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Always be sure items are bird
safe and is recommended for birds. Check toys regularly for hazards.
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I can not emphasize enough to you about the safety of
ropes. Keep ropes short, if ropes get untied you either need to re
knot the rope or cut the excess off. Stringy ropes are great for
birds getting caught in. The most safest cotton rope is the
Supreme Cotton Rope™. With rope toys watch for
excessive fraying if the length is too long, cut or re-tie knots in
rope.
A bird can get a foot or body entanglement in the rope and may not be
able to free its self with out you're help.
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Watch for all things that have
been chewed on that the bird somehow can not get caught or hurt on it.
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Make sure if your bird wears
leg band, that the leg band can not get caught on some part of the toy.
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Never give your bird Styrofoam
of any kind to chew on as a toy, it can kill them if ingested.
Many things can kill a bird if object are ingested, but Styrofoam is a
definite no-no.
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If given paper towel or toilet
paper rolls to a bird, watch carefully especially with small birds such as Love
Birds or
Budgies as they have been known to get stuck in them if the tube should
stand up on end and die due to suffocation
if not
known that they were in the paper roll.
Cut the length of the roll so that it is short so they can keep
their footing when playing with the tube.
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Hanging toys should be hung so
that it can't come off with the weight of the bird if its hanging from
the toy.
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Most birds do not eat wood
pieces but still watch them carefully to make sure what it is they do
with the pieces.
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Preferably do not use wire to
secure toys to the cage, many times birds get the wire loose enough
then get
the leg band caught in it and can't get away. Remember, if a bird can't
get its foot or leg loose, they panic
and will chew their foot off to
free themselves.
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Always put yourself in the
position of 'What if I were bird, what would be a hazard to myself?'
There are many times
that you will put something in position and think it is safe, but only
later to find out that it's not safe at all.
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If a toy looks like it may not
be safe then remove it and replace it with another one, or perhaps some
of the pieces
on it can be used towards another toy that you can make.
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Don't flavor wood pieces when
making toys, it is not a good idea. Birds may want to eat it if it
tastes good to them.
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'Zinc' plated quick links may not be good for your bird, but as a general rule
birds don't mess with the link being that it
is at the top of the toy or at the top of the cage. Stainless
Steel links are non toxic.
I personally do not worry about it, in all my years of using Zinc Plated
Quick Links, I've never had a problem. Use 'Stainless Steel plated' or
'Nickel' plated as an alternative is you are not comfortable using zinc
plated items. Zinc is considered to be toxic to birds, to
read more go to this link outside of our website, a new window will open
Click Here
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Split key rings that are used to hang the toy are
dangerous, if the bird splits apart the ring they can get their
tongue or toe caught between where it splits. Split key rings
should not be used on any bird toys. Wooden Clothes pins
that have the wire spring on them are
dangerous, too. For an clothes pin alternative use the wooden peg
type. Certain fabrics that fray easily,
the strands will entangle the bird.
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When looping ropes, wire or
anything else that requires a loop, make it small enough so the bird can
not get
its head stuck in the loop and hang its self.
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Screws - a bird can get its leg
band caught on the head of the screw and may not be able to free its self,
this is common
in an aviary. Perches and such things that are screwed together as
the bird chews on the wood exposing the screw shaft, it can be a hazard
as it can poke or jab them or they can fall or fly into it.
Replace the wood when this happens or remove the exposed screw.
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A bird should be given the
appropriate size toy for the size of the bird species that it is.
Don't give a Cockatiel a Amazon size toy. If its too big they may get
hurt on it or they may not even play with it. Please use common
sense when it comes to birds and their toys.
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When closing 'S' hooks or 'O' rings on a toy be sure
that they are closed very tightly, this will prevent leg bands or the
leg from
getting caught in the opening.
You should always do a periodic check on any type of hardware or other
toy parts that contain openings. For large birds if the gauge of
the ring is not heavy enough the large birds can open the rings.
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This item should NOT be bought
for
bird toy
item.
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Take a look at the safe
Supreme Cotton Rope that we use in our toys and sell.
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This is the only type of
Paulie Rope you should use when
making your bird toys, or buying toys. If it's not the 'Odyssey
Paulie Rope', you should not use any other poly ropes that you may
find in hardware stores or markets, they are not bird safe. Stay
out of the Hardware stores when it comes to ropes, none of those stores
carry the type of ropes you need to make bird toys with. I also do
not approve of the Sisal Ropes, I find them to have very entangling
fibers and would not recommend them at all. The same goes for twines of
any type, do not use any twines. The 'Supreme Cotton Rope' and the
'Odyssey Paulie Rope' are manufactured for the same company, they have
set out to have one of the most safest ropes when it comes to bird
safety. It is true they are the best by far, it is safety that we
want for our birds! I have tested the 'Odyssey Paulie Rope' and
the 'Supreme Cotton Rope' with our small and large birds and they like
it and it does what it is meant to do when it is torn apart, these
are two great items that have proven the ultimate safety to me.
They are two superior products and I would highly recommend them to any
one to use in bird toy making, you can also purchase these two items on
our site.
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Plastics should not be brittle type plastics that you
give to birds as they can shatter. You have to be able to the
difference between, hard, soft, brittle plastics. We do not sell
any types of brittle type plastic items.
Remember, safety comes from being monitored, nothing in this world is
one hundred percent safe.
