Literally everything is deadly?

[wrench13]

I've had parrots of various types for over 40 years. Well, until the internet, the info out there was hard to come by, incomplete and mostly of the anectodal type. With the advent of the web,good solid info is readily available and a good parront takes it into consideration when they think of or get a parrot as a companion. 15 yrs ago, who knew teflon was toxic to birds? No one. Then, people starte to put 2 and 2 together, and hard evidence showed that teflon and its related compounds, when heated to a high enough temperature give off fumes that are 100% toxic to parrots and birds ( but not people).

We personally take every precaution - no teflon, no candles, no harsh cleaners, no Febreeze, etc etc.
Why? I have expoerienced having a loved parrot die for apparently no reason, only to find out later that something we had in the house (see above) killed him. It is a heart ripping experience.

I would rather have my Salty live for 50 years, and not use the proucts above than to not have to scrub a pot or pan, and have himlive only 5 years.

 

[July]

We’ve tried the vinegar route in the past, just to be a little more earth conscious... and the whole household hates, hates, hates the stench. I’m talkin’ to the point where it makes the children and husband vomit. And then I just have to clean up yet another mess. It’s kind of an endless cycle that way. (And no, I can’t do it when nobody’s home, because somebody is always home.)

I have also used Nature’s Miracle in the past, but much like everything else, I’ve found conflicting information regarding its safety. The same with Dawn dish soap—some people swear by it, and yet there was just a recent study about the dangers it poses to birds.

Baking soda takes several hours to absorb odors and work it’s magic, and we rarely have that much time to spare during a cleaning session.

Personally, the best option for us is to simply remove the bird from the rooms in question and clean as usual, making sure to ventilate and dry completely.

 

[fiddlejen]

Interesting that already there are conflicting answers. Precisely why I asked in such a candid manner. I assumed beforehand that it largely depended on frequency and proximity, as with any pollutant effect on any creature. I certainly don’t plan on spraying Febreeze in the bird’s face or soaking their toys in bleach, I just wanted to get a better idea of what kind of limits to establish.

Hi, I got my birds about a year ago. I am chiming in to tell you that over the last couple decades air fresheners have gotten WAY more deadly than they used to be.

How am I so certain? Well I had very little problem bird-proofing my home due to my Own asthma. Several years after Febreeze came out, which I had originally found makes a room Smell like fresh, lovely breathable air but in fact then I canNot breathe -- and oh my gosh once it's on somethin--I had to throw everything away or wind up hospitalized!-- well several years after that they started sneaking Febreeze or some other chemical equivalents into more and more products. Even laundry soap. Even some laundry soaps that are un-scented!!

Well of course to clean your home you do need cleaning products. So trial and errors I did find various ones I could tolerate, though not always. And it got more difficult over the last few years. As I said, chemicals that work like Febreeze keep finding there way into more and more products.

Additionally, as people smoke less and less, people feel greater need to mask the normal living odors which in previous decades were covered up by the scent of old second-hand smoke. The scented products -- even pure essential oils, much less the essential oils incorporated into other compounds so they can still be called "natural," "green" etc -- have Never been tested for harm in the ways that cigarettes were. How does anyone know whether the fragrances in most homes now aren't doing more harm than the smoke used to? It has Never been compared!

When I got my birds I went to vinegar-based cleaning and found it is (1) way way Less Expensive to make your own vinegar solution (2) it cleans better (3) once rinsed away with water, vinegar leaves behind NO odor, only Actual freshness instead of Febreeze's un-breathable fake freshness. You won't need candles or air fresheners if you clean with vinegar. (If you don't like vinegar I think lemon juice works pretty much the same, and then you have a nice, actual lemony smell. Instead of fake-lemon!)

(Also-- as an aside -- there are many cases you might not even need vinegar or lemon. It's marketing that makes people think they always have to clean with chemicals. Not to say that some disinfecting isn't necessary, but really, an awful lot of products which marketers have taught us to consider essential, are completely Un-necessary to live a perfectly normal and Healthy life. Good hot tap water works really well for lots of things, such as most mopping of floors, most wiping of counters & surfaces, & etc.)

