- Hey guys, Jamieleigh here from BirdTricks,
and I'm here with my Yellow-Dominant Camelot Macaw, Comet,
and that is for a very specific reason.
The topic we're gonna talk about today is household dangers,
the obvious and the not so obvious.
So who knew bird proofing our home
is pretty much impossible, but kind of a little hard,
and this is meant to make it a little bit easier
and less overwhelming.
(upbeat music)
And the reason I'm using Comet
is he is actually on the cover
of my free download available on my website.
So if you want this in a form where you can print it out,
have it for somebody who birdsits for you
or just for friends and family around
so that they can be more aware of the obvious
and not so obvious dangers to our birds in our homes.
So if you want something that you can print out
or just immediately download and have a list handy,
go ahead and get that.
I will leave a link in the description,
and it is free to download,
you just need to enter your email on checkout
and it'll be sent directly to your email.
So shall we get started with this, handsome fella?
If he looks a little scruffy,
it's because kinda going through a molt.
Yeah, we're having some old feathers go out
and the new feathers come in.
Little scruff, little scruffy.
Alright, so for those of you that have household plants,
I've made a list in alphabetical order
so you can find the ones that are in your home
and double check and triple check
that they are safe for your birds to be around,
or if your bird ends up getting to them,
if it takes a bite out of it,
you'll know whether or not that's a big deal or not,
so you can move the plant accordingly.
This can be a little bit tricky.
A lot of people ask if they can use branches
and trees from outside,
and it's great to have a list
and know what you can and can't use
and how to prepare them if you can use them.
So you never wanna just go cut out a branch
and put it right into your bird's cage.
You really have to go through some steps
of making sure that it's clean and ready for them to use,
but it is a great source of enrichment when done properly.
Okay, so not only is it important
to be aware of the flowers and the plants in your home,
whether or not they're on the safe or toxic lists,
but also that potting soil.
A lot of people kind of forget
that you're using potting soil to make your plants grow,
and so making sure that, you know,
most of those use commercial pesticides and chemicals,
so you don't want your bird getting into that,
so please have them in places
that they either cannot get to or go for some fake ones,
because they take a lot less maintenance. (clicks tongue)
The other lists in my download
include safe metals and safe cookware.
Now, I know a lot of people struggle with cookware,
'cause it's gotten a little complicated over the years,
whether or not something is nonstick
and in how specific that is.
Foot check, you're the cutest, super distracting.
Cookware can be a topic all in itself, a lengthy one.
And so I'm going to refer to my download for what PTFEs are,
ah, as well as PFOAs and let you guys really read that in,
so it can explain everything really, really well.
(kisses) Ah, handsome guy.
Safe cookware that you can use without having to worry
is of course, stainless steel, ceramic glass,
cast iron and hard anodized.
So if you just wanna not worry
about the whole Teflon and nonstick,
you can go with any of those.
However, if you are looking for a nonstick pan,
just follow the guidelines in my download
and you will be on your way.
Don't be afraid to ask questions and message sellers,
or you know, read the labels or contact the companies
to be able to ask your specific questions.
Foot check. (chuckles)
But yeah, and then the safe metals guide is also there,
because a lot of people sometimes
aren't sure how to test metals
to see what type of metal they are,
if they're unsure about it,
or how to make a metal more safe
for a bird to be able to use.
For example, we just use steel most of the time,
which is powder-coated.
So you really have to keep an eye on that powder coating,
make sure it's not chipping away
and it's not something that they can chip away themselves.
And then what's underneath
and any rust and that sort of thing.
So we're gonna go into all the details
of those sort of things,
and then talk about things that aren't so obvious.
(pleasant music)
When it comes to safe metals with parrots,
I unfortunately have experience
with metal toxicity in birds,
and it is not pretty.
Luckily all the birds
that I had seen suffer from metal toxicity survived,
but just barely.
It was horrible.
And when I say that,
the symptoms just in some of these birds
were foaming from the mouth and eyes,
being extremely lethargic, incredibly weak,
and just near, near death.
It was absolutely horrible to watch,
and thank goodness, they all had safe recoveries.
However, some birds are not so lucky.
I remember when a company actually offered me
what I was told was aluminum aviary,
and I knew aluminum was a safe metal to use with birds,
and so I said, that would be great.
It was bigger than what I could provide at the time,
and so I was so excited.
And then a friend of mine said,
chain-link doesn't come in aluminum, Jamie,
that is galvanized metal,
and I was so embarrassed.
I was shocked and I felt so stupid.
And then I realized how easy it is to believe a company
when they say, hey, you know,
this is made out of this material,
and you don't double check
because you just take their word for it,
or you're naive like me and just don't realize.
So anyways, I wanted to put the safe metals guide out there
so that you guys have the best information possible.
So obviously we all know stainless steel
is the ideal way to go,
but it's incredibly expensive
and most people cannot afford it.
So just being super honest,
I do not have anything for my birds of stainless steel.
I also, just on a side note,
I prefer the look of powder coating just for things.
I like how powder coating looks,
stainless steel looks a little sterile to me.
However, obviously, it's incredibly safe
and ideal for most birds.
So stainless steel is the way to go
if you have an unlimited budget.
There's also nickel plated, aluminum and steel and iron.
So steel and iron can rust,
so you just have to really keep an eye on that.
