Cockatoos are some of the most beautiful parrots available as pets. However, the white wing dust that they produce can be daunting to manage. Nothing will get rid of all the dust, but here are 5 things you can do that will drastically reduce the amount to which you and bird are exposed.
This powder is healthy for the bird, but for you it means your air has the potential for a ton more particles than the normal bird would produce. Here are 5 manageable ways to keep your air clear and fresh for you and your bird.
Bird Baths---This can be accomplished in several ways. You can mist your pet with fine spray from a spray bottle. Or you can leave a bowl of clean water out separate from drinking water and allow your bird to take care of its own bath.
Another thing that might be fun for you and your bird is to install a shower perch. These are fairly inexpensive and can be found in many stores that have bird supplies.
If you decide to do this make sure the water is misting rather than a hard stream. Put the perch away from the water source so that you pet gets to choose when it approaches the water, and can use the perch as a place of retreat.
Clean Frequently---In order to keep dust and dander down with this type of bird, there is no way around frequent cleaning. And even with daily cleaning there is no way to remove all of it, but you can lessen the number of particles that are available to go airborne and be inhaled by you and your Cockatoo.
Reduce Particulates With Water---Use water to clean whether you are mopping the floor or dusting. Cleaning slowly and gently with a wet mop or cloth makes the particles too heavy to go back into the air.
So rather than stirring the particles up again, you can really trap them and wash them out of your environment. Reducing the number of particles is the ultimate goal.
Know How Much You Can Do---Providing the best environment for a bird is truly a gift. If your space allows you to do that for one bird, recognize that and provide an absolutely fabulous life for that one.
Even though it may seem like you're being generous when adopting numerous birds, that's only true if their environment (and yours) doesn't suffer because you're not able to keep conditions healthy.
Filter The Air---The best way to effectively remove airborne particulates and gases from the air is to continually filter the air. Since the makeup of particles differs from gases, the filters in an air purifier need to be able to eliminate both types.
For particles the most effective type of filter is a high efficiency particles arresting (or HEPA) filter. It can eliminate airborne particulates that are.3 microns or greater in size.
The benefit to you is that out of every 10,000 airborne particles it will eliminate 99,997 of them with 99.97% efficiency. Even though nothing will take out all of the particles, this comes pretty close.
For gaseous pollutants the best type of filter is carbon. Well known for its ability to remove gaseous pollutants it is highly effective at removing the odors, gases, and noxious chemicals that can have such grave health effects on birds.
A carbon cloth filter in a unit is the best of both worlds because it can remove gaseous irritants because it is carbon based and particulates because it is woven like a cloth.
Taking these 5 steps will keep you happier with the way your bird room and home look and healthier because there is less in the air that can cause potential health problems for you and your bird.
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