Need opinions: living in a basement apartment with a love bird

[emma_oscar2]

Hi everyone,

Recently, my love bird (M 9yrs), my boyfriend and myself moved into a newly finished basement apartment. The apartment was built a few months ago (no fresh paint or anything). Everything was going well until last week when I noticed he had a bit of clear nasal discharge, sneezing and mild tail bobbing. I took him to a hot shower to let the steam clear his sinuses which helped and his symptoms disappeared after 5mins. A week later, these symptoms happened again and were aided by the showers steam. His eating/drinking habits are normal, he has normal droppings, is very active. He has about 4-6 hours of out of cage time per day. He is completely normal other than during these couple minute episodes. Due to living in Canada with cold winters, I am curious if being in a basement is too cold for him despite placing a hot pack near his cage to keep him warm during the night. Differently, could this instead be a result of increased dust in the basement unit compared to his previous home. We do keep our place clean and don’t use any unsafe appliances/pans/ products. Lastly, could it be some form of respiratory illness? We have tried contacted almost every vet in our area and no one specializes in birds.
Does anyone have any advice or any experience with birds in basement apartments?
Thank you very much from Oscar and I

 

[Tman8]

Try and get an air purifier.
That should help with the dust in the air.
Hope this helps. Also with the place being newly refurbished, alot of extra dust is floating around. The air purifier should work.

 

[osklvste63]

Consider an avian vet visit. To many episodes may indicate an infection. The move a coincidence. Warm misty rooms periods is often recommended. I also agree with above. New building, unseen and smelt residue floating around. Aim for a hospital grade hepa filter. It gets 99.9% of everything out of air, mold, dust etc. It's used for patients. Get one with washable pre filter. AND replable filters. These last several months to years depending upon base brand. Some start slightly more than a regular one. If Amazon beware. A lot of 'as good as'. You want real.

 

[emma_oscar2]

Thanks for the reply. I just booked an appointment on Friday. Do you have any links to the air purifier or the name of it? I’ll try to find one

 

[emma_oscar2]

Try and get an air purifier.
That should help with the dust in the air.
Hope this helps. Also with the place being newly refurbished, alot of extra dust is floating around. The air purifier should work

Any brands you recommend?

 

[wrench13104]

Parrots can often show nasal discharge after a move to a new environment. Happened with my 2 parrots and both went to an avian vet for nasal flush and a course of antibiotics, which cleared things up. I keep a bird cage heater, Snuggle Up brand next to Salty's sleeping perch when things get cooler and a reptile type sheet style heater under the cage floor papers for when it gets REALLY cold in our house. Been doing that for 9 years or so. Air filters - HEPA are great but make SURE it does not have an ION type unit, which they often do.

Snuggle Up heater