A Clean Room for Birds: 5 Ways to Keep Your Aviary Clean
A clean environment for your bird will keep you and your pet healthier. Sometimes it may seem that effective cleaning is easier to talk about than it is to do it. But following the 5 tips below will help you dramatically reduce the amount of particulate matter in your bird room.
Avoid Particle Traps – There are so many places in the regular house and even the bird room that can trap allergens. Wall-to-wall carpeting, upholstered furniture, stacks of books and magazines, fabric curtains, horizontal blinds and the list goes on and on.
Most of these surfaces are woven and can trap an incredible amount of particles that can and do get into the air with everyday activities. The more of these you can remove, the better you can clean thoroughly and actually reduce the amount of particles that are even available to get into the air.
As you add and replace furniture in your bird room and home, think about bird-friendly replacements. Opt for easy-wash rugs that are easy to wash. Consider furniture that can be cleaned with a damp cloth rather than cloth-covered pieces.
Choose linoleum, tile, wood, or another hard surface that can be mopped up. And think of roll-up and cleanable curtains and vertical blinds as options that will allow more particles to fall to the floor.
Say no — Saying no to one more bird may mean that the birds you have already adopted will have a better life. If you are a bird lover, you probably want to give all the homeless birds a good life. But depending on the size of your space, continuing to add birds beyond a certain point makes it nearly impossible to maintain healthy conditions.
"The more the better" The rule does not apply in this situation. Giving fewer birds a good life is better than having a ton of birds that you can’t properly care for.
Clean often — How often you clean will be your decision based on your situation. But you will be able to tell if your schedule is working fairly quickly. Some people can clean every other day and others feel like they need to clean every day and sometimes more than once a day.
Its frequency will depend on the number and type of birds you have. Those with powdered birds such as African Grays, cockatoos, or cockatoos may find that more frequent cleaning is necessary to keep up with the incessant white dust these parrots produce.
The goal is literally to reduce dandruff and dust. Your room doesn’t need to be able to pass the white glove test, but almost.
Clean smarter – One of the best ways to remove particles from your circulation is to use water to clean. Adding water to the mix with a damp mop or cloth makes the particles too heavy to escape into the air again and gives you a better chance of permanently removing them.
A vacuum with a high-efficiency particulate stop or HEPA filter is also a great way to ensure that what is vacuumed stays in the vacuum. Keep the broom and mop out of the mix and opt for the vacuum.
Filter the Air — Regardless of how smart or often you clean, particles will get into the air. The particles just come with the territory when you live with birds. The only way to reliably keep the air clean is to filter it continuously.
HEPA filtration is better because its only by-product is fresh air. There are no ionized particles or ozone levels to worry about.
Hospitals use HEPA filtration and it will surely work for you in your situation. This type of filter must have been shown to be capable of removing 99.97% of airborne particles of 3 microns or more.
Together, these 5 steps can bring you closer to providing a wonderful life for your avian friends and a healthier life for everyone who lives with them.