Before I knew?

[Redstorm1721]

Well, before I knew anything about birds,My parakeet used to be in the kitchen. We cooked and used sprays like when cleaning the house. Lite candles and cooked fron the pots and pans you should never cook from near a bird. you know with Telflon? Thats about all you could buy back then. Since then of course all has changed. But I also would clean her cage with cleaners and I also used dish det all when she was in the kitchen singing away. When my kids were young I never knew any of this I read now. PrettyGirl is still here. But can you believe that we did all that? We never knew? Did anyone else do anything maybe harmfull? I am so glad she is okay and thank god for that.;)

[Mrs.Birdy]

Redstorm....

That's my case in point. THanks to more avian research, we know what can make our birds uncomfortable and I am so happy we now know about what can be harmful and irritating to them.

It's just like human medicine. Today we know so much more than we did just 5 or 10 years ago.

Research work is a wonderful thing.

[birdygirl]

I gave my budgie grit and sprayed her once every other month with mite spray.
I'm glad she is fine/

[Mrs.Birdy]

I was curious about using Grit. But, I was told it can destroy a birds digestive system and they don't need it.

[jackie]

i still feed jake grit. when i stopped, he had a very hard time reliving himself. i started back up with it and he was fine. i talked to the vet about it and he said that it's rare that birds will need grit, but if they do, to monitor them and make sure they don't ingest to much.

[retret]

Excuse my ignorance but what is a grit? is that made out of corn? I remember watching the movie "My Cousin Vinny" and they mention about grit..:D is that the same thing? Is it bad for my parrot to eat corn?

[jackie]

they are 2 different things. people eat grits and it's kind of like a hot cereal/oatmeal food. it comes as a powder(?) and you cook it in boiling water. the grit that we are talking about is like corse sand or very small pebbles. no, it is not bad for your bird to eat corn.

[JSimko]

Most birds do not need it. I have 4 birds that digest fine without it. Birds in the wild use it to digest things faster. I forget what their reason is for it but I do think it has something to do with predators.

[Redstorm1721]

Did anyone else ever do things they were unawhere of?

[crazeemama]

I'm sure we all did things that were uncouth before we realized it was not the best way to do things. Many years ago i kept a canary in a round cage and gave no thought to the cleaning products used in the cage and around him.
The important thing is did you change when it came to your attention, or did you continue on the same path? I believe most of us changed. that is called growth.

[Redstorm1721]

Oh, of course I changed. She flys around the house and all. She is the one who talks the most. she sings so beautiful and makes a tune with it as well. I never use cleaning sprays near them that is harmfull. They are all pretty happy. I do although need to clean the rug in their room I will be putting them in my room til its dry and no possibilty of harm from it. I will be using a det. that is okay and approved by the aspca. Also did you know that febreze has a stamp of approval by the spca? its a great product to use for odors.

[crazeemama]

Wow! i am surprised bout febreze - I have heard some of those products do cause problems so that is good news.
My keyboard needs cleaned so badly. If my posts are missing certain letters that is why. Man i hate to clean it!
Avian research Has really improved the lives of our companion birds and i am very grateful for it. Thirty years ago most were fed seed and on occasion perhaps some egg and a piece of apple. Now we have a better understanding of their needs and of course their health is improving across the board. Interesting to note that some STILL lived to ripe old ages despite our well intentioned faux pas! Just goes to show the hardiness that they have!

[Redstorm1721]

So true. the person who told me about the aspca approved, was my son. 18. He is so cute looking for things for me so I can use them near the birds. I can spray the furniture and not worry. I also have dogs so that is why I need to spray. When I was growing up I knew nobody that had birds. I never even was able to see any till I first went to a bird store. I see the ones outside. I love the birds outside. But never one you could keep. we only had dogs and cats growing up. Chicken, and things like that.

[Amanda]

Someone asked about grit. What I've been told is that parrots (any hookbills) do not need grit because they can crack the seeds open. Other birds (canaries, finches, others who have straight beeks) need the grit because the birds digestive system has a hard time digesting the seed husks. This is when grit is needed ... to help the bird digest the seed husks. I have never given any of my parrots (hookbills) grit and they are fine.

[Redstorm1721]

I would never give grit to my parrots. Grit is good for the birds you mentioned. It even says on the box for non hook bills. I give mine every once in a very blue moon, some charco. thats about the extent of that.

[birdygirl]

But they put a picture of a parrot on the box confusing the uneduacated public.

[JSimko]

Well, during the time that I worked at pet stores. I learned that the main difference between some of the rodent pellets and the parrot pellets are the are the package. The ones for rodents have a pic of some rodents on the bag. The ones for birds have a pic of parrots. For the most part a lot of them still have the same ingredients. That is why it is good to read ingredients.

[Mrs.Birdy]

So true....I spend most of my time in petstores reading ingredients.

[Amanda]

I think it's part of the marketing strategy that most manufacturers use ... they don't care whether or not the picture on the package is a "true representation" of their product or if it is what will "SELL". They don't really care about educating the public ... the bottom line for them is "profit". So, it's really up to the individuals to educate themselves.