Crystals, gemstones, minerals

[opalwings]

I have collected crystals since before I’ve had birds…
Mostly amethyst geodes, rose quartz, quartz, calcite, fluorite, selenite, citrine, obsidian, aragonite.
My budgie and Linnie have never shown any interest in them or even gone near them.
they are scattered around the house as decor, mostly up on shelves… not anywhere where the girls play other than one that’s on my husbands desk. They don’t really play there unsupervised… or anywhere unsupervised actually. I work from home so I can watch them.
anyway, as a psycho bird lady I have gotten rid of all my plants and have lovely fake ones (paranoid about them eating even safe plants or soil) I have turned my house and life upside down, I read guests there rights when they come over. I’m so overprotective and hyper aware.
BUT!
i never thought about the crystals… i never heard anything about them.
I feel so dumb for not thinking about it.
Should I put them all in a glass cabinet or on really high shelves? Encase them in terrariums?

my girls have never even looked at them like I said, they have teeny beaks and don’t try to nibble things. They have so many toys and playstands and shredded stuff everywhere that nothing else interests them (except their daddy’s laptop ‍) and the crystals aren’t in their regular path or close to their playing places, if that makes sense

but now that I’m thinking about it, and I read an article linked from a post, about levels of toxins in crystals, I am super paranoid! You know, weird flukes can happen even when they are being supervised.


any other crystal lovers? What do you do with yours?
Thank you!

 

[Shezbug]

I just don’t allow my birds to play with my crystals.

 

[expressmailtome]

Without seeing the article, I am not positive what crystals that would be as every type of stone has a different chemical makeup. Now, is it good for them to eat chunks of the crystals? Likely not. Is it fine for them to "beak" one occasionally? It depends on the type of stone/rock/crystal. Unfortunately, I always ere on the side of caution and put things where my bird can not get to them. If they are already on a shelf, they do sell fairly inexpensive plexiglass "boxes" that are not unattractive that you could put over them, or depending on your shelving, get a sheet of plexiglass and put it at the front of the shelf to make a sort of removeable see through door.

 

[opalwings]

Thank you! That’s a good idea. I will look into getting a special wall cabinet with glass doors or something
Because some of these are out and about…
The girls never really cross the path of the crystals but Maybe it’s better to be over cautious .

 

[opalwings]

I just don’t allow my birds to play with my crystals.

Hey, I totally agree. I have never let my birds play with my crystals. They’ve never even shown any interest.
but how do you keep the crystals out? Or do you hide them away behind glass or up on a really high display shelf?
im just trying to figure out how to store or display them.
They are in random places that the birds don’t really go, like next to the TV, or on the bathtub shelf, or display shelving in the bathroom
I have one on my desk… the birds come into my office and they have their own places to play so they don’t really play on my desk.
and I wouldn’t leave them unsupervised unless they were in a cage.
but, that being said, the selenite crystal is out, just sitting there on my desk. It’s not likely they would ever go after it, and they never have, they are not chewers or nibblers and never touched household items, unless it’s a basket. they only beak their toys, and our phones.
but for me it’s a question of is it worth the tiny risk? birds can do weird things sometimes.

Thank you so much for your reply!

 

[Spearmint]

I feel like it depends. I have a bit crystal collection, and only certain ones I have in areas my bird might be able to get to. Things like malachite, azurite, get stored away when he's out due to their toxicity when ingested.

For the others, such as my Dioptase, Tourmaline, etc etc, are up on a shelf. He could, in theory, fly up there and grab one, but he's never tried before.
Overall i'd just keep them out of reach

 

[opalwings]

Perfect thank you!