# Ceramic bowls dangerous?



## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

A while back, someone mentioned something about ceramic bowls being dangerous because they have lead or something in them and I've seen it mentioned a few times since then. How much truth is there to this? And if this is the case, why are ceramic bowls still recommended? I'm going to assume they meant the ceramic bowls that you would buy from Petco or Petsmart, so I'm more than a little confused because I know a *lot* of us use these bowls.

Any insight/info is much appreciated.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

It depends on where you get the bowls from and where they are made. If made in Canada or the US, you can be certain there would not be lead. Foreign made it's possible. If there is a concern, there are led test strips you can buy to check dishes.


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

Is lead something that would 'wash off' after repeated use/washing? Or is it one of those things where if there's lead in the paint, there's lead in the paint, period? I feel like an idiot for being so in the dark about this stuff. :lol:


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

If I remember right from stuff I read, the concern is that the lead would leach out of the paint and get into the food/water in the bowl, in very small amounts that would eventually add up. (I could be completely wrong, these are just kind of vague memories based on what I've heard/read before.) I've thought about possibly switching to glass bowls or something for my next hedgehog, but I also never had a problem with Lily getting sick from her bowls, so I dunno.


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## MLHollywood (Apr 22, 2012)

It won't just wash off. If there's lead in the paint, it's in all the paint. XD It leeches out on the food and all, and it's getting on your hands when you handle it. You can wash your hands of course, but the food would be contaminated.

I'm a little wary as well since I know mine is foreign made. However, most cookware isn't really an issue. I didn't buy my dish from a kitchen store/section, but I might switch to something like that eventually. The best thing to do (for the both of us) is just to test the dish.

I would think it would start being obvious in pet health if all this dishes were painted with lead paint though, right?


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## Lilysmommy (Jan 7, 2009)

I think a lot of the pet dishes that people use for hedgies, though, are either small animal ones, or reptile ones. And I know most small animal owners won't take them to the vet regularly (or at all), so it may make it more difficult to notice if there's a line of contaminated dishes.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

In ceramic or china dishes, the lead is in the glaze they use. There is more of a concern with the water dish than the food. Lead is something that takes repeated exposure to build up in our systems. Lead used to be in many things including plastics, paint, dishes, cutlery window blinds, flooring etc.


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## FiaSpice (Jan 16, 2009)

What would a lead intokication symptomps would look like?


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## hanhan27 (May 12, 2011)

MLHollywood said:


> I'm a little wary as well since I know mine is foreign made. However, most cookware isn't really an issue. I didn't buy my dish from a kitchen store/section, but I might switch to something like that eventually. The best thing to do (for the both of us) is just to test the dish.


I'll be switching to something that is safe for human use with cooking, for sure. I'm almost afraid to test her bowls? I am curious, but I don't think I want to know!

Kelsey raises a good point. A LOT of people don't take their small animals in to the vet for wellness visits. I have 6 or 7 friends with small animals (guinea pigs and rabbits mostly) and only one of them takes her rabbit to the vet for check up, and that's because I talked her into it!


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## FiaSpice (Jan 16, 2009)

I reseached the symptoms in human and I got this.



Wikipedia said:


> Symptoms include abdominal pain, confusion, headache, anemia, irritability, and in severe cases seizures, coma, and death.


I can't help but wonder if it could have had to do with my babies' death. But again, I had Litchi for 6 1/2 year and Tangelo since 3 years, if the bowls did had lead Litchi would have been sick way before I guess.

This is from the Merck Vet Manual online, I looks more about dog or birds but nevertheless...


Merck said:


> GI abnormalities, including anorexia, colic, emesis, and diarrhea or constipation, may be seen in dogs. Anxiety, hysterical barking, jaw champing, salivation, blindness, ataxia, muscle spasms, opisthotonos, and convulsions may develop. CNS depression rather than CNS excitation may be evident in some dogs. In horses, lead poisoning usually produces a chronic syndrome characterized by weight loss, depression, weakness, colic, diarrhea, laryngeal or pharyngeal paralysis (roaring), and dysphagia that frequently results in aspiration pneumonia.
> In avian species, anorexia, ataxia, loss of condition, wing and leg weakness, and anemia are the most notable signs.


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## Nancy (Aug 22, 2008)

The only pet dishes I've heard that some people had concern about were those brown ones with the blue glaze inside. Considering how many millions of pets, large and small have used those dishes over the years, I think if they really were an issue, by now, it would be well known. 

In a small animal, I imagine the symptoms would happen fairly quickly. 

Ideally, clear glass dishes would be the safest, but it's difficult to find small glass bowls that don't have slanted sides.


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## MLHollywood (Apr 22, 2012)

Nancy's right. There is actually small amounts of lead in any commercially made ceramic glaze, but I was thinking about quality control when I mentioned getting something that was "food grade." The manufacturers for that sort of thing have I continually decrease the lead leeching out of their products, but I imagine it's also the same sort of company making the crocks for pets. Someone is just having them make the specific shape for them.

In any case, I don't think there's too much to worry about. I suppose lead might leech into water more easily than food, so you could consider that, but it takes a lot of exposure over a long time to develop symptoms, and there is a safe threshold for any creature. I couldn't tell you what it would be for hedgehogs, of course, but I still have a hard time believing its too much being leeched from the glaze.


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