Post by spookyhurst on Jun 14, 2005 15:26:37 GMT -7
I have a couple of questions about lead/zinc poisoning.
1. Can you trust that the quick links on toys you buy at a petshop are lead/zinc free? Or is it better to replace them with ones that you KNOW are safe? I've seen some unsafe items at pet shops (like key rings on toys instead of quick links), so it makes me wonder if you can trust anything they have to offer. Perhaps I'm just paranoid
.
2. I'm curious about whether one of my childhood parakeets might have died from lead poisoning. I've read plenty about the dangers of lead and zinc poisoning, but I haven't been able to find anything that tells of the symptoms. So here's my story: I was a dumb kid, and thought I'd spiff up Bobby's old cage with a new paint job. A nice sparkly gold paint. Yeah, not a very good idea. I'm not sure when Bobby's illness began, but he had 3 symptoms that I remember. There were tiny spots of blood on the wall by his cage from when he would sneeze. All of the feathers around his vent fell out, so you could see his bare little purple butt. Occassionally he would just freeze in the middle of playing, his pupils would shrink, and the feathers on his head would stand up. After several seconds, he would come out of it as if nothing had happend (a seizure perhaps?). Other than that, he ate well and acted happy and perky. He died at about 6 1/2 years. My mother found him on the bottom of his cage. He bled to death
(there was blood on the cage floor). I never made the connection between the paint and his illness until a few years ago. Were his symptoms indicitive of being poisoned?
1. Can you trust that the quick links on toys you buy at a petshop are lead/zinc free? Or is it better to replace them with ones that you KNOW are safe? I've seen some unsafe items at pet shops (like key rings on toys instead of quick links), so it makes me wonder if you can trust anything they have to offer. Perhaps I'm just paranoid
. 2. I'm curious about whether one of my childhood parakeets might have died from lead poisoning. I've read plenty about the dangers of lead and zinc poisoning, but I haven't been able to find anything that tells of the symptoms. So here's my story: I was a dumb kid, and thought I'd spiff up Bobby's old cage with a new paint job. A nice sparkly gold paint. Yeah, not a very good idea. I'm not sure when Bobby's illness began, but he had 3 symptoms that I remember. There were tiny spots of blood on the wall by his cage from when he would sneeze. All of the feathers around his vent fell out, so you could see his bare little purple butt. Occassionally he would just freeze in the middle of playing, his pupils would shrink, and the feathers on his head would stand up. After several seconds, he would come out of it as if nothing had happend (a seizure perhaps?). Other than that, he ate well and acted happy and perky. He died at about 6 1/2 years. My mother found him on the bottom of his cage. He bled to death
(there was blood on the cage floor). I never made the connection between the paint and his illness until a few years ago. Were his symptoms indicitive of being poisoned? 
