Text and images from: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...27528937259790
Friend and colleague Dr Peter Wilson of Currumbin Creek Veterinary Services kindly allowed me to photograph these cropoliths that form part of his collection of objects removed surgically from live birds and at necropsy. Cropoliths like these are usually but not always the result of parrots and cockatoos and lorikeets swallowing indigestible synthetic fibres that become entangled and matted within the upper digestive tract, commonly the crop, and then impacted with food debris, bacteria and fungi, thus leading to acute and chronic illness, ill health, intermittent attempts to vomit and regurgitate, variable inappetence recurrent bacterial and/or fungal infections, toxaemia, slow starvation and death.
Highly fashionable highly promoted multicoloured synthetic rope perches and toys, often with large tassles included, are commonly the source of such fibres and those who promote and sell them clearly indicate their ignorance and/or their priority of earning more holey dollars over and beyond the welfare of the animals they purport to serve. Synthetic velvetene in cage tents, cage covers and various ties can be other sources of these fibres. An exception to the rule is the very large 2nd last cropolith featured... it is made almost entirely of coconut fibres. It is so easy to prevent your birds getting cropoliths,
Cropoliths are often tricky and expensive to diagnose, especially if they have moved down into the proventriculus and gizzard where they are often fatal, and they can be very expensive to successfully remove surgically.
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Many people would not be aware this could happen as rope toys and perches are widely available 
Originally Posted by PlaxMacaws
