All About Pet Birds – Safety Tips

This article is all about pet birds in general and how to keep them safe, no matter what type of pet bird you have. You will be amazed at what dangers lurk around your house.

As animal lovers, there is no doubt about how much we love our pets, whether dogs, cats, budgies, snakes and whatever else we choose to keep. Our aim is to keep them safe and protect them in every way we can. Why should it be any different with pet birds? They too need to be kept safe.

It’s All About Pet Birds Safety

Unfortunately, there is a long list of things that are hazardous to birds, so I would just like to bring them to your attention so that you can avoid mishaps and accidents when it comes to your pet birds.

Did you know that there are certain foods that could harm your pet bird?

Never ever give your birds any of the following:

Onion

Chocolate

Avocado

Iceberg lettuce

Ground beans

Tea

Dough with yeast

Salt

Tomato Leaves

Potato Leaves

Tobacco (this one is weird)

Spoiled food

Alcoholic beverages (believe me this does happen)

Caffeine or food containing caffeine

When you let your bird roam freely around your house always keep a watchful eye on him. Also, bear in mind that there are a lot of household products that are harmful to them. Because they are highly intelligent creatures and are curious by nature, they will explore everything that they come across.

Careful that these things are not available when your pet bird is exploring:

Potpourri

Moth Balls

Detergents of any kind

Batteries

Pesticides

Medicine

Most of they above, if ingested can cause anything from stomach problems to burns and worse.

All About Pet Birds In The Kitchen

While we are talking all about pet birds, one of the no-go areas for your birds should be the kitchen.

Birds are highly sensitive to the air they breathe and everything they inhale is absorbed by the body very quickly, and this includes anything you may be cooking in the kitchen.

The bird cage should never be kept in the kitchen and the bird itself should not be allowed to keep you company when you are cooking. Always take the trouble to move the cage out of danger when you are about to begin cooking for the following reasons….

Cookware especially Teflon coated dishes and other non-stick cookware, should never be heated to smoking point. The polytetrafluoroethylene emits fumes that are very harmful to pet birds.

In fact, it would be safe to say that any cookware, when preheated with oil or butter inside it, can be very harmful to your pet bird. Apart from the fumes attacking the bird’s delicate breathing system, a bird itself is curious in nature could get burned or worse if left unattended in the kitchen.

Kitchen appliances can be death traps for a small bird. You have to keep it away from hot burners, stovetops, open oven doors, toasters, coffee pots, boiling water and all the other things in the kitchen that can burn or shock your bird.

The kitchen needs to be properly ventilated and the exhaust fan must be turned on when you cook. If you don’t have proper ventilation for your kitchen, it is better to get an extra fan to circulate the air. Otherwise, keep your bird in another room.

Birds are highly sensitive to all kinds of sprays from aerosol sprays to non-stick sprays, starch sprays, and perfume sprays. Smoking around your bird is a definite no.

You can keep your bird safe from disease by making sure that his food and water do not become contaminated. Store bird seed and pellets in strong airtight containers.

The water you give your bird should be treated with chlorine or you can use town water.

All About Pet Birds In Your Garden

When your birds are allowed to fly freely around your garden and mix with wild birds, the spread of disease is always a threat. I advise that you don’t let your pet bird mix with wild birds, or you could be asking for trouble. The bird should not be allowed to have access to any open water sources either. If you have some kind of water feature in your garden either remove it or make sure it is always clean.

Some plants can also be harmful. These include:

Oleander

Yew

Azalea

Rhododendron

Eating or nibbling on the leaves of these plants can cause serious life-threatening problems for your pet bird.

If anything does happen to your bird, make sure you don’t try to self-medicate your bird without the advice of a qualified avian vet. Human medicine will do more harm than good in most cases.

Even if you think you are doing your bird a favor by giving him one of your vitamins, you are not.

So that just about covers this all about pet birds safety post.

Please feel free to add to the list by commenting below.