More On Ingested Fibrous Matter (from toys/accessories/cloth items)

[plax]

From Facebook post by Brisbane Bird Vet ([Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks])

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We think this foreign body would have to be a record size! We have had a number of facebook posts about cloth toys being a problem and how dangerous they can be but we felt this case was worth sharing. “Skippy” the Cockatiel presented to the clinic yesterday with vomiting and weight loss. We could palpate a large foreign body in his crop and performed surgery immediately to remove it. Even we were shocked by the size of this mass! “Skippy” is recovering well post surgery and feeling a lot more comfortable.
So how can we prevent this from occurring? Foreign bodies are commonly made up of fibres from happy huts, cotton toys, cage covers, fleece, curtains, carpets or even pet hair. The majority of owners are unaware that their birds are even chewing these items. They take small fibres which build up internally over a long period of time. We recommend using natural based toys such as sisal, seagrass, abaca etc. All birds should be monitored with new toys and if they appear to be ingesting any material then the toys should be removed and replaced immediately. We find many birds ingest their toys out of a lack of enrichment. When given options for food based foraging this can change their behaviour to prevent unwanted destruction and ingestion of these items.

[Casper's 2nd best friend]

It's good to hear little Skippy has survived the ordeal. It shows why it is important to keep track of your birds weight so you can take prompt action if there is a sudden loss. Casper's weight tends to fluctuate with the seasons so its good to have it all noted down in a little book.

[Albert]

HOLY CRAP! THAT came out of the LITTLE bird??? And it lived?? That's some vet, huh?

Makes ya want to get rid of any cloth based toy! I know Salty likes to chew on the cloth perch and ring he plays on. I dont THINK he is eating it, but...

His weight goes from 270- 264 or so , up n down, in oh say a week. He'll be down to 264 and then a few days later back up to 268. We always weigh him in the AM, before his food is changed out for the day.

[spiritbird]

Yup, get rid of those sleep huts if you are using them. The fibers build up over time so your bird would potentially be gravely harmed.

[Penny]

Yup. I had a friend with a cockatoo that had problems with that once. Was saved by an operation like this little guy but it was sure time consuming and expensive. Because I tend to focus on making bird toys designed to be destroyed I try and use more seagrass and leather to avoid them ingesting too many fibers.

[Lady]

I'm so glad Skippy is doing well and the owners got him to the vet in time! That is an amazing amount of stuff to come from such a little guy!