Humidifier advice

[Cockatiellover66]

As some may have seen recently one of my birds (well 2 potentially) are ill, Alvin has had re-occuring infections in his right sinus.

I'm going to talk to the vet I use right now about other nebulising solutions but I have decided to look at warm humidifiers during black friday, as I heard as long as you clean them well, which I absolutely will, that a warm humidifier can help with keeping Alvin's nostrils open and also bacteria in the air.

Does anyone know of any safe bird friendly humidifiers? I've seen some levolts but i've read they potentially have teflon and break down easy. I am based in the UK and I just want to make sure I get a good bird safe one that might help Alvin out. I am going to throw absolutely everything I can at it to help him.

 

[Skarila]

For humidifiers, instead of hot, look into cold ones, so called "ultrasonic" humidifiers. They are 100% safe, make very very little noise (ours is on all day, every day and I hardly notice it). Only thing you should make sure is that you don't use tap water but instead distilled water which you can buy in stores.

We use this one, and are very happy with it:

Hyundai HUM 282 - Air Humidifier | Alzashop.com

Air Humidifier Hyundai HUM 282 on www.alzashop.com. ✅ Safe Shopping. ✅ See all the product information. ✅ Suitable accessories. ✅ Ratings and reviews of...

www.alzashop.com

It helps us keep the room at solid 50-60% humidity which comfortable. During winter when the heating is on all the time, it is a life saviour, I am suffering from sinus inflamation/obstructed nasal passages due to inflamations and simply keeping the air humidity higher is a great help, it's not as prominent. With dry air I suffer a lot. We also tend to keep bowls filled with water on the radiators to let it evaporate - in every room.

 

[Cockatiellover66]

For humidifiers, instead of hot, look into cold ones, so called "ultrasonic" humidifiers. They are 100% safe, make very very little noise (ours is on all day, every day and I hardly notice it). Only thing you should make sure is that you don't use tap water but instead distilled water which you can buy in stores.

We use this one, and are very happy with it:

Hyundai HUM 282 - Air Humidifier | Alzashop.com

Air Humidifier Hyundai HUM 282 on www.alzashop.com. ✅ Safe Shopping. ✅ See all the product information. ✅ Suitable accessories. ✅ Ratings and reviews of...

www.alzashop.com

It helps us keep the room at solid 50-60% humidity which comfortable. During winter when the heating is on all the time, it is a life saviour, I am suffering from sinus inflamation/obstructed nasal passages due to inflamations and simply keeping the air humidity higher is a great help, it's not as prominent. With dry air I suffer a lot. We also tend to keep bowls filled with water on the radiators to let it evaporate - in every room.

Hi, thanks, do you use this with your birds? I was told that warm ones ar ebetter as it's more likely to kill bacteria and fungal stuff in the air. It just needs to be cleaned aggressively.

I also want to try and find one I can get delivered ASAP. Will pay for premo shipping.

I've found this but no idea of materials it is made of and how easy the water container etc is to clean.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PureMate-Digital-Ultrasonic-Humidifier-Ioniser/dp/B07PK1QTYX/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=ultrasonic%2Bhumidifier&qid=1637325914&sr=8-15&th=1

 

[Skarila]

Hi, thanks, do you use this with your birds? I was told that warm ones ar ebetter as it's more likely to kill bacteria and fungal stuff in the air. It just needs to be cleaned aggressively.

I also want to try and find one I can get delivered ASAP. Will pay for premo shipping.

I've found this but no idea of materials it is made of and how easy the water container etc is to clean.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PureMate-Digital-Ultrasonic-Humidifier-Ioniser/dp/B07PK1QTYX/ref=sr_1_15?keywords=ultrasonic%2Bhumidifier&qid=1637325914&sr=8-15&th=1

That makes 0 sense that a humidifier can kill bacteria in the air. Even by hot one, by the time it is spurted out, the tiny water droplets/steam/whatever is already cold, especially once dispersed into air. So makes no sense, unless i misunderstood you something.

We use ours right next to Pascal's cage, where we keep our plants (jungle). Been using it for over 8 months, absolutely no issue with it. We just make sure to use the distilled water. Must be distilled as there inside there is litteraly nothing, and keep it in dark and cool place.

Our tank is crystal clear like from day one we bought it, seems like nothing likes to live there while its "vibin'"all day it is a closed type, so no dust no nothing can get in.

What you have shown is really fancy and I'd love to have such a thing! Just don't put any aroma/oils inside, that is something that could harm your bird's health.

