# Possibly swallowed part of earring?



## Nadley (Dec 28, 2011)

Ralph was sitting on my shoulder about an hour ago, and before I could stop her, she grabbed my earring and pulled off the cubic zirconia that was in it. It all happened within a split second. My husband saw what happened and said he could have sworn he saw Ralph drop the stone, but we can't find it on the floor anywhere. It's about 1/8 inch in diameter--is that small enough that she could have swallowed it? The stone has a point on the bottom so I'm worried it will hurt her if she swallowed it. She's acting totally normal. I'm really hoping she just dropped it and it disappeared somewhere in the carpet. If she swallowed it, would it go through her or would it get stuck and cause problems?


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## Dekey (Apr 21, 2011)

If it did get swallowed and the end is pointed then you should get her to the vet but you should notice a behavior change in her insurgent swallow just keep an eye one her


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

This is a tough call. The problem is that since it had a sharp point, if she did swallow it, it could cause a perforation in her digestive system. This is very serious. I think if this were my bird, I would probably want to at least talk to a vet on the phone for advice. You can also give some peanut butter to help coat her digestive tract, but you'll definitely want to watch closely.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

For what it's worth, here's a story by a vet about a cockatiel that swallowed a large diamond: http://web.archive.org/web/20100727122208/http://www.petpublishing.com/birdtimes/articles/grit.shtml They don't say exactly how big the diamond was.


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## Nadley (Dec 28, 2011)

I called the vet's office, and they recommended bringing her in for x-rays. I asked about pricing for the x-rays, and it looks like I'd have to pay at least $150 for the x-rays (more if they need to do more than two), plus a regular exam fee (which has been $50 when I've been in there before), plus an emergency visit fee. So I'm looking at spending hundreds of dollars if I bring her in, which is money we don't have . The vet's office didn't have any other advice for me.

I went over the area where the incident happened with my hand vacuum, and the stone wasn't inside the vacuum. There's a couch and chair nearby with lots of crevices it could have fallen into. I measured the other earring and the diameter is actually closer to 1/4'' than 1/8''. Ralph is still acting completely normal.


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

How is she doing now? Watch her droppings very closely, and at least give her some peanut butter to help her pass the stone if she did swallow it.


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

This is a tough call to make...he said he saw it fall so chances are that she didn't eat it. At this point, it's been 7 hours since the incident so if she had swallowed it then it probably wouldn't be in her crop any longer which means the only way to remove it would be surgically..i would give the peanut butter as recommended and pay *close* attention to the poops. If she begins having abnormal poops then i would get her into the vet ASAP since it might indicate the stone causing an obstruction. 

Right now it might be best to allow her to pass it on her own (which, according to the article, might take some time). Most cubic zirconias that I have seen in earrings haven't had a sharp tip in the back, the tip was more curved than it was pointed. I think 1/4" is passable.


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## Nadley (Dec 28, 2011)

Thanks for your advice. I just uncovered her and got her out of her cage--she's still acting normal. Her droppings look normal. I will keep a close eye on the droppings and pick up some peanut butter when I'm at the store today. If something starts to look wrong, we will take her to the vet and find some way to pay for it.


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## Nadley (Dec 28, 2011)

Just a quick update--Ralph still seems to be doing fine. Her poops are still perfectly normal. I offered peanut butter with her favorite seeds smushed into it, she took one taste and then would have nothing to do with it . I'm getting less worried now, since it's been over 48 hours and no problems so far, but I'm still keeping an eye on the droppings.


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