Vacuums for dust birds

Snowbird

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Jun 13, 2018
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Green Cheek Conure
Hi! Iā€™ve been wondering for quite awhile about a handheld vacuum thatā€™s good for cleaning up after cockatiels. I have a vacuum thatā€™s able to do the majority of the work on the carpet floors. Itā€™s big, bulky and heavy though. Iā€™m wondering if anyone has any suggestions on what type of handheld vacuum could clean the dander, pick up the mess she makes on the carpet and around the cage that the big vacuum canā€™t get.

Price is a bit of an issue. Yet I want it to last a while and be able to capture those fine dander particles rather than blowing them out of the vacuum again. I need a decent price vacuum that can do the job. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations on handheld vacuums? I donā€™t care if itā€™s cordless or not. Iā€™m just tired of lugging around that big vacuum with its attachments to clean the areas that vacuuming normally canā€™t reach. I appreciate any answers. Thank you!
 

DiscoDuck

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Rudy - Hybrid Ruby Macaw Born 6/6/15 Scarlet Mother/Green Wing Father - Oliver BFA RIP 3/15/15 @ 34yo. Without you, I would not have Rudy. Thank you!
cant help with a vaccum but I can help with a snowbird

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EllenD

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Aug 20, 2016
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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Well the best suggestion that I can make to you is to get a very small Shop-Vac and then buy the attachment-set that they sell for them. And I'll explain why I'm suggesting this over any "hand-held" vacuum, especially since price is an issue to you.

I have a regular vacuum for my house, a quite expensive Shark with a detachable-canister, hose and attachments, etc. I love it, and I only spent as much money as i did after buying several cheap, almost "disposable" vacuum cleaners and having them last for a year or less and then die. So I bit the bullet and spent I think a little over $400 of the Shark, and that's the "inside, house vacuum" to be used only on my carpeting and hard floors inside. That's it. I don't use it to clean-up the bird's messes at all, except for the stray-seeds/shells/feathers that are on the carpet/floors around the house. I don't use it to clean-up around or under their cages, in their cages, etc. I don't want it to get nasty...

So I first bought a DustBuster, quite an expensive DustBuster that has attachments and all kinds of stuff with it, to use around/inside the bird's cages. Well this didn't work-out at all. First of all, even though it's the most expensive DustBuster they make, it hardly holds much at all and constantly has to be emptied. Secondly, IT DOESN'T HAVE ANY POWER!!! I mean, it's great to use around the baseboards, inside/around kitchen cabinets, and is wonderful for doing around/in/on electronics like the TV's, computers, stereo's, my guitars, amps, pedalboards, etc. But as far as cleaning up seeds, shells, feathers, dried poop, etc., it sucks. And it's the expensive DustBuster that cost well-over $100. So it got demoted to being used alongside the Shark as a house-vacuum.

Then I bought a Shark hand-held vacuum with attachments to use for the bird's room/cages/etc. It was also expensive, but I needed to find something to use for the bird's messes, and in the meantime I had been lugging my enormous ShopVac that I use/keep in my garage and for the car, which works amazingly well, but is too big and heavy to keep lugging up and down from the garage constantly. Well, this handheld Shark thing worked well as far as it's power went, but again it didn't hold much at all and constantly had to be emptied...and I soon realized that this was going to be a major issue with ANY "handheld" vacuum. So I sold the handheld Shark thing on Craigslist and only lost $30 from what I paid for it...

So my best advice to you is to do one of a couple of options:

#1) Buy a cheap, regular vacuum with attachments that is to be dedicated to only being used for the bird-messes, and keep it in the same room as the bird's cages.

#2) Find a used, smaller Canister-Vacuum that you can do the same thing with, dedicate it to only being used for the bird-messes and keep it near or in the same room as the bird's cages.

#3) (WHAT I DID) Buy the smallest version of the ShopVac (it's pretty small and light, but still holds a ton, more than most regular vacuums)...Brand-new you can buy one of these at Walmart for $30, either the actual ShopVac brand, or the other one they sell that seems to be rated just as well as the ShopVac brand is the Stanley-brand version, which is exactly the same size and I believe costs exactly the same as well...The only reason I bought the ShopVac brand one is so that the accessory-set they also sell at Walmart would fit, as their hoses are different diameters...So I spent $30 on this very small ShopVac, with the sucking-power of any Dyson or Shark regular vacuum, and then the mini-attachment-set, which comes with like 7 or 8 different tiny attachments for crevices, edges, etc. for like $15, maybe less, I know it wasn't more than $15 new...And it works great, it's small and light, I have an attachment for anything and everything, it holds a ton and never needs emptied, and most of all, IT IS A WET/DRY VACUUM! So you don't have to worry about anything that you are cleaning, their cages, around the cages, their bowls, etc. I just don't put a bag in it, which allows it to be both a wet/dry vacuum, so i don't have to worry about what I'm sucking up, and then just dump it into a trash-bag whenever it's full. And you can just pop the top off and rinse/wash the inside out to clean it if it gets nasty, and then just pull the filter off the top portion with the vacuum motor, and then wipe it down too, rinse out the filter, wring it out, put it back on, and you're good to go! And it is so small that it fits in the folding closet in my bird-room.

Way better all the way around then any handheld vacuum you're going to buy, especially if you're thinking of buying on-the-cheap, as I can't imagine using a cheap DustBuster or Shark handheld based on how crappy the power and how small the capacity was in the really expensive models. The small ShopVac honestly isn't a whole lot larger than a handheld vacuum would be any way...
 
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texsize

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Whatever vac U get I would recommend it has a HEPA filter on it. I have a floor model Shark with a HEPA filter. If you donā€™t have that filter alot of the dust and dander will just go back into the air.
 

EllenD

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Aug 20, 2016
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State College, PA
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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Whatever vac U get I would recommend it has a HEPA filter on it. I have a floor model Shark with a HEPA filter. If you donā€™t have that filter alot of the dust and dander will just go back into the air.

That's a very good point...The Shark floor vacuum I have came with a Hepa Filter, and the ShopVac's or the other brands of the same thing have them available cheaply...
 

Caitnah

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Mar 24, 2018
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Upstate New York
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GCC Pineapple
Not sure if this is any help Ellen, but I bought the Shark Stick strictly for my bird room. It is the one that bends in half, has the attachments and the canister detaches for use as a hand held.
But as you mentioned, the canister may need emptying a lot. I love this vacuum as it easily can get under the cages without moving them. Has a pivoting head which just moves about easily. Then I use the canister, and attachments, to clean the cages themselves.
It turned out to be much better than I imagined.
 
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Snowbird

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Green Cheek Conure
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DiscoDuck, ������

I love your bird! Itā€™s a cutie.
 
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Snowbird

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Jun 13, 2018
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Green Cheek Conure
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EllenD, Iā€™ve thought of a shopvac before as well. Iā€™ve just been told by some family members that they tend to start expelling dust after awhile. I was afraid of it doing that in my room. Have you had any issues of yours doing that same?
 

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