Anyways. I am just writing this little tirade to tell you, as one Human to another, anything that is not safe for birds, is really Not Safe for Humans either. Does something potentially kill birds? Is it on that list? Well if so--you know the phrase, "Canary In A Coal Mine," right? If not, look it up. Sad for those birdies, but, back then people knew that if something in the air might kill a bird, then the Humans better take warning and get out themselves!

 

[fiddlejen]

burning candles or spraying febreeze constitutes a real risk of instant death?? Even on first exposure? You’d be hard pressed to support that statement. You even just said they were long term concerns?

One should be careful of such overarching, unsubstantiated claims.

Don't know about the candles and hopefully I never verify it's truth with my own birdies but I can sure tell you that personally somebody spraying Febreeze near ME leaves me in a state that sure feels like risk of instant death. I certainly would not want to subject any creature I love to febreeze.

(I keep a somewhat largeish hepa air filter on my desk since I cannot control what other people use for their laundry detergent.)

 

[July]

I personally have 4 GCCs. After the first, I ditched the no stick pans and bought stainless steel. I have never looked back.

If you are looking for alternative cleaners, look no further than Mrs Meyers. If you buy on Amazon, the prices are not bad. Especially for the price of mind.

There are lot of things you don’t think of that can be harmful to the birds like burning dinner as well. Just use common sense and get the birds away until the odor dissipates. If you must burn candles or put on perfume, make sure they are not near. Use a little common sense and your little dinosaur will live a happy, healthy life.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thought you might be interested in this, and everyone else for that matter.

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...rce=57&ref=m_notif&notif_t=feed_comment_reply

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubm...YmBmvEjWf1PM5HZyluKKnKVhw6FTgN7L40KxcHtS-bx8Y

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubm...qhJCrT6_YB3s6edTxt9Pj-loNWrpbedjPWUK0ppt3JcWA

Wondering if anyone knows anything else about this? Mrs. Meyers linked to skin and respiratory irritants, carcinogens, etc? Or is it just baloney?

Edit: Turns out Mrs. Meyers is owned by S.C. Johnson, same manufacturer of Raid and Scrubbing Bubbles, etc. So I’m quite sure there’s some questionable chemicals in them. Some of the fragrances they use cannot be made from naturally distilled essences/oils, like the apple one, and are therefore synthetic, among other things.

 

[noodles123]

I personally have 4 GCCs. After the first, I ditched the no stick pans and bought stainless steel. I have never looked back.

If you are looking for alternative cleaners, look no further than Mrs Meyers. If you buy on Amazon, the prices are not bad. Especially for the price of mind.

There are lot of things you don’t think of that can be harmful to the birds like burning dinner as well. Just use common sense and get the birds away until the odor dissipates. If you must burn candles or put on perfume, make sure they are not near. Use a little common sense and your little dinosaur will live a happy, healthy life.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thought you might be interested in this, and everyone else for that matter.

https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...rce=57&ref=m_notif&notif_t=feed_comment_reply

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubm...YmBmvEjWf1PM5HZyluKKnKVhw6FTgN7L40KxcHtS-bx8Y

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubm...qhJCrT6_YB3s6edTxt9Pj-loNWrpbedjPWUK0ppt3JcWA

Wondering if anyone knows anything else about this? Mrs. Meyers linked to skin and respiratory irritants, carcinogens, etc? Or is it just baloney?

Edit: Turns out Mrs. Meyers is owned by S.C. Johnson, same manufacturer of Raid and Scrubbing Bubbles, etc. So I’m quite sure there’s some questionable chemicals in them. Some of the fragrances they use cannot be made from naturally distilled essences/oils, like the apple one, and are therefore synthetic, among other things.

Not shocked by this--- it lists "frangrancE" a notorious catch-all and it has lots of junk it in it that isn't natural for real. Thank you though, this affirms my thinking in not using it. I like the smell of it but never trusted it for spraying in my house with the bird.

 

[Aspie_Aviphile]

Air pollution outside has decimated numbers of birds in urban and semi-urban areas, at least in the UK. My best guess for why there are any left is genetic mutations that protect against death from air pollution, meaning only the birds with the mutations are surviving as long as they need to breed (which isn't very long anyway)

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

You raise a very fine point and to some extent there IS literally nothing that is completely safe to any of us. But that doesn't mean we should throw everything away.

