Controlling Feather Dust -7 Steps To Take Toward Reducing The White Powder

If you are having problems with feather dust you probably live with an African Grey, Cockatoo, or Cockatiel. These stunning parrots are well know for the white powder that their feathers require to stay healthy. Here are 7 ways to minimize this dust in your air.

Throw Water At It---One of the best ways to get rid of dust is to use water. This will yield better results than any method of dry cleaning such as sweeping or dusting. Your bird can also benefit from bird baths.

You can provide a bowl separate from drinking water and let your bird throw water up shake it out. Shower perches are also a great way to wash the powder and dander away and still allow you to spend time with your pet.

Dress Your Room For Success---Some types of furniture and accessories are better at trapping particles than others. And you want to avoid the ones that trap particles. Instead choose furnishings that can be easily wiped clean, or washed. Choose vertical blinds or shades rather than draperies that hold particles because of their woven construction.

Choose hard surfaces for flooring with rugs that can easily be washed rather than professionally cleaned. Furniture should also be able to be wiped clean. Leather or leather-type materials are a great choice for releasing dander and dust

Cover Your Mouth (And Nose)---When cleaning the cage, vacuuming or damp mopping floors wear a mask. If you are at all sensitive to these allergens, have someone else clean do the cleaning.

Learn To Say No---At some point more is not better for you or the birds. Given that your space is limited, the number of birds that you can keep healthy is limited as well. Providing a healthy atmosphere to a few birds is better than adopting more than for which you can adequately provide.

Remember To Change---The more you can change the better. Start with furnace filters. Instead of once every 6 months increase the frequency to once a month.

Changing the paper in the cage frequently will cut down on the amount of bacteria available from dried feces attaching to dust and becoming airborne. These are the type of particulates that can cause health problems for birds and humans.

Use A HEPA Vacuum Cleaner---Many vacuums blow air out that sends dust and particles back into the air. Using a cleaner with a high efficiency particle arresting filter keeps the pollutants in and only releases clean air. This literally keeps the dander and dust down in your bird's room.

Filter The Air Continually---Preening, flying, and playing are normal movements that happen for most of a bird's life. These normal activities all send particles into the air.

The only way to take them out is to continually filter the air with a HEPA filter. This type of technology is designed to trap particles that are.3 microns or greater.

The good news is that this technology is safe and is used in hospitals to insure clean air. It does not produce any ionized particles or any amount of ozone (as both of these technologies remain controversial).

Taking all of these steps will drastically reduce the feather dust in your home and greatly improve the quality of life for you and your bird.

Why Are White Birds Becoming the Most Popular?

The other day, I went into a pet store because I was looking for something to write on the topic of pet birds. As I was talking to the pet store owner, a local well-known business person, in fact, I can vouch for Sam, we've even worked on some local community projects together. We got to talking about the cost for caring for a large bird, such as an African gray. He explained to me that the new thing was that people wanted birds which were white in color.

He wasn't sure what the fascination was, although he did say that white little designer dogs and white cats are also on the request list, and there are fewer at the pound, as they generally get adopted quickly as well. I told him a theory that the CEO of BMW had mentioned in the Wall Street Journal. He called it the "Apple Affect" and that people were buying white BMWs to match their Apple iPhones, and other products. He laughed, and said he wouldn't be surprised.

Interestingly enough, I did meet someone last month at Starbucks, and she had bought a cover for her Apple iPad. Then she mentioned that all of her wardrobe now contained that same color, it's even painted her fingernails and toenails to match. It seems, that white is in, even for pet birds. The problem is due to supply and demand, many of the very colorful parrots are not selling so well, people want the white ones, therefore the price has risen. Sam told me it wasn't his fault, his costs had also gone up, so he had to pass those costs on to the consumer.

He showed me a white parrot, boy was it beautiful, he said; "this bird has already been sold," and the parents said; "I am sold, I am sold." Wow I thought, that's pretty funny, and it turns out that one of the girls who works there taught the parrot to say that because people kept asking how much it was. And then the parrot said; "look over there, look over there." And sure enough, there were other birds on the next row, also for sale, birds which had not been sold yet.

This is why white pet birds are becoming the most popular right now, and Sam wasn't sure how long that trend would last, previously they were not in such high demand. Indeed I hope you will please consider all this and think on it if you are shopping for a pet bird.