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Hi, I'm about to get my first parrot and I am really worried about toxins and want everyones advice on what and what not to use! I have read up about them online, but they all say that there are things missing, so any other tales of sickness from household items would be appreciated. I really want him to be as healthy as possible.

First up, my bedroom (where I want the bird to be housed) is right next to our pool. It has a chlorine salt mix and I don't think there's too much chlorine in there, does anyone know if that could be harmful, or is it only harmful if they consume chlorine?

What bathroom cleaning products are safe?

Also I know it's fine to take your bird for drives, but are old cars ok, or cars without air con.

Are most things, apart from overheated cooking appliances, paint, and strong cleaning products ok to use in another room. Face cleansing products and perfume...?

Please feel free to offer any advice!
Billie

I approach questions such as yours in a "green" way, Billie. Learn to think like a scientist about air flow and quality. Our birds have extraordinarily efficient respiratory systems, so they're impacted by airborne toxins faster than we are, the canaries in the mines. Think about how toxins get into the air around your bird (and you) and work to minimize that. Taking your perfume query as an example ... if someone in your home applied perfume in another room but them walked into your bird's room, what comes along? And not only on their body, but in the air that flows through the opened door. I'm sure you've seen shows about the spread of killer diseases, where the docs and scientists wear air-tight suits and breathing tanks. Think why that is, b/c you can learn about toxic contamination even while laughing about the film itself.

I don't know about chlorine, but I think it's an excellent question, so please pursue it. The danger with old cars and those w/o AC is the bird's exposure to temperature extremes. If the car breaks down in frigid weather, you can wrap yourself in blankets and be glad you've worn boots and gloves, but your bird sits beside you very exposed. And if it's such a hot day that the lack of AC has the bird panting, that's not good. For cleaning, I use Oxyfresh (NOT Oxyclean!) or vinegar. Here are some links to lists of specific dangers to our birds:

http://www.exoticbird.com/gillian/holiday.html
http://exoticpetvet.net/avian/topten.html#Fumes
http://www.ecomall.com/greenshopping/teflon4.htm

Just a warning... You might want to reconsider housing your new parrot in your bedroom. I've heard of other owners who later became embarrassed after their parrots started imitating sounds they heard their owner(s) making in the bedroom. Do you want future company to possibly hear that? I also heard about a Moluccan Cockatoo that embarrassed it's owners after staying at the vet clinic. This Cockatoo also imitated it's owners, and the employees got to hear in graphic detail. Just something to keep in mind...

Non-stick cookware is never safe to use anywhere around birds. Get rid of it. There are other alternatives.

What kind of bird did you get?

Bev

Thanks for all of your help!

I'm getting an eclectus boy.

Will try to email all the companies this week and give away some old pans!
I think I'll get him a big day cage and a nice cosy sleep cage in another room as well and I live in aus so there's not much cold weather but it can get a bit hot.

Thanks again, I'll post some pics up when I get him and let you know how everything goes!

Haha it's all so exciting. I'm in Brisbane and I will be picking him up in a few weeks. What size is your cage. I really want a double huge cage but they're $700. Other than those I can only find large ones that don't look to be the greatest quality, or smaller better quality ones with built in play gyms and such. Let me know how he goes!