preparing to bring your new parrot home

bird proofing your home

The first step in getting ready for your new parrot is making sure that their home environment will be be safe for them. There's a number of things that can harm or kill your bird, and some are more obvious than others. Parrots are just like toddlers; they explore their surroundings with their feet, beaks and wings - usually getting into places that they really shouldn't be. 

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Ceiling Fans

Never have your ceiling fans on while your birds are out of their cage. Sitting on top of the fan blades is a popular vantage point for a lot of companion birds, and I'm sure they know just how much harder it is for you to get them back down! Smaller parrots are especially agile in flight, and hitting a moving ceiling fan can cause decapitation, wing amputation, internal injuries and brain damage; survival is very slim. 

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Mirrors and Windows

Reflective surfaces like mirrors and windows can seriously injure or kill your parrot if they run into them. They will learn in time that these surfaces are not a thoroughfare, but running into a mirror or window can cause instant death, broken neck, broken wing,  paralysis (whether permanent or temporary) and/or concussion. 

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Candles, Oil Diffusers, Aerosols and Perfumes

Birds have a very unique respiratory system, which makes them especially sensitive to airborne toxins found in candles, diffusers, and aerosols. They do not have lungs like mammals do, but rather a series of air sacs in a 'one way' air flow system, relying on air pressure changes to breathe. Because this system is a rather efficient way to oxygenate their blood, it means inhaling substances (VOC's, CFC's etc) in polluted air can quickly cause irritation and damage to the air sac lining and even death. Do not spray things like perfumes, dry shampoo, deodorants, hair spray, bug spray, spray paint, or operate essential oil diffusers in the room with your bird. ​​

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​Teflon and Non Stick Coatings

​Research has increasingly shown that non-stick coatings like Teflon are more toxic than we first thought, but it is far more dangerous to our little birds. When overheated, chemicals in the coatings like PTFE and PFOA's release a chemical gas which causes severe respiratory distress and death within minutes (or sometimes longer, but there is no cure or antidote to save them after exposure).

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Teflon can be found in obvious items like frypans, woks, rice cookers, waffle irons and sandwich presses, but also in hair straighteners and curlers, clothes irons, microwave popcorn bags, Scotchguard / stain-resistant furniture and clothing coatings and even some light bulbs. Pyrolytic (self-cleaning) ovens are also extremely toxic when running the high-heat cycle, avoid using this feature, or if absolutely necessary do not ever use it with your birds in the house. Leave them outside far away from kitchen windows and doors for at least 24-48 hours.

When buying cookware, check the labels for:

• no Teflon / Gore-Tex

• ​no PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid)

• no PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene)

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​Safe options for non-stick cooking include ceramic, enamel, cast iron, stainless steel and carbon steel.

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For an in-depth reading on the dangers and history of Teflon, read here.

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Heat and Cooking Hazards

For most of us, our birds are an integral part of the family, and this usually means a lot of free flying out of the cage time. The kitchen poses many dangers like burns to feet and faces and injury from sharp objects. This becomes an issue for meal time, both preparing and eating. Keep your bird in their cage (or in another room, if with another household member) as much as possible while you are using the stove, oven, blenders or even chopping if they are particularly inquisitive. Granted, some birds are more than content to just sit on your shoulder and hang out while you go about your meal preparation, but it only takes one opportunity to lose or severely injure your bird - the risk is just not worth the heartache for both of you.

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Open boiling pots of water, steam, hot frypans (full of yummy food they feel entitled to), hot stovetop burners, open ovens, hot baking trays, sharp knives on chopping boards are just a few kitchen dangers to note.

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Bodies of Water

Another hidden danger in our homes is water. While their feathers hold limited 'water repellent' properties, they will get waterlogged and drown quite quickly if they find themselves in water deeper than they are able to stand. Be mindful of things like unattended buckets of water (for cleaning or mopping, soaking dirty laundry etc.), filled sinks, toilets with the lid left up, dishes or pots soaking in the sink and unemptied bathtubs. Ensure that your fish tanks have lids on them. 

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External Doors and Escapes

One of the leading dangers in a home would be escape through a door that has been left open. Unfortunately this is quite common in homes with children, and anyone not used to constantly keeping the door closed behind them. Some people wrongfully assign the responsibility to the bird by clipping their wings to stop them flying away in the event of a door being mistakenly left open, but this is not the right approach. As the owners, we are accountable to keeping them safe and adjusting our own behaviour and those in our care to keep these sentient beings safe. If you have small children, speak to them often about the responsibility of keeping the doors and windows closed and the consequences if they fail to do so. Human beings are remarkably trainable and adaptable, and children and adults alike are capable of changing their habits.

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​Bunnings offers a simple solution of adding auto closing devices, regardless of the style of door. These can be added easily and are quite economical:

• ​Closer for sliding screen doors

• Closer for hinged screen doors

• ​Closer for solid doors 

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Chewing Hazards

Parrots are perpetual toddlers; continually getting into mischief and chewing things that they shouldn't. Painted or varnished furniture or picture frames, electrical cords and cables, curtains, and even kid's stationery (pencils, crayons, erasers etc) can cause illness, electrocution, crop blockage (impaction of foreign, indigestible material) and strangulation in fabric fibres (frayed curtains or fabrics, blind cords).

House plants also pose a significant risk of poisoning, like lilies, ivy, jasmine, daffodils, honeysuckle, philodendron, pothos etc. As a general rule, it is best to treat every house plant as potentially unsafe and restrict access unless known to definitely be safe.

If given unsupervised access to window screens, they can also chew holes in them and potentially escape. For our bird room, we replaced the sliding door mesh with this stainless flyscreen from Bunnings. 

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Be careful with access to unsafe metal objects like lead, zinc, and copper, which unfortunately are often found in most commercial bird toys. 

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Cleaning Products and Chemical Exposure

Cleaning products can be very detrimental to your bird's health, especially products like Febreeze (documented as causing fatalities in birds). Using a vinegar and water solution can clean most things around the home, with the addition of a diluted bleach solution for sanitising purposes. 

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In our home, bird room and aviaries we've been using a natural product called For All Australia,* which is a pH neutral, ultra concentrated degreaser and detergent. It has effective septic safe, biodegradable enzymes which break down organic matter in faeces and food. We find it to be a great option for cleaning, without the harsh chemicals and synthetic fragrances, and comes in an unscented version. We have been using it to mop floors, clean dishes, clean cages and aviaries, wipe down benches, clean walls and much more, for many years now. 
*Not sponsored or affiliate in any way, just a major fan of their products and long term user.

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