Avoid the Penn-Plax brand!

[Rico_Tiel]

I was looking on Amazon for bird toys and I found a brand I had not seen in a while. I looked at the shop and oh my god I said wtf so many times. This brand is unsafe and not a brand I would trust. Their toys are very hazardous and they have rope, copper, sexually frustrating objects, mirrors, or gravel-like surfaces.

The mirrors:

There aren’t as many mirrors as there are copper bells and ropes from what I’ve seen but here are a few mirror toys:

For anyone who doesn’t know, mirrors can cause a false sense of reality and can frustrate the bird. It will give the mirror affection, regurgitated seeds, and attention but the reflection will not reciprocate so it will become sexually frustrated and angry. Or, the bird will try and attack the reflection.


The gravel-like surfaces:

These look just painful to stand on.

For anyone who doesn’t know, sandpaper/cement perches or perch covers are VERY bad on the feet and can cause nasty sores, painful wounds, and scrapes on the soft feet of our beloved parrots, especially if they sit on it most. The only sand perches I would recommend is the ones that are smooth on top and rough on the sides. the SFB sand perch is the type I mean. I’m looking into it but the shipping is off putting to me. Ik, it’s like 5 bucks but still! The principle of not having to pay for shipping is cemented in my brain.


Rope toys:

As you can see, these toys are hazardous! And if you have a keen eye, you can see there are copper bells, which we will get into in a second. If you do not know, frilly rope like this is an entanglement or impaction hazard. How can it tangle your bird: your bird may be grabbing it with its foot and some rope could easily tangle your bird’s foot. How it could impact your bird: your bird may chew on this and ingest the fibers which cannot be digested and can get stuck in the crop where it can continue to build up until your bird is in dire condition and in crisis. This is such an issue it’s in my VET BOOK.


Copper bells:

As you can see, there are some cute, shiny, brownish looking bells. Looks innocent right? Well, that’s what people may think, and they get this for their bird and end up poisoning their bird. Copper is a metal that is quite toxic to parrots and can cause heavy metal poisoning if ingested. Bells can be a danger to birds who mess with them and are highly interested in them, due to the clapper inside that can snag beaks and tongues. So this is just a big no no!


The sexually frustrating toys:

If you are new to birds, you may think your bird may want a friend but you can’t afford a 2nd bird. So, you may buy a mirror or fake bird. just like the mirror, it will cause sexual frustration and anger due to the fact that the fake bird will not reciprocate the affection and attention it gives to it.

The one with the spring can snag feet too

 

[Rico_Tiel]

This is why penn-plax is a brand you should NOT buy from. The toys are almost all hazardous and if you have a toy from this brand PLEASE check for copper and check for the hazards mentioned here. This brand obviously knows nothing about birds and should not be supported.

 

[DonnaBudgie]

This is why penn-plax is a brand you should NOT buy from. The toys are almost all hazardous and if you have a toy from this brand PLEASE check for copper and check for the hazards mentioned here. This brand obviously knows nothing about birds and should not be supported.

I hate those silly plastic birds people clip to perches as companions for their budgies instead of spending time with them. That and most mirrors. I saw "most" because I think it's okay to let your bird investigate mirrors outside of their cages but I'd never put one in the cage.

 

[Rico_Tiel]

I hate those silly plastic birds people clip to perches as companions for their budgies instead of spending time with them. That and most mirrors. I saw "most" because I think it's okay to let your bird investigate mirrors outside of their cages but I'd never put one in the cage.

I 1000% agree with you here! The way I keep Rico in check in the living room is using the mirror in the hall. If he’s being an unruly chicken nugget, well I guess no more mirror 4 u then and that means no more peekaboo (he LOVES peekaboo!) and it keeps him in check. Better than having my mom lose her mind at me over seeds! But anyway, I would NEVER put a mirror in his cage because if he sees one for a few minutes without a break, he becomes possessive and hyper fixated on it and becomes a monster who inflicts really painful bites! So, I believe it is just fine for a bird to see a mirror now and then, but I don’t believe it is ever okay to keep a mirror in the cage. No ifs, whens, or buts. “Oh but my bird is lonely!” So either hang out with it or get it a companion. “Oh but I don’t have enough time for my bird!” Then why have one? It’s like having a kid and never playing with them! “Oh but I can’t afford a 2nd bird!” So bond with your bird! These are all excuses I have heard and it’s so irritating. It’s just fine to be unaware! I get that, I was unaware of MANY things when I had my first birds! I fed mainly seeds, I had mirrors and plastic bowls, they had a happy hut at one point (I threw that piece of crap out when I found out the dangers of it), their cage was not cleaned as often as it should have been, and I didn’t know about drafts, sexually frustrating them, I never thought to read the ingredients of their food, and the few times they had pellets, I never read the ingredients. I now know all of this and much more and I regret so much. I hardly knew a lick of what I was doing aside from the basic care like toys, natural wood perches, chop, and cage sizing. Everyone makes mistakes and it’s 100% okay to do that! But what is not okay, is making stupid excuses instead of owning up and admitting that you were wrong.
(I’m not directing this at you but I mean this like, in a sense of those who do this. Like for example: the majority of TikTok) people who cannot say “oh really? Man, thanks for telling me!” And instead say “oh well I don’t have enough time/money!” Or “oh it’s wild and I can’t tame it!” Or “it’s so lonely and I can’t have a 2nd bird!” And blah blah blah and make these dumb excuses, are the people who should not have animals. They are the types of people to lie through their teeth to get out of situations that are their fault. The types to lie like it is second nature to avoid hate or being given advice.

Woo I went off on a tangent. Sorry!


TLDR: I agree and people who don’t know are A-Okay in my book but people who make excuses are stinky liars.