Think Safety - Check Your Rope Products

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TomsMum

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I have been doing a lot of worrying about this - and it has taken me a while to work out how to say this.

I am posting this in both the Housing and Parrot Entertainment sections as the use of rope is covered by both - perches, boings and various toys.

I am posting this as a pinned topic because I believe the safety of our birds is paramount; I am also posting this as a locked topic - because it has taken me a lot of soul searching to work out how to put this without causing issues, and I wouldn't want an on-going discussion to move the post away from it's intend highlight - i.e. That of parrot safety.

Like many of you I have rope products in use with my birds. It's one of those products that has really upset me and resulted in me writing.
I thought my product may be faulty or missed the quality control check - but the supplier advises that isn't the case, and that this is how the product is.
I am not going to identify the product, there is no real necessity - and I feel it would also detract from the point of my post - parrot safety.

The type of product involved maybe on sale in your local high street pet shop, your out-of-town big store or your on-line retailer - it doesn't matter what the source is.......just please, please CHECK ALL ROPE PRODUCTS DAILY.

The thing that caused me so much angst is shown in the photo below - again without the rest of the product - I don't want to detract from the point.

It's a length of thin wire - a bit over 4 inches long, and the grade you often get for use in the garden....the ends are very sharp from where they have been cut - the ends have not been sanded or ground, and not protected or bend over. This piece of wire is what was holding the end of the rope, rather than it being spliced or bound with something else, the inner wire that the rope was wrapped round, was then looped over a hanger and the 'end' encased.

All jolly fine to start off with?
The product has been in use for two months. I happened to notice a few strands of rope coming loose, so trimmed them off - same thing happened two days later, so thought I had better investigate why the thing was pulling apart. That's when I discovered, and was quite horrified, that this piece of wire had been used to secure the ends of the rope - why is it designed this way? I've no idea. Why a proper crimped ring, plastic tie or something else more appropriate could not have been used? I do not know.

Why am I upset? Because someone put the safety of my parrot at risk. He could have been injured, disabled, or killed. That's why I am writing this... Because if someone else's parrot was - I would never be able to forgive myself for not having shared what I discovered.

I urge you to regularly review all your products and toys - and please look at all rope products - both cotton and sisal daily. We're told to regularly check for strands and trim them - But you also need to check the point at which ropes connect to holders, clips, chains, etc, etc - as someone may have not done a very good job at product design.

Thank you for reading.

A safe parrot is a happy parrot and a contented owner xx
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Am pinging this one back up for visibility.....
we've had lots of lovely people join as members since I did this original post -
With that in mind and as a general refresher for everyone - I wanted to bring people's attention back to this issue...

we've seen piccies of some wonderful set-ups and I was worried that the thing I had a problem with was in use in at least one of them....

Please check all your toys and perches and other accessories regularly for damage, sharp edges, bits of wire, lose threads, etc, etc.

A safe parrot is a happy parrot :thumbsup:
 
Come on everybody make sure you do your regular toy safety checks and ensure there are no dangling threads or nasty poking out bits that can injure your birdies :)
 
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