Question about spread of diseases

I have been shopping for new toys and swings for my birds. I often see homemade bird things that make perfect sense that a bird would like them based on the seller having their own birds and experience. An example would be swings with fleece tie ons, beads, chains etc. These look fun for the birds and cuddly/comfortable as well. The trouble is, so many times I see something great and the seller has posed their own birds on the item for sale. Do you think there is a serious risk of disease spreading this way? Should I avoid any item that shows a bird on it just in case? Is there a way to disinfect an item? I bought a manzanita swing already that had a bird posed on it, and now I worry it's contaminated. Can I kill germs by pouring boiling water all over it? When I bought the swing, I never thought about the health risk involved. Any advice about this?

"Personally", I'm paranoid since I've had a bad experiece as well as having known people who have also. But, I guess as most people figure, we can't live in a bubble... So while most likely your product will be fine, the risk is there anytime you have not only the manufacturer's birds, but bird stores that offer grooming services where everyone brings their bird in. What I do, is if I see something in a "bird environment" that I just have to have, I'll buy it, but it would be something I can spray the heck out of with my "industrial strength virus busting avian cleaner", then put it in a hot dishwasher. If it's something that can't be thoroughly disinfected I'll just get it (or something similar) from MSBS.

RavensGryf said:

"Personally", I'm paranoid since I've had a bad experiece as well as having known people who have also. But, I guess as most people figure, we can't live in a bubble... So yes, the risk is there, though most likely your product will be fine. What I do, is if I see something in a "bird environment" that I just have to have, I'll buy it, but it would be something I can spray the heck out of with my "industrial strength virus busting avian cleaner", then put it in a hot dishwasher. If it's something thatcan't be thoroughly disinfected I'll just get it (or something similar) from MSBS.

Click to expand...

What cleaner are you using? I don't know about them yet. I need to get some since I already bought something potentially infected. I wish I would have thought about that before I did.

I use Avinol-3. My avian vet helped develop it, and it's what his clinic uses. Veterinary strength, it is wide spectrum enough to annihilate anything of concern in the avian environment. I buy it from my vet's retail store, but if you look online I'm sure you can find it.
Also there's F-10 sold many places online including our sponsor mysafebirdstore.com. This disinfectant is said to be just as powerful as the Avinol. Both cleaners are gentle on your skin (I've never used F10 but it said to be gentle) and obviously completely avian safe if diluted to the proper concentration.

There are many disinfectants, but most take care of "some" viruses, not all. These two I know are the 'heavy hitters' of avian disinfectants. Someone might know of others.

Because this thread was posted, I just finished posting a new file to a free download/viewing site for those interested:

Cleaners & Disinfectants - Download - 4shared - we co


SilverSage, wasn't it you that was looking for bird books to recommend, back in the fall? Well, if you stick around & download all the files I decide to upload, you'll have the text of a 500+ page manuscript that I never sent to the publisher, but if you're interested in the whole thing, including addendums, conclusion, glossary, index, bibliography, appendices & 7 page TOC, along with some 450 colored pics, let me know & if there's enough interest, I'll re-check all the data & reformat it as a PDF & post it to Google books.....in fact I think there's a copy of the TOC floating around in the forum's archives.....

Enjoy your reading.....

For corrected information, look at:
http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/51344-emergencies.html
&Take a look at reply #6