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How do I know if my bird ate plastic?
My adult blue and gold macaw, which I've had for a week, loves hard plastic beads that she pulled off her bird toy. The beads are 1/2 inch in diameter. I thought there was nothing wrong with her playing with them, as she has shown no interest in actually swallowing them. But, after an animal shelter guy told me all plastic is suspect because she can swallow bits and they can get stuck in her crop, I stopped giving her the beads unless I was watching her.
This time, she was chewing on a red bead and then she wasn't. I didn't hear it drop and I can't find it, though the way she drops things and the way my room is pretty cluttered, it's not unusual for something she drops to roll into a corner and for me to not find it for a day or so.
She's acting pretty normal, though I don't have a solid grasp on what "normal" is for her because we've been together for so short a time. She doesn't seem sick, but how can I know for sure? She never lets me touch the front of her neck, so I can't really feel it to find out. I'm freaking out a little here.
I know I could bring her to a vet, but she doesn't trust me very much. Getting her into the carrier alone would be an ordeal and a half, and would probably do nothing for the relationship I'm trying to build. And if this is just my paranoia, I don't want to traumatize her unnecessarily.
I asked the internet in general and was told that anything can get stuck in a crop, even food. Anyone have a foolproof way to know whether my bird is ok? And how to keep her ok? I'm new to this adventure, I've never had a bird this big before, and I want to do right by her.