That's kinda what I was mentioning earlier,
where we do have aviaries made out of steel
and then they're powder coated over that steel,
but if anything happens to the powder coating
and it gets damaged and then it starts showing the steel,
that's kind of usually where rust will set in.
So never use lead, zinc or any metals that are galvanized.
These are toxic to birds and can cause metal toxicity.
Just when you think they aren't gonna chew on it,
they totally will.
And I don't wanna forget copper either.
I do have to say, if you cannot afford a safe cage,
you cannot afford a bird.
Okay, so one of the things
that lots of bird owners love to do
is give their bird lots of freedom to roam their house.
Now, this is a lot of fun usually,
unless it gets to the point where your bird is getting bored
with that out of time and is looking for things to get into,
such as cabinets,
which they're definitely able to open with their beaks,
and they can puncture things like K-cups
or different things holding toxic chemicals, like Tide pods,
or whatever you have around your home, under your sink.
We usually keep cleaners and things under our sink.
They can puncture those bottles.
So just be hyper aware of that
and make sure that your bird is not getting into things
and not getting into cabinets
because they are more than capable,
and if given the chance to be free roaming most of the time,
they will find something to get into.
Alright, so I'm just gonna list a few things
that stand out at me in this download
that may or may not stand out at you
and things that you need to make sure
that your bird stays away from
to keep it really, really safe.
So just to name a few, perfume, matches, pesticides,
just a more obvious one.
Chlorine, cigarette smoke,
overheated nonstick cookware, paint, weed killers,
wax, wood, preservatives, shoe polish,
did I already say that one?
Detergents, deodorants,
whoops, my hair went on your face again, sorry.
Alcoholic drinks.
Sorry, my hair go in your face?
Definitely not cool to give your bird alcoholic drinks
and see what happens.
Not cool, guys.
It's completely toxic to these little guys
and they have much smaller bodies than us.
Some household dangers that usually go unnoticed,
or I almost feel like people downplay these,
are ceiling fans.
I remember helping re-home a bird
to a family who swore by their ceiling fans,
'cause they lived in Florida,
and they were just like,
we cannot do without our ceiling fans on at all times.
And I just said,
you have to turn them off when the bird is in that area,
and their whole thing was, well, he can't fly that well,
but they were growing his wings out,
and I said, someday he will surprise you,
and he will be able to fly that high
and it'll be completely devastating.
I know some pretty horrible stories of birds dying
from just running and getting hit by ceiling fans.
And I have cute pictures of in Florida when I lived there
of my ceiling fans being off and my bird,
my Galah, Bandit, he used to love to ride the ceiling fan.
He would fly up, land on it to get it going,
and ride it around, and my toucan did the same thing.
Now I don't have any ceiling fans in my house,
so I don't have to worry
about people accidentally turning them on,
I don't have to worry about them being on
when I bring a bird in the house,
just don't have to worry about it at all,
but please be hyper aware of ceiling fans.
They will literally butcher your bird to death,
so be really, really mindful about it, guys,
it's a serious thing.
The other thing is doors.
I know so many stories about birds
just getting slammed shut in doors.
So especially those small guys, they tend to do things.
I remember one time a friend of mine said
that his Sun conure had actually flown into the freezer
when somebody had opened it
and his dad didn't realize and shut it with the bird inside.
Luckily, he went to get something out of the freezer soon,
and the bird came right out.
But things like that happen all the time,
and usually don't even end that well,
they usually end with the bird getting slammed in the door.
So just be really, really careful
about those sorts of things happening.
Accidents do happen, that's why they're called accidents,
so just being aware of stuff like that
and making sure that your bird is in safe places
when you do have to open and close doors is really ideal.
And you, you have been so good, get you some payment here.
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The other thing I feel like families omit to care about
is toilet seats.
And this is something that I really pound into guests
when they come to my house.
Leaving toilet seats up, you've gotta close them.
I've had birds go and land on toilets so much,
and I'm just like, that's why.
And every time they do, I take a picture and I'm like,
that's why we close the toilet seat always.
My daughter Capri is currently seven years old
and I'm always telling her to remind her friends
to shut the toilet seat.
It's super, super important
when you have flighted birds around the house
or even unflighted birds,
because they just manage to get to places
they're not supposed to and that are really dangerous
and it'd be horrible to have a bird drown in the toilet.
Seriously, it'd be awful, right?
(kisses) Another thing that pretty much went viral
and tends to go viral about once a year
is self-cleaning ovens
and people not knowing
that you can't have your bird in the house
when you put your oven on self-clean.
All the fumes and stuff from that
will literally kill your bird,
so make sure that if you do have to do that,
you move all of your birds out into a safe place
while your oven is on self clean.
So the rest of household danger
just kind of includes being aware of
when you're doing things
that your bird can't be a part of.
I know a lot of the time,
I'm always encouraging people to incorporate your bird
in all aspects of your life,
but that doesn't mean painting your nails, dying your hair,
or doing things that involves toxic chemicals
where they cannot be involved in it,
it really sacrifices their health to do so.
So just be very mindful
about what you're including your bird in
and make sure that you're doing things
that can include your bird in really safe ways.
Don't forget to grab my download,
link is in the video description for you.
It is a free download right off my website
and you will recognize it,
'cause on the cover is this handsome face,
this super handsome face right here, this one.
(kisses) You're a model.
I hope you guys enjoyed this video.
Please give it a thumbs up
and don't forget to subscribe for more info
on these amazing, amazing animals
that we share in our homes.
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