hairdryers

[Michael]

I'm not insulting you. I just think hair drying a parrot is a waste of time because they will dry either way. I think people are just playing "baby" with parrot. 65 is on the chilly side but if the parrot is exposed to that temperature on a daily basis it is probably used to it and fine. Birds shiver when they are cold, it's completely natural. They are different from mammals. A bird shivering isn't as over-chilled as a mammal. They just shiver to bring their body temp up to where it needs to be and it isn't abnormal. I still don't see any point in blow drying a parrot.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Well, I've read that some parrots enjoy the blow dryer....

[kimbo]

sorry if ive started something here. its just that i read that some hairdryers contain teflon and wanted to know if anyone on here knew if its true. i personally dont blow dry my cause he dries on his own.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I've heard that as well, although I can't really imagine why! Curling irons, yes, but blow dryers? I doubt a blow dryer would get to a dangerous heat unless misused, but it is certainly possible it is a concern.

I was skeptical that a self-cleaning oven would contain PTFEs (Teflon is a brand name, there are plenty of other coatings with the same "ingredient") since at the heats those things attain it's almost guaranteed to outgas, and while not fatal to humans we get "polymer fume fever" if we breathe it. Well, I contacted the manufacturer of ours and sure enough, it does. I'm thinking the regulators have been asleep at the wheel on that one.

[Michael]

I would tape or glue shut the control for the self cleaning feature so that it could not be activated by accident or someone else.

[pchela]

You can do a quick google search and find lots of sources saying some hairdryers have teflon... here is one. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... 9&aid=2874

Not all of them have it and if you can be positive that yours is teflon free then blow drying your bird is not a problem. Many people blow dry their parrots and say the birds love it. That said, getting your bird wet encourages him to preen which is very important. If you blow dry him, make sure that he is still preening as well. Or maybe you could let him preen a while and then blow dry or vice versa?

[MandyG]

Personally I don't use hair dryers. As long as you have a teflon free one and you're using it safely (not over heating the bird) I think it's ok for people use them. Yeah, they don't get blown dry in the wild, but as long as they're still preening a healthy amount then you should be fine. IMO. People have a right to their own opinion .

I just don't use them because I love it when Mojo is spending his time preening, a busy bird is a good bird

[tacotaco]

I do not use one on my conures. They dry naturally and preen themselves very well after baths. Birds dry naturally outside all the time - I do not see a need to blow dry them.

[Margaret]

I didn't use blow dryer for budgies. They dry themselves pretty fast and I have fun watching them.

However... After feeding Chico(baby Cockatiel) with a baby formula she has terrible leftovers on her. Hard to even name it. I clean her with a paper towel after each feeding, but it seems not enough.

Yesterday I finally wash her area under beak and slowly removed it using warm water and my nails. Baby food is really terrible to clean. On the end I thought, that since she is a baby, maybe I should dry her a little bit to make sure she won't get sick.
I have no idea what was worse:
1.thinking about bird get infection if not clean,
2. clean Chico and make her sick, because not dry
3. clean her, dry her and go sleep in peace - and that's what I did.

[mrstweet]

I used a hair dryer on Cupcake exactly one time. Her skin got SO dry afterwards that I have never used it again. Also, the teflon in the coils of the heating element can overheat and kill your bird. I know personally of one woman who did it for years and then her cockatoo died suddenly one day because of the fumes.