Chemicals

[FatimaAndCharlie]

Hey guys I have a few questions.

I have a peach faced lovebird and I keep it in my room since there's no other place available to keep him. But my room really really really stinks. I keep the fan on, as well as the door and window whenever possible for air to cross. but it still gets quite smelly. I can't use an air freshener. What do I do? Is it okay if i take the bird out of the room, spay Lysol and then bring the bird back in after 5 to 10 minutes? any other ideas?

also it seems like the cage itself really stinks even after I clean it. How do i get rid of that smell? Is it the food? I feed him Nutri-berries.

Also, when I clean the cage, to kill the bacteria, i keep the bird well away from the cage and clean it with Clorox Wipes and then dry it well with paper towel to reduce smell and so there's none of it left on the cage that could harm the bird. Is that okay? i mean, i dont wanna use it, but i dont want e-coli building up in the cage. any tips? In petsmart, i saw a poop cleaning solution. how do they work? can they be harmful? do they kill bacteria? plz advise

thnx
Fatima and Charlie

[HungryBird]

Hi I recently tried using vinegar to clean my cages for the first time ever and it worked really well. I usually use soap and water but the vinegar works amazingly well and is safe for birds so I will probably continue to use it.

Do you know what is making the room smell? The only thing I can imagine is either old food or old bird poop. I hate the smell of bird poop!

I would suggest giving the cage a good scrubbing. Twice. I would put it in the tub and scrub it with soap and water, rinse it off, scrub it again, and rinse it off again. Try putting newspaper on the bottom of the cage so instead of washing the pan every day you can just lift up the old newspaper and put fresh papers down. I find this so much easier and cleaner. Cleaning the cage every day by removing the dirty newspaper should help a lot.

[zazanomore]

Vinegar! It's my best friend.

I suggest taking the bird cage outside, or into the bathroom and giving it a good hose down. Then, start cleaning it with vinegar.

Clean out your bedroom. Typically, birds don't make a smell. I have three birds in my room, and they don't have any odors. They're might be something in your room causing the foul smell. Don't use any disinfectants, as the chemicals are dangerous. You can use vinegar! Clean down everything, then put your cage back in your room.

Make sure to change the cage liner (newspaper, paper towel, whatever you use) at least once a week.

[liz]

I have 10 birds, a guinie pig and an iguana in my sunroom and their is no stink. One little Love Bird could not do it. You do need to keep the cage spotless and the food fresh but I think there must be another source to the stink in your room.

[FatimaAndCharlie]

thnx guys, that's very helpful but then wouldn't my room smell like vinegar then? how long does it take for vinegar smell to distinguish? does vinegar kill bacteria?

[zazanomore]

It doesn't end up smelling like vinegar, it ends up smelling fresh.

It is a natural and safe disinfectant (kills bacteria).

Back in the day, vinegar is what everyone used to clean their house. Ask your grandparents!

[liz]

I don't remember where but I read a story about a village that had cholera. It survived because they drilled a hole in a big rock on the out skirts of town, filled it with vinigar and put money in the vinigar for people to bring in supplys for them. No one outside the village got cholera so vinigar must have been a disinfectant known way back then.

[HungryBird]

It is likely that you will find the smell was not coming from the bird at all. It would take a while of ignoring the cage needed to be clean before you would notice a smell. Even when birds smell the smell is not that strong. What does it smell like?

[liz]

A chicken coop does not have a foul smell. It is just a musty smell.

I don't know what your room looks like but if you have clutter it is time to start checking under the bed, dressers and corners. It sounds like something crawled into your room and died.

My niece was complaining of knats in her room. When I investigated I found that an apple had rolled under her bed and lodged in the corner behind the bed leg. It rotted and drew the knats.

[FatimaAndCharlie]

thnx again guys, I'll try that.... the smell has been much less since i have been vacuming my room daily. it gets messy very quickly because of all the bird food that gets stuck in the carpet. and i'll buy vinegar as soon as possible. thnx everyone

FatimaAndCharlie