 

[Cockatiellover66]

That makes 0 sense that a humidifier can kill bacteria in the air. Even by hot one, by the time it is spurted out, the tiny water droplets/steam/whatever is already cold, especially once dispersed into air. So makes no sense, unless i misunderstood you something.

We use ours right next to Pascal's cage, where we keep our plants (jungle). Been using it for over 8 months, absolutely no issue with it. We just make sure to use the distilled water. Must be distilled as there inside there is litteraly nothing, and keep it in dark and cool place.

Our tank is crystal clear like from day one we bought it, seems like nothing likes to live there while its "vibin'"all day it is a closed type, so no dust no nothing can get in.

What you have shown is really fancy and I'd love to have such a thing! Just don't put any aroma/oils inside, that is something that could harm your bird's health.

Ok thanks, for the input, I like your own, I just want to get one that comes sooner rather than later, the problem is the one I shwoed you doesn't say if it contains teflon and what not. Also how do you know what humidty the one you linked is at? Also have you had to clean it at all, and how easy and how do you do it if so?

I got the warm mist advice from here.

How to Select a Humidifier to Use Around Parrots

Have you ever noticed how dry your hands get in the winter? Or how the texture of your hair changes? Sometimes your throat and nasal passages can become dry and sore. This is due to the low humidity in the air, often during the winter months when our heaters are in use. Underneath all of...

birdtricksstore.com

"A cool-mist evaporative humidifier eliminates the possibility of a scalding accident, however, vets recommend that we use a warm-mist humidifier with parrots because the heating of the water eliminates some mold spores and other fungals that might be dispersed into the air."

I'm guessing as long as you use sterilised water than this is not a problem.

 

[Cockatiellover66]

Actually your one is not available on the UK store

 

[Skarila]

Ok thanks, for the input, I like your own, I just want to get one that comes sooner rather than later, the problem is the one I shwoed you doesn't say if it contains teflon and what not. Also how do you know what humidty the one you linked is at? Also have you had to clean it at all, and how easy and how do you do it if so?

Most likely not because the water isn't heated up, often it is made out of plastic. Litteraly what it does is shake/vibrate to the point where the water droplets just turn into a cold vapor. You can see it, but not feel it! It's really awesome. Maybe that is why nothing ever grows in the tank, first of all it is completely closed, secondly, the distilled water is well... Pure water, so nothing that would need food to grow (aka bacteria) will not grow. Worst thing that can grow is algae, but even for that the water should have direct sunlight, which you will not do, especially not with a matt coating of the tank what you have shown. We add the fresh water ever 2 days or so when it gets depleted, so the water never really stays still.

We have a higroscope next to it, but we just make sure we don't put it right where the vapor is being tossed out. This is how we know approx what is the air humidity.

To all honesty,we have never cleaned the inside of the tank. You cannot open it to clean ot, it has only a small special opening from below where you pour in the water, then we close it and flip it upside down and attach it back the tank to the machine and let it do it's magic. At least that is our tiny one.

 

[Cockatiellover66]

Most likely not because the water isn't heated up, often it is made out of plastic. Litteraly what it does is shake/vibrate to the point where the water droplets just turn into a cold vapor. You can see it, but not feel it! It's really awesome. Maybe that is why nothing ever grows in the tank, first of all it is completely closed, secondly, the distilled water is well... Pure water, so nothing that would need food to grow (aka bacteria) will not grow. Worst thing that can grow is algae, but even for that the water should have direct sunlight, which you will not do, especially not with a matt coating of the tank what you have shown. We add the fresh water ever 2 days or so when it gets depleted, so the water never really stays still.

We have a higroscope next to it, but we just make sure we don't put it right where the vapor is being tossed out. This is how we know approx what is the air humidity.

To all honesty,we have never cleaned the inside of the tank. You cannot open it to clean ot, it has only a small special opening from below where you pour in the water, then we close it and flip it upside down and attach it back the tank to the machine and let it do it's magic. At least that is our tiny one.

It does sound really cool, my only concern is light as you said, where this would be would be getting light from the windows, due to where we have had to put our boys, they have their own cover and stuff but obviously you can't do that with a humidifier. Maybe we could build a little shield to stop the humidifier getting sunlight. I'm considering a warm and cool one, but i'm contacting purematte as i'm not sure if it contains anything toxic. It is quite cold inthe UK at the moment so a warm one for the cooler months and cool one for the warmer months would be good I think.

If I go for a cool one, I think i'll just boil the water for 10 or so minutes in a big silver saucepan, rather than purchasing distilled water as that will cost quite a lot of money a week.

