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3. Toxins. Know what they are and keep 'em away from the birds. Get a list of toxic plants (call your avian vet, look on AOL/Internet, call your local poison control center) and keep it handy. Find any and all sources of lead and get rid of 'em. In case your bird wanders (they shouldn't, but sometimes they do), get child-proof cabinet closures and move all air fresheners, cleansers, detergents, insecticides (which should never be kept or used near a bird) to an upper cabinet. Anything that gives off fumes or strong chemical odors must not be used near birds. If you are painting or fumigating, board your birds and don't bring them back until the house has had plenty of time to air out; at least 24 hours after the work has ceased and any smell has dissipated. Do not use the self cleaning feature of your oven as this will kill your birds; the oven is okay, just clean it by hand.
And while we're on the subject, do not use any non-stick irons or cookware..... I heard it; some of you gasped. That's right, I said not to use it at all. I know we've all heard that it is only toxic if "over heated". Fine, what's over heated? Do you know that you'll never get a phone call and forget that a pan is on the stove or that the temperature control on the stove might go wacky? If over heated kills does heated regularly just harm? Hell, guns are only dangerous if you pull the trigger, so lets give them out on the street corner with instructions to keep the safety on, wadda 'ya say? Remember, we don't plan on accidents so the sentence "I would never..." does not apply. Of course you would never allow a pan to overheat, but if the mere intention not to mess up meant that you wouldn't mess up there would be no word "accident".
I know what it feels like to lose a bird. And even though he didn't die from an accident, would I scrub pots and pans for a few minutes each evening for the rest of my life to bring him back? You bet I would. Small price, if you ask me.
4. Toys. Unsafe toys epitomize the axiom "Killing them with kindness". Birds need toys but so many of them on the market are really dangerous. Let's review some of the basics.
-All leather should be untreated or vegetable dyed.
-All wood should be untreated or colored with a non-toxic coloring such as Kool-aid, Jello or the like.
-All toys should be strung on sisal or cotton rope or closed link chain (where each link is welded shut). No bent wires or open link chains as these can easily trap beaks, toes or nails.
-Attach toys with zinc-free Quick links (or "C" clamps) or just tie them on to the cage using proper rope or leather. The dog leash clips or any spring loaded or bent metal clips are unbelievably dangerous. Personal experience here.
-When the end of a piece of rope begins to unravel, clip it off. A bird can easily become entangled in these "tentacles".
-I avoid bells altogether. The little jingle bells are toe traps and the larger bells frequently have lead clappers or the clappers can easily be removed and swallowed by the inquisitive parrot. If you do get toys with bells, make sure the clappers are not lead and that they are very well attached.
-Toys that are either too big or too small for your bird are both useless and dangerous.
I'm sure there are more, but I can't seem to remember them now. Heck of an authority, ain't I.
5. Godliness. Nope, I haven't been reborn; I'm just going to talk about cleanliness.
I know people who devote every Saturday to taking every bird cage outside for a thorough cleaning and disinfecting. I am not one of those people, but they should be knighted. However, simply because we're not all saints does not mean that we're automatically sinners, either. So how often should we mere mortals clean our cages? Well, that depends. For instance, my Amazon poops either in the same spot in the cage or over the side when out of the cage and eats directly over the food bowls. He must be the neatest bird in history. My Moluccan, however, is another story. Hitchcock dumps or tosses food he doesn't like (that day), poops everywhere and brings most of his soft foods out to the top of the cage to eat and eats them over the cage. I'd be an idiot to clean these cages at the same interval.
The obvious answer is to do spot cleaning on small buildups, to run a moist rag over the cage every week or so and to clean/disinfect every month or two. When you disinfect, make sure to rinse the cage thoroughly to remove all the disinfectant before putting your bird back into the cage.
Changing the paper/bedding once or twice a day is essential. I like newspaper as opposed to a particle type bedding because it is inexpensive and allows you to more easily "read" your birds droppings. Irregular droppings are an early sign of illness and it is impossible to see things like diarrhea or polyuria on corncob.
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