Bird dander?

[ThoseTwoKeets]

Lots of people say that bird dander is extremely damaging. It'll effect you and your pets health.
But is this really true? I mean, I clean up the bird dander and as far as I know I'm very healthy, along with the pets that are in my room.

I'd really like to know if it does actually damage the health of pets, because I am interested in getting a lizard, or another pair of parakeets, and if dander really does do tons of damage to your health I don't want to either make a lizard breathe in dander, or double how much dander is being produced by getting more birds.

 

[SailBoat]

I have been looking for any reason to grasp for an explain why I keep getting older and this one doesn't seem to help. Well, if it is true, I should have been dead along ago. But here I am, much to the displeasure of some of my, well that's a different story.

Now, if you have COPD, Lung transplant, or other serious breathing issues, a Parrot may not be your first choice. For the rest of us, short of 'huffing' your parrot 24 hours/day, its not very likely that your parrot will be the reason for your passing on!

The Internet is a wonderful place, but sadly there are just a lot of junk out there. So, you are faced with separating junk for good information.

 

[RavensGryf]

I wouldn't blow it out of proportion and worry too much, but I have known of some people developing Bird Breeders Lung disease (hypersensitivity pneumonitis), but it is not so common that you hear of it all the time, and it is usually in adults who have been around LOTS of birds for a long time. You can read more about it here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird_fancier's_lung

One thing you might consider is getting an air purifier for your room. I get a ton of dust in the bedroom where the parrots are (except for my budgies). Even my species not necessarily known to be dusty, do give off a lot of both dander and fine powder. I couldn't live in there without the air purifier. The filters need to be cleaned and changed much more often than it would with "normal" non-bird use, but I'm sure it helps.

 

[ZephyrFly]

Like what's been said, it's not a common issue with bird unless you already have a breathing/lung/allergy issue. Not that something couldn't develop but if you keep a clean cage and a relatively clean home then you'll be fine.
Not to say some birds aren't dustier than others, the're also how small the dust particles are, but again people don't go around snorting it. If you do have a dusty species then you could consider an air purifier if you're very worried?

 

[ThoseTwoKeets]

Okay, thank you for the information! I did think that bird dander wasn't really that bad for you, if you cleaned it up and did get fresh air. So, I'm not too worried about it anymore. I will consider getting an air purifier, though.

 

[smbrds]

Air purifiers definitely should help. I have one and I have a bird that produces a lot of dander. Birds who especially produce dander can cause problems for some who have health issues and allergies, but otherwise no real issue besides having to get good at cleaning more....

 

[Coolruler]

Air purifiers definitely should help. I have one and I have a bird that produces a lot of dander. Birds who especially produce dander can cause problems for some who have health issues and allergies, but otherwise no real issue besides having to get good at cleaning more....

Is there a recommended air purifier which is not massively expensive?

 

[SailBoat]

Change and upgrade your forced air heating system filter. Most have a 1" thick style, but they can be thicker. The filter itself comes in different levels of removing dust from the air. Look at filters that remove more dust.
Change out filters more often is commonly one of the best ways to reduce dust. If you remain with the same level of filtering, by simply increase how often you change it maybe enough.