Update: Decided to play it safe for now, I got the purematte 4.5l cold mist, will combo it with heating, i've also bought a new air purifier that will permanetly be downstairs rather than the one I bring down for during the late afternoon/night. So Alvin should now have a huimidifier set around 60 next to him, and an air purifier in the room, that plus nebulisation and so on should hopefully prevent anything happening again or at least stop it fromhappening so frequently.

 

[Cockatiellover66]

@Skarila Do you use a purifier? Because i've started using the humidifier and the purifier is going straight into the red sayign the air is really dirty when the humidifier is on. I was led to believe by things i've read that both together work great but this seems to not be the case... Just wondered if you have any personal experience.

I've been boiling water and letting it cool down, as sterille/distilled water here will cost £5 a day in humidifer costs.

 

[Skarila]

@Skarila Do you use a purifier? Because i've started using the humidifier and the purifier is going straight into the red sayign the air is really dirty when the humidifier is on. I was led to believe by things i've read that both together work great but this seems to not be the case... Just wondered if you have any personal experience.

I've been boiling water and letting it cool down, as sterille/distilled water here will cost £5 a day in humidifer costs.

we currently do not use purifier, I'm thinking of getting it one day. We live up away from the city centre, higher up on a hill so generaly the air here is much cleaner than in the city. and we don't have any traffic here.

Boiling down the tap water is not good use in the humidifier, main difference is that in the boiled water you will still have some chemicals and all the minerals in it, compared to the distilled water. The tap water (boiled or not) will eventually clog and harm the humidifier.

I wouldn't keep the purifier next to the humidifier. See if you can place it across the room, and see if you get the same result.

for us we have 5 liter of distilled water per week, bit less on really dry days. Luckily the water is not that expensive here but it does add up in the costs for sure.

 

[Abu Colo]

I usually follow product recommendations from Wirecutter, so I bought two recommended Honeywell devices that years later are still among their recommendations: HCM 350 and the larger HEV 685 for a larger room. What I can say about each is that the HCM is overall easier, the filters are cheaper, and the UV light does a decent job of sterilizing the water and keeping maintenance low; while the HEV is a massive beast of a machine that will turn most rooms into a jungle at the highest setting. It is really quite large to the point of being a bother to fit anywhere discreetly or store outside the winter, although this year it now resting atop the shelves in the aviary. The HEV does not have the same UV sterilization so it requires more cleaning, but I recently started adding some H2O2 to the H20. I see this year that Wirecutter started recommending a Vornado EV80, which is very tempting as I love the brand, and looking at it now alongside the other models, I would probably get it instead as it allows you to set the humidity to a preferred percentage more easily than the Honeywells and carries a five and ten-year warranty respectively. If you really need a lot of humidity, the kind that hits you when you open the door with that Miami-in-July feeling, then I think the HCM is not going to give you the same density but it will make the air comfortable. If you want it directed on your bird then you might try a facial steamer with a cold setting and a directable nozzle like the Newbealer 3-in-1, except that it does not have the same all-day capacity as a proper humidifier.

 

[Cockatiellover66]

I usually follow product recommendations from Wirecutter, so I bought two recommended Honeywell devices that years later are still among their recommendations: HCM 350 and the larger HEV 685 for a larger room. What I can say about each is that the HCM is overall easier, the filters are cheaper, and the UV light does a decent job of sterilizing the water and keeping maintenance low; while the HEV is a massive beast of a machine that will turn most rooms into a jungle at the highest setting. It is really quite large to the point of being a bother to fit anywhere discreetly or store outside the winter, although this year it now resting atop the shelves in the aviary. The HEV does not have the same UV sterilization so it requires more cleaning, but I recently started adding some H2O2 to the H20. I see this year that Wirecutter started recommending a Vornado EV80, which is very tempting as I love the brand, and looking at it now alongside the other models, I would probably get it instead as it allows you to set the humidity to a preferred percentage more easily than the Honeywells and carries a five and ten-year warranty respectively. If you really need a lot of humidity, the kind that hits you when you open the door with that Miami-in-July feeling, then I think the HCM is not going to give you the same density but it will make the air comfortable. If you want it directed on your bird then you might try a facial steamer with a cold setting and a directable nozzle like the Newbealer 3-in-1, except that it does not have the same all-day capacity as a proper humidifier.

Thanks for the feedback, great input, only problem is being in the UK, it looks like none of these are avilable for purchase...

 

[green25field]

Definitely use an ultrasonic humidifier and as an extra precaution use distilled water from a good quality supplier like https://golyath.co.uk/collections/distilled-water

Do not use deionised water it can have bacteria in it, whatever is in the water will get thrown into the air, obviously if there's any bacteria it can cause serious issues.