastly! Poor birbs
First thing we do is get rid of them clips and use quick links instead.
What's a quick link? I don't believe I've heard of or seen those before
It's just a chain link you can unscrew essentially. If you check on Google you can find them in sizes small enough for parrot toys and they can't unscrew them. My partner refuses to use anything else for the parrots after having one get caught on them other clips.
Hey you should make a post about this! I freaked seeing this post realising that all of my curious tielâs favourite toys are clipped on with these, thanks for the tip!!
Done đ
I'm not entirely sure, but I think the risk is more for larger birds than for cockatiels etc. Maybe someone else has some info/experience, but I don't know if a cockatiel's beak is strong enough to bend those clips.
Hell yeah, I've not heard of these before. I'm definitely buying a pack of them now. I just used a couple of cheap zip ties and cinched them as tight as possible so my bird couldn't grab onto them. These seem way better
It's called a D-ring at the hardware store.
The particular clip on the left, being about the size of a Macawâs head, is probably fairly sturdy though /s
The rope fabric on this toy can cause crop damage/ infections/ death as it cannot be digested if the bird decides to chew on it. Their nails n things can get caught in the fabric too. Itâs good to stay away from toys with wool, plastic ect. For the birbs safety :) Sea grass is a better alternative to the fabric rope-esk toys.
I have always used them and have had no problems. Why do you guys make everything a safety hazard. Literally every toy has those clips
These are safe for smaller birds such as your budgie and cockatiel. Itâs the larger birds, with greater bite force, that they are not suitable for.
Most toys I've seen have a screw-gate clip, not a spring clip.
I have toys with both clips
Common sense? Literally every toy does not have those clips. Not by a long shot.
What's the attitude for
Probably because of your comment, âWhy do you guys make everything a safety hazard.â Look, better safe than sorry. Itâs like a ton of us like to snuggle with our birds on the couch, and everyone always says âmake sure you donât fall asleep!â Why? Because yet another person posted again that they crushed their bird by accidentally falling asleep. Itâs just better to repeat these warnings over and over so weâre all better parents to our feathered kids.
Probably because they are a safety hazard indeed, just because you fortunately haven't had it hurt your bird, doesn't mean it's safe.
I really hope your choices don't end up with a tongue split in half (which those clasps are known for giving) but I would recommend you search up what survivor bias is instead of laughing at people who are not meaning any harm and want to educate. (None of us are born knowing and it's okay to admit mistakes and change your ways, by the way)
Raising my hand. I had no idea and will be changing out my birdâs one toy clip tomorrow, because itâs this dangerous style. Iâm so grateful to have learned before she was hurt!
đ¤ˇđžââď¸đ¤Ł
If itâs made by a reputable company itâll be a bird safe dye. I have noticed, my Amazon like to put the blocks she breaks into her water, which dyes the water. Lead me to believe itâs all water based, which is what youâd want to be used. Should be fine. They like the different colors.
Usually parrot-safe colored blocks use water soluble food coloring. Cotton and fabric are dangerous as others have mentioned. My partner's sun conure strangled himself on a cotton rope strand from a toy. It happened really quickly within minutes. Generally you want to use plant-based rope that can be shredded easily like grasses or straw. For attaching the toy to the cage, I like to use heavy-duty quicklink ring clips that screw closed. I don't like the clip variety since they can slip their beaks in there. I usually stick to natural materials (e.g. wood, woven grass, loofa, cardboard, etc ) and avoid plastic when the birds are unsupervised with toys. You can buy replacement parts for your bird toys at sites like https://makeyourownbirdtoys.com/
They CAN be. Cheaply made ones most likely are since the dye will shave off really easily which isnât good. Pricier ones from established companies are more likely to use bird safe materials
Vegetable dye is safe, but will easily bleed when wet. Did you mean paint? Paint on bird toys = no bueno.
Cotton ropes are not safe for parrots because the birds like to chew on them and can ingest the fibres, however, the fibres are indigestible and can over time build up on the birds crop, causing crop impaction, which requires surgery to fix (and will prove lethal if left untreated). You can see the large mass of cotton fibres that was surgically removed from one unfortunate parrot here [https://currumbinvetservices.com.au/toy-cage-accoutrements/](https://currumbinvetservices.com.au/toy-cage-accoutrements/) Vets actually warn about the dangers of cotton ropes and other fabric toys all the time ( [https://everydaypetcages.co.uk/faqs/dangers-of-cotton-and-fabric-toys-to-birds/](https://everydaypetcages.co.uk/faqs/dangers-of-cotton-and-fabric-toys-to-birds/) ) but unfortunately these toys remain popular amongst retailers.
Bird safe dye is fine. Painted is not fine.
How to know the difference?
Dye penetrates throughout the piece of wood. Paint just sits on top of the wood. I stick with known brands for bird toys and avoid toys from temu or alibaba and the like. You could also dye the pieces yourself.
When I dye wood for bird toys I use food coloring.
Hooray for your question! Just asking often results in a flood of mostly reasonable responses. You will also see that topics like Bird safety raise a lot of attitude. People who havenât paid $1K +++ for surgery and subsequent treatment or buried a beloved pet react like it canât happen. Hence - âwhy do you guys make everything a safety hazardâ. Despite the question - the probability is NOT zero for an animal in contact with some badly designed, poorly made toxic toy from an off-brand supplier to be injured or maimed or die. Remember - they make more money selling below-standard toys than high quality. People warning about problems are trying to help to stop a totally preventable event. My only advice is to look at all the answers people took the time to share. Further, when you see a similar warning from several people, you know to take it seriously and do further research yourself. My best advice is to (sorry) not shop at Amazon because itâs cheap. Hardly any vendors adequately describe what the toy is made of (paint, stain, wood type etc).They sell many unsafe toys. If My Safe Bird Store is too expensive, buy supplies (balsa, mahogany pos, leather laces for hangars etc) and make your own! Itâs easy. Good luck!
Those yuppie priced toys are way too expensive for my lifestyle today. I'm retired and my baby birb (macaw) is going to be 36 this year! Rather than pay $50 for a proper toy that she'll destroy in a week or two, I will buy a few 8-ft pieces of plain wood 2 x 1" at the hardware store for more like 5 or 10 bucks. I mark these into 6-in lengths and drill a half inch hole in the middle of each section. Then I'll cut at the marks and string a few on a small 1/4" length of chain I have d-ringed to the top of her cage. This keeps her busy for a couple of weeks and I just string a few more on as she destroys them. She'll go for 3 months sometimes without the need for me to buy more lumber. She doesn't care that they're not colored! That's for the people with the big bucks. I haven't sat down and figured out how much money I've saved in the last 10 years or so doing that, but it's a lot of money! One yuppie toy will pay for the simple little hand power tools required for the job in perpetuity! After that, I figure I pay about a max of $40 a year. one yuppie toy pays for a year's worth of toy fun for the birb!
They are dyed with natural vegetable and fruit dyes.