Dander with CAG - Advice & Suggestions

[LilChodi954]

Hello everyone. My husband and I rescued 2 birds that were in deplorable conditions. I have not had time to post as my hands have been full with (now) 3 birds, vet appointments, new cages, and going from one low mait. male DYH Amazon to 2 Male DYH Amazon's and one (female) CAG. When we're able to come up for air we'll post "Gizmo" and Sasha's stories and update our profile.

Q- I need advice on how to deal with the dust/dander from the CAG. I am giving her a daily shower and I have an Air Filter running and I constantly vacuum/sweep the cage area. There are tons of little tiny white feathers and dust coming off her.Any suggestions would be welcome. Both new birds are healthy and received a clean bill from the Avian Vet.

 

[Birdman666]

Daily misting/weekly soakings seems to keep the dander down for me.

My guess is this bird just handn't been bathed in forever, and he's built up ten years worth of dander. My CAG's dander really isn't bad at all compared to too dander. I've never been "dander dusted" from him.

 

[weco]

The feather dust is just the nature of the beast and it sounds like you are already doing the things normally prescribe for keeping feather dust under control.....unless you upgrade your filtration to HEPA filters, but that's only a slight increase in filtration unless you add additional filters.....the fluffy white feathers are probably more from molting than feather breakdown/feather dust...it's that time of the year for many birds too.....

 

[RavensGryf]

I also think it's just part of having birds . I've noticed though, if birds are in a smaller square footage (say a bedroom for example vs a large living room) dander and dust is much more noticeable. I fight with the problem constantly since moving to our current situation which has the birds in an 11x18' room despite the air filter and doing everything I can to combat it. It's a losing battle lol. I don't even have powder birds either, and it's STILL a problem.

 

[LilChodi954]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I am doing my best to combat the daily layer of dust and have purchased a second HEPA filter (Parrot safe one !!). The CAG is not a fan of the daily bath (we did not clip her) so when I have her on the shower perch I give her a stern "no fly" warning. She got an extra (unintentional) bath this past weekend. We have a large screened in pool area (we were told she did not fly and that she was only able to glide downwards; the vet also suggested not trimming her wings). We discovered that she can fly (and has been practicing in the house). She flew in the enclosed pool area and ended up crash landing in the pool. We were about to jump in to get her - but she floated and wadded a bit, then flew out of the pool.
And Mark, we took to heart with what happened to Tusk and were going to clip her, however we've been told that flying helps a CAG gain their confidence, and since she was confined to a small cage with little one on one interaction we've decided to let her fly in the house and the enclosed pool area. (At least for the time being)
That being said she has perfected landing on Lil Chodi's cage.

 

[Birdman666]

My CAG isn't a fan of ANY baths... period!

Only bird I've got that can't stand water.

I give them to him anyway. (He only thinks it's going to kill him! He hasn't melted once...)

 

[Christinenc2000]

I also think it's just part of having birds . I've noticed though, if birds are in a smaller square footage (say a bedroom for example vs a large living room) dander and dust is much more noticeable. I fight with the problem constantly since moving to our current situation which has the birds in an 11x18' room despite the air filter and doing everything I can to combat it. It's a losing battle lol. I don't even have powder birds either, and it's STILL a problem.

Same here. I just changed all my filters. Two air filters in table top units and the Heat / air filter. All HEPA NOT cheap. I think they run about 25 each but last a long time. I have a small table top air filter in the Den. Also one on the other end of the house. Swifter Dusters also help LOL

 

[Scott]

Daily misting/weekly soakings seems to keep the dander down for me.

My guess is this bird just handn't been bathed in forever, and he's built up ten years worth of dander. My CAG's dander really isn't bad at all compared to too dander. I've never been "dander dusted" from him.

Oh yeah! It's fascinating to watch a Cockatoo do a major fluff-up with strong sunshine as a backdrop. Looks like an explosion of talcum powder, and smells good too! (pun intended!)

 

[RavensGryf]

Oh yeah! It's fascinating to watch a Cockatoo do a major fluff-up with strong sunshine as a backdrop. Looks like an explosion of talcum powder, and smells good too! (pun intended!)

That's what Raven the Pionus did, with a backdrop of sunlight. Thick EXPLOSION of fine dust. I'm not saying it's like a Too's dust, but OMG I couldn't believe the amount from a regularly bathed bird from a NON-powder species. Parrots are just dusty period!

