RIP to most of my conures

Hey everyone, today has been noted to be the worst day of my life. I came home from school to nothing. I found out all of my birds were sent to the hospital because they dropped like flies and it's been lead to believe that it was because of our cookware. We're not sure, they said it was infections. Anyway, in all I had 8, one of the 2 month old babies passed away a month of go and now 6 more have died and we believe there's only 2 left. Now we are trying to find out any information possible to keep this from happening again. PLEASE anything helps! Thanks.

I'm so sorry to hear this. I'm assuming it is some sort of Teflon cookware the vet feels caused this? Do you have Teflon or another brand of cookware with non-stick coating?

D: That is terrible! I'm sooooo sorry!!!!

There are very dangerous chemicals used in some non stick cookware products. When they are used they release a toxic gas that causes a birds lungs to over react, the lungs create too much fluid and the birds drown. The higher the temperature the higher the volume of dangerous gas is released.

What part of the house are your birds located? I keep my two up stairs in my room that is always closed, and my window is open as much as possible.

Please keep us informed, I desperately hope some of your birds make it

If you use non-stick cookware with teflon or teflon like coating on it, yes, there is a very good chance they were poisoned by that...each of these product lines are usually found with non-stick coatings and/or working parts: automatic coffee makers, bread makers, broiler pans, cake pans, coffee warmers, cookie sheets, countertop grills, cupcake pans, curling irons, deep fryers, drip pans under stove eyes, electric skillets, fans, flat irons, grates above gas stove burners, grates on gas space heaters, heaters, hot plates, infrared light bulbs, ironing board covers, liners for ovens, pie pans, pizza pans, popcorn poppers, regular light bulbs, roasting pans, sandwich makers, slow cookers, toasters, tortilla presses, various cooking utensils, waffle irons, woks.

Here are some of the brands that are known to use teflon or teflon like non-stick coatings: Autograph, Clad, CuFlon, Ballarini, Duracote, Excalibur, Farberware, Fluron, Greblon, Hostaplon, Maxalon 2000, Perma-Cote, Princess, Resista, Revere Ware, Risoli, Sliver Slick, Silverstone, Swiss Diamond, Tefal, T-Fal, Wear-Ever and Xylon, among others.

Here's an article from 10 years ago.....“On Dec. 23rd, 2004 I was using an old pot that had most of the Teflon worn off of it to boil water to put a little moisture in the air. It was about 11:00 pm when I fell asleep. . . . .Ruby started screaming for me. I ran to the cage and pulled off the cover. . . .She uttered a few tiny sounds, then she was gone. . . . . To my horror, I saw the empty pot on the red hot coils. . . . . The pot I was using was old and worn out, but still had enough Teflon left to kill my baby from 30 feet away.”

This type of poisoning causes blisters inside a bird's air sacs and there is nothing that a veterinarian can do for them.....

Sorry that you lost your flock in this manner.....

Thanks and Yeah we do and it's most likely that but the we've had them for a long time it's crazy to believe that it was that since we use them a lot.

I thought the poison was released if you burnt the Teflon... Its not exactly safe under normal conditions... But it was deadly when burned... Am I wrong?
I really need to know.. Because if it's any exposure.. I need to get on the phone to some people...

Also.. I'm very sorry for your loss... our hearts go out to you...

I believe it's at a certain temperature (not necessarily burnt), and generally more of an issue if the material is damaged.

The bottom line is that it's not safe, so you can only use it if the birds are a fair distance away and you have badall ventillation.

I have seen charts showing that temps as low as 325F can cause the outgassing which will kill a bird.

I am so sorry for your terrible loss.
It is possible that is was "Teflon" more and more evidence is showing up to document harm at lower temperatures. It is also not good for us humans as well.
Also there is indication that the coating has been scratched it releases deadly gas even quicker.

