Cockatoo Dust

I love when the weather warms up so I can bathe Alfie, my moluccan cockatoo, outside and blow him out with the shop vac more (something he loves WAY more than water showers).

It’s so important to get all that extra dust off of our cockatoos. Cockatoos are the dustiest birds we have in our homes. It’s not uncommon for cockatoo owners to develop serious lung problems later in life, sooner and more severe than the average person, because they’ve been exposed to constant cockatoo dander and dust. When I worked at rescues full time, a lot of the drop offs were because people developed lung problems from their birds and their doctors refused specific treatments, like transplants, if there were birds in the house. You wouldn’t want to be stuck against a rock and a wall.

Showering helps cut back all of the dust to increase air quality within your home. Plus, it is great mental stimulation and physical stimulation and leads to a calmer, quieter birds for a little bit of the day.

Another thing we can do to help the air quality in our cockatoo homes is air purifiers. I talk about this all the time. I have them all over my house, 6 in the main bird room and a exhaust fan and 2 in my living room with Munchkin (double yellow headed amazon) and Rukkas (red lored amazon). They need to be HEPA filters, the ones where you have to clean and change the filters. Ion and “filter-less” air purifiers are known to be toxic to birds sensitive respiratory system.

Even if you don’t have a cockatoo, any bird you should have at least one air purifiers because they all have dust and dander, and although it may not be to the degree of cockatoos, it is more than our pets like dogs and cats.

Fresh air is another key with parrots. I will have all my windows open for as long as possibly everyday. Even in the winter I’ll have them open for 10 minutes or so (temperature never drops below 60 inside). When I designed the bird house, I put as many windows as I could afford in there (6) to allow for cross ventilation. Let nature help you get all that stagnant air out!

It’s important to protect yourself so you can continue to provide care to your feathered friends for as long as possible!