 

[Kiwibird]

I have not invested in one yet, but have been seriously researching air filters for some time to keep the general dust levels down in our apartment. Ever since we got a new vacuum that has better suction, I have been beyond horrified at what it pulls up and cannot for the life of me figure out WHERE on earth all the dust I vacuum up every other day comes from?!?!?! I vacuum this 800 sq ft space 3X a week, spot vacuuming Kiwi's area, kitchen and bathroom daily. I still suck up a horrific amount of dust every time I do a full vacuum. I blame carpet and central heating. I couldn't imagine that being compounded by a dusty species of bird AND the dander of 2 amazons (zons aren't dusty but they do put of dander). You must be going nuts!

From my research, I guess it really makes a HUGE difference what brand of filter you get and how many square feet it's rated for. Apparently, the inexpensive ones do very little to nothing to actually pull dust/allergens from the air. From what I can find, Rabbit air is the best for smaller spaces and Austin Air or Winix are best for larger homes. Neither are cheap, but both are *in theory* suppose to keep the amount of dust/allergens in the air down to negligible amounts. Curious what brands you're using and have you made sure they are rated for the amount of space they are filtering? Looking forward to hearing all about you new birdies, even if one is a dusty little thing

 

[LilChodi954]

April, we currently have 2 Honeywell HEPA Air Filters (about $150 on Amazon) though at the time we got Lil Chodi they were around $178. We kept one in the bedroom and the other by Chodi's cage. I've been going back an forth on getting a Rabbit one. The Honeywell's seemed to work, however since the addition of the 2 new birds I do not think it is strong enough. Case in point, yesterday the sunlight hit Lil Chodi and a CLOUD of dust came off him. I have not seen that in months, and it may be because he is next to Sasha (CAG). ((Gizmo and Lil Chodi tried to have a DYH Amazon WWF Wrestling Match this past weekend, so we keep Sasha's cage in between !!))
That being said I had bought a 3rd Honeywell, but decided to return it and buy the Rabbit. I should receive the rabbit next week. It indicates that it has a negative ion control that can be turned off or on. I will be leaving it in the off position to ensure there is no ozone created, though it claims its a negligible amount of ions that are emitted when it is in the on position.

 

[Kiwibird]

April, we currently have 2 Honeywell HEPA Air Filters (about $150 on Amazon) though at the time we got Lil Chodi they were around $178. We kept one in the bedroom and the other by Chodi's cage. I've been going back an forth on getting a Rabbit one. The Honeywell's seemed to work, however since the addition of the 2 new birds I do not think it is strong enough. Case in point, yesterday the sunlight hit Lil Chodi and a CLOUD of dust came off him. I have not seen that in months, and it may be because he is next to Sasha (CAG). ((Gizmo and Lil Chodi tried to have a DYH Amazon WWF Wrestling Match this past weekend, so we keep Sasha's cage in between !!))
That being said I had bought a 3rd Honeywell, but decided to return it and buy the Rabbit. I should receive the rabbit next week. It indicates that it has a negative ion control that can be turned off or on. I will be leaving it in the off position to ensure there is no ozone created, though it claims its a negligible amount of ions that are emitted when it is in the on position.

You'll have to let me know if it works as well as they claim. The rabbits were *supposedly* created with dusty parrots in mind, and have some kind of special 'powers' to remove parrot dust and dander other units can't lol.

Sounds like you DYH's a normal couple of amazons though- need to establish who's the biggest, baddest bird Poor little Sasha being stuck in the middle of that!

 

[Hawk]

excess Dander?? Check your water

Hi everyone,

I have a Grey as well, sister has 2 umbrella cockatoos, dander is an issue at times.

We visited a few birds shows and one interesting topic came up, dander and your home water content. Many people have water softners, the salt ( how little it may seem)dries their skin and diminishes crucial oil in their feathers thus creating more dander. City water also contains salt, and chlorine.
Try cutting down on the baths to once a week, and add a drop or 2 of flax seed oil or fish oil to their drinking water or food. I mix a bit into cooked oatmeal as my grey loves eating oatmeal from a spoon. His dander is at very minimal and has a silky smooth coat. He's very healthy now.