The pyrolysis of PTFE is detectable at 200 °C (392 °F), and it evolves several fluorocarbon gases[21] and a sublimate. An animal study conducted in 1955 concluded that it is unlikely that these products would be generated in amounts significant to health at temperatures below 250 °C (482 °F).[22] More recently, however, a study documented birds having been killed by these decomposition products at 202 °C (396 °F), with unconfirmed reports of bird deaths as a result of non-stick cookware heated to as little as 163 °C (325 °F)

I was told that if you buy the Teflon pans you need to give them to a friend first to use for a while.

This way it releases the gas so it's safe to cook with. I was also told never keep your bird close to the kitchen at all. I keep mine in our room, and we have used candles in one area of the house and cooked in the kitchen without any problems.

If your house is big enough using candles in one room with birds in another should not pose a problem.

From what I understand "Teflon" will always out gas at high heats. Even if it had been used for a while. I personally threw all mine away, too many sad stories.

Yes that non stick coating, although not ever "safe", is deadly when heated over certain temperatures (or burned). And of course the "self clean" cycle on the oven, sometimes even if a house is new and it's the first time the oven is used, it can emit toxic fumes.
EXTREME caution must be used if using any cookware with this non-stick coating (or it should be replaced with something bird-safe).
I am so sorry about your birds!! I truly hope you have some survivors of the flock.

ruffledfeathers said:

Yes that non stick coating, although not ever "safe", is deadly when heated over certain temperatures (or burned) And of course the "self clean" cycle on the oven, sometimes even if a house is new and it's the first time the oven is used, it can emit toxic fumes..

Click to expand...

I have it drilled into everybody's heads in the house to stick a towel under the door of the bedroom the birds are in and open the rest of the house when the self clean cycle runs on the oven. I think we've run it maybe a total of 4 times since we've had the oven and we've had it for at least 6 years. I always keep foil on the bottom of the oven so if anything drips it lands on the foil which is easy to change out. I know people say not to because it can melt, but in all the years I've done it I've never had the foil melt to the bottom of the oven.

All of our cookware is nonstick and I HATE it, but since I live at home with my parents I'll never get them to change it out. The birds are on the other end of the house away from the kitchen behind a closed door so I've never had an issue. It is a fear in the back of my head, but I can't do much about it until I'm out on my own with the birds.


I'm so, so, so, so sorry for the loss of your birds :'( I can't even imagine the pain of losing so many at once.

That's so awful, I'm so sorry for your loss.

i am so sorry you had to loose your birds this way. It's clear they were very loved, you and your birds will be in my thoughts and prayers <3. please keep us updated on the progress of the survivors~

Very sorry for your loss. Do you have any idea why the vet said an infection was involved?

I am sorry for your loss. Teflon is also found in curling irons, hair dryers, and crimping irons.

I am so sorry. I feel so bad for you... Not only teflon and gas are dangerous but those rubber muffin tins anything of that rubber stuff once it gets heated it's toxic. Also, the George Forman indoor grill, the self clean on the oven and any cleaners for in the oven. Cooking with stainless is about the only way to cook safely if you have a bird room near the kitchen. I wish there was something i could say to make it better....

So sorry to hear that...please keep everybody posted on anything you learn about what happened so no one else has to go through that.

I'm sure all of us are hoping your remaining two conures are OK.

For those who have self-cleaning ovens, they should only be used AFTER birds have been removed from your house, especially if you have a central heating & air system, because the air system will draw toxic fumes throughout the house, through every vent.....

Because teflon and teflon type products have been around for so many years, the 1940's for the product & 1960 for FDA approval for use on/in cookware, the medical community could test every human in North America & find varying levels of PTFEs & PFOAs in our blood.....

While manufacturers would have you believe that 500 degrees farenheit was the magic number for dangerous gas release, that's not quite true as recent studies are showing that off-gassing is occurring at temperatures considerably lower and that once the coated surface becomes scratched, the pans/cookware should be thrown away.....

Burning in or using new pans somewhere else then bringing them home to use is really a waste of time as non-stick coatings will off-gas throughout the life of the cookware, even if there is only a quarter sized amount of the coating left on a pan, that amount will still generate an amount of toxicity at the right temperature.....