Parrot Cage

By Palace Parrot Cage on Feb 24, 2009 | Reply

No, the fumes from the cedar is bad for the birds respitory system. Use newspaper with non toxic ink or bird cage liners you can get in the pet store.

By The Tower Parrot Cage on Feb 26, 2009 | Reply

Cedar wood is actually used to line clothing boxes (hence the term ‘cedar-chest’) and to line closets, to take advantage of the fumes that the oils of the cedar lets out. It repels animals and bugs, and can cause illness over long-term exposure. So, no, it is not safe. Talk to a local pet-store owner. They will give you a list of safe woods- there are only a few that are safe for all pet birds.

By Mansion Parrot Cage on Feb 28, 2009 | Reply

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

The volatile hydrocarbons are BAD. they affect the liver and overtime can KILL your bird.

Use corn cob litter. if you must use wood, use aspen

I have several cages of birds on aspen litter and all are fine (zebra finches, cockatiels, parakeets and pionus parrot)

By Penthouse Parrot Cage on Mar 2, 2009 | Reply

I would never reccomend ANYTHING that would allow bird owners to be lazy about the cleanliness of a bird cage. The use of sand, woodchips and any other product can be harmful, if not deadly in the eyes of veterinarians. I don’t call them “beddings”- I call them “bad-ings”.

Sand of any type does not allow the poo to dry all the way, and this can invite critters to come in and play. This includes mites, fleas and mice. Yes, MICE. This is a glorious smell. Where there is poo, there is an animal that eats, so there has to be food there, too.

Think about you walking barefoot on a layer of 1/8-1/4 inch rocksalt pebbles. This is what sandpaper is equal to. Perches, perch covers and cage liners made of sandpaper is unneeded, if not double jeopordy. If they pick the sand pebbles off, or chew peices of the paper, this can lodge in their system and cause major issues to their digestive track, up to and including causing lesions in the crop, stomach and intestines. It’s like eating glass. And STANDING on glass. The pads of a bird’s feet are soft and rubbery. They are on their feet constantly, and the sandpaper rubs the feet raw, making the pads suseptable to cuts; these little cuts, equal to our paper cuts, are not only painful, but are easily infected, and take MONTHS to heal due to constant leg use.

Cat litter dust is deadly to their sensitive lungs. They can block airsacs and broccoli, causing pneumonia. Clumping litter is even worse. If they eat it, the digestive fluis will cause it to stick together, causing crop impaction, stomach lesions or can rupture the intestins.

Wood chips are basicly pre-splintered. One good fall can cause splinters to go through their thin skin. These can go unseen under feathers, and the feet can cut easily, or get under leg scales. It’s like walking with a broomstick through the calf of your leg. The mouth is tender and mushy tissue, and these hard-wood splinters, if not chewed properly, can get lodged in the back of the throat, and if it passes that first obstical, can puncture the crop. you have to scrub to remove poo-patches, anyway, so what is the point of something equal to a Kerplunk game when it lands on the bottom in the first place? You would need A LOT of litter to keep this from happening, and is more exspensive to any other product. Most people end up lining the bottom THEN using this- what’s the point? Save yourself the money, while you can. Wet woodchips are a great way of making your bird sick- would will naturely rot when wet, and this yuck can get into their system causing sour crop and painful stomach irritation, if not a disease.

CEDAR IS NEVER GOOD TO USE! All birds have sensitive respitory systems, and the smell of cedar han make it hard for them to breathe. They also give off hydrocarbons that are toxic to any bird.

Corncob is made of a material that expands when wet. Many pet birds have died from starvation because it is small enough to swallow, but impacts the crop and stomach if it gets big enough. It will not get farther in the system, and will not pass through the intestins because it will be fairly lage by the time it reaches the stomach, slowly starving your bird bacause it is always full.

Plastic is a major no-no. Suffocation can happen with plastic, and it can block their digetive system.

Just because you don’t think your bird will get to these beddings- beleive me, they will. Would you want to chew on a crap-covered number 2 pencil?

When these beddings are not changed often, fungus WILL make it their home. This fungus, called the fungus Aspergillus fumigatus, is found in sand, soil, rotted wood, corn cob, and seeds. So much for most of these beddings, eh? This fungus can go air-borne and will effect the sinuses, the lungs and air sacs when disturbed- even the flit of the wings of a Finch will make it fly. This airborne fungus, in high doses, causes Aspergillosis. Diagnosis of this disease is difficult, and may cause sudden death before you know it’s coming.

The accelerants are high humidity (sloshing in water, using a spray bottle to bathe your bird, drips from the water bowl), low humidity (sometimes the fluids from the poo is enough- takes longer to grow, but the end is the same), higher temperatures and high dust (cigarette smoke, cockatiel or dove or cockatoo dust, human or dog or cat dandruff). This can also effect humans, but not as quickly bacause of the compisition of our respitory system, and the size of our system compared to a bird).

Thusly, the best items to use are run-of-the-mill newspaper (not the colored or glossy sections; the ink is toxic that is used to color the pages) and white computer-printer paper. This allows the droppings to be monitored for any changes that can show your bird is ill, and looks cleaner when changed often. These papers ar made from a soy by-porduct that will digest and pass without harming their system, esspecailly if you have a busy-beak that likes to chew- which all birds WILL do lack of a better or newer toy. DO NOT TARE THE PAPER UP! This is another lazy-man’s way, and the same goes for torn newspaper bedding as any other as a nice home for fumgus.

By Mansion Parrot Cage on Mar 4, 2009 | Reply

No, cedar is very unsafe because it emits fumes, and birds have extremely sensitive respiratory systems. Cedar is used in the manufacture of storage containers, including closets, of various types. The fumes emitted by this particular wood are so toxic as to kill moth larvae and other creepy-crawly things. Cedar kills!