What should I do about roommate's air freshner?

[gopack041]

My stubborn roommate won't take me seriously about plug-in air fresheners being toxic to birds. He has a wallflower plug-in and it reeks. The plug-in is in his room, and a living room seperates our rooms. My bird's cage is as far from the doorway as possible, making the cage about 30 feet away from his door. So which option should I take?

A) Ask him over and over again to not use the plug-in, which he will probably ignore.

B) shut his room door when he is not here and not take my bird out into the living room when he is here.

C) Go into his room right now and throw the plug-in away.

My GCC is under one years old by the way.

Thanks for the help.

 

[Spiritbird]

I suggest you get a bird friendly roomate.

 

[SharonC]

That's a good idea!

 

[gopack041]

It won't be too much longer. But in the meantime, is the plug in an immediate danger to my birdie?

 

[greycloud]

Many air freshners can be toxic to birds. If it bothers you, imagine how your bird must feel with his sensitive longs. Offer to buy him some cinnamon sticks to heat and a little steamer for his room. Cinnamon and orange rinds also smell great.

 

[Auggie's Dad]

It won't be too much longer. But in the meantime, is the plug in an immediate danger to my birdie?

I'm sure plenty of birds have been around plug-ins and have been just fine ... but do you want yours to be the one that isn't? This question is a bit like asking how much cyanide is too much before a person should worry.

If it is temporary, and one of you will be moving out soon, perhaps you could negotiate with your roommate.

If that fails hit them with a really big stick.

 

[gopack041]

I like the stick idea. But toxic levels are fairly well established in humans...not so much in birds. Thanks for the help guys. Greycloud- That's a great idea! I'll go buy some cinnamon sticks for him.

 

[bogo1]

Buy him a gardenia plant ...nontoxic and fragrant?

 

[Pheonix Rising]

You could buy them one of those bottles of home essense with the bamboo sticks ( I can't for the life of me think of their true man )
these should be a safer option as they do not heat the fragrance and blow it out into the air with fans etc
perhaps giving it as a gift will give her/ him the insentive to change over

 

[triordan]

Pheonix Rising~do you mean like this? are these safe to use?

 

[HRH Di]

I'm going to be a bit of a devil's advocate here, but...who was there first? The parrot or the roommate? If it was the roommate and these smelly air fresheners were okay before, it's a little unfair to ask him to change because the rules changed. But if the parrot was there first and he was told the air fresheners were no allowed, then he needs to stick to the rules.

Either way, try again, point out that it's just for a short time. Personally, I don't know why it would be such a big deal to stop using them for a short while unless one of you is particularly skinky.

 

[Colorguarder08]

Are reed defusers safe? or the crystal air freshners that you just pour into a container?

 

[nofearengineer]

Anything with a lot of volatile oils is a potential hazard for a bird's extremely sensitive respiratory system. Glade Plug-In's are a disaster waiting to happen.

This is just me, and as I am 6'5, and too far over 250lb to mention, it might not work as well for you. But I would let him know that if his stupid, smelly, so-called "air fresheners" kill my fid, there will be consequences most dire. This is more of a short term solution.

In the long run, you need to get a new room mate. I wouldn't share a place with Jessica Simpson if she didn't care about my bird.

 

[Ratzy]

Honestly I would just chuck it....
Or Stuff it up somehow.....
Or hide it somewhere good ( umm... like at the tip )....

But I'm sure you all know how impulsive I am .

 

[gopack041]

Update: I ended up buying him an organic fragrance. I looked it up and it said it wasn't harmful to birds. He agreed to stop using his plug-in. I'm still worried about it, but whatever I got him had to have been better than what he had. It's ironic that there is an ad for Glade plug-ins right below. Thanks for all the ideas!