To me, its all about common sense. I still use household cleaners and I still use candle wax melts. I just don't use them with him around. I wait til after he goes to bed and I burn my wax melts then, or use my lavender diffuser.

Any household cleaning I need to do with strong chemicals, I do AFTER he goes to bed. He sleeps in the bedroom and the door is closed. The ONLY cleaning I do with him still around is dishes, vacuuming and laundry. He has an air purifier right by his day cage in the living room and there is also one in the bedroom.

Skittles hangs out inside my shirt a lot. I use soap when I shower and even body wash. I also wear deodorant. Skittles will be 10y/o in March and I'll have had him for 9 years in April and he's fine. So whatever chemicals are in the air from my evening/night activities are gone by the time I wake him the following day.

That being said, having non-stick cookware is never a good idea IMO. Sooner or later you are bound to burn something. I use stainless steel and ceramic cookware. There are PLENTY of alternative cooking options.

I don't clean with vinegar and I would advise against using anything with vinegar for cleaning. That stuff draws fruit flies in MAJOR ways.

There are a LOT of natural/green cleansers on the market. I recently got some cleaners from the mysafebirdstore. Another thing, Dawn dish soap is safe for cleaning too.

We have to bear in mind that we don't want to panic new bird owners. It can backfire and also lead people to discard legitimate dangers if those of us who are on the more paranoid side (such as myself) over-exaggerate the potential dangers rather than try to explain common sense.

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I have a friend who basically discounts any sort of dangers or warnings because she's become 'numb' to it. That's the problem with a lot of things in society. You scare people enough and sooner or later they are just going to dismiss any danger or threat as a scare tactic. I focus my energy and warnings on proven and legit threats and dangers and not on potentials. If I got rid of anything and everything that "could be a threat" to Skittles, he and I would live in a plastic bubble. Oh wait, plastic can be hazardous to birds too.

 

[July]

I have a friend who basically discounts any sort of dangers or warnings because she's become 'numb' to it. That's the problem with a lot of things in society. You scare people enough and sooner or later they are just going to dismiss any danger or threat as a scare tactic. I focus my energy and warnings on proven and legit threats and dangers and not on potentials. If I got rid of anything and everything that "could be a threat" to Skittles, he and I would live in a plastic bubble. Oh wait, plastic can be hazardous to birds too.

Yep. Even natural, untreated cotton is dangerous for them. Any fiber, natural or not, is not safe. And if we were all being perfectly honest with ourselves... keeping any kind of bird as a pet is detrimental to their health. So yeah, we’re just going to keep removing him during cleanings, monitoring things where we can, and generally not being a bunch of doofuses. :09:

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Yeah, I certainly would never do anything that involved toxic chemicals or products with Skittles around.

My avian vet told me to use a heavily diluted bleach solution to sanitize his cement perches (which he tends to rub his beak on when he has food on the sides of his beak). I just think if people use common sense, thats the best method. You're never going to be able to realistically remove every single threat, so its best to focus on removing things that are always a threat regardless (ie teflon, poisonous plants, cuddle huts etc) and use proper supervision as well as limiting the use of potential threats to when the bird is not around or in the room.

I've had birds since I was 11 and I'm 43 now. I've lost more birds to poor nutrition than anything else, but that was before I knew what I know now.

I mean, I look at Skittles and I know I must be doing something right. I do respectfully disagree about keeping birds as pets being detrimental. I think people who keep them as pets and don't do their research nor provide for their needs are, but those of us who do right by our birds, I think they are better off. I've no doubt that Skittles would not be as happy or as healthy out in the wild as he is with me. He's free-flighted and wants for nothing. Sadly though, thats not the case with many companion parrots.

 

[Louzparrot]

Thank you for your patience, everyone! As well as the speedy replies. This was an enlightening experience and we will definitely take it to heart. Our cheeky little boy thanks you greatly!

Thank you for exploring a very real question. This was my first query on a forum and the debate is apparent. I am going to do the best I can, but extremists exist on either side!