BellaOnline Forums Home and Garden Birds Budgies and cleaning fumes

I've read that budgies (well, birds in general) are very sensitive to cleaners and fumes in the air. I've been thinking about getting a budgie. I've been doing a lot of research online and they gave a list of smells/fumes/etc. that are bad for birds. By the time I finished reading the list, I pretty much decided that if I wanted to continue mopping my floor, a bird was out of the question. My question is, is it possible to be a responsible bird owner and still mop your floor with Mr. Clean Lemon Scent? Can you have a budgie and still occasionally sautee garlic and onions in a non-stick pan? I wasn't sure of the levels of the things they were talking about. And I would rather ask here than in a pet store where they're just going to tell you anything to sell you a bunch of stuff. Just a note: I live in a one-bedroom apartment, so it's not like I have a huge house where fumes/scents won't travel. Obviously, I'm not going to spray perfume into the cage, but is it possible to keep a bird healthy and still mop my floor once a week? Any advice from bird-owners would be much-appreciated as I don't want to get a bird unless I can provide it a healthy environment.

Hi,
I have 6 parakeets in 2 cages and I clean. My home has a living room/kitchen area combo. I use any cleaning product on sale like Mr. Clean or Pine-sol. One thing I do is turn on my ceiling fan. If I am going to clean something with heavy fumes, I move my guys into the bathroom and shut the door with fan on.
When the carpet cleaners come they know I have birds and use special stuff on my carpets. Just to be sure I hang them in the car in the garage with the windows open.
You are so right about pet stores telling you anything.
When I moved from upstate NY to Texas everyone told me not to move my 2 birds. Just let them go or give them away. Well I didn't and they traveled just fine. I had a clothes hanging bar in the backseat and they hung in the middle with my hanging plants on each side. Since arriving here in TX, son has adopted more parakeets.
Friday morning is cages cleaning day. All 6 are out for about for a about 2-3 hours. I hang signs on the doors to let people know I will not be opening the doors until the 6 are back in the cages.
I hope you get a buddy and enjoy him/her. By the way son put his name on a list in our 2 pet stores and we got ours free including cages/ toys & some food. Thanks to Mavis we now always quarantine for 3 weeks to be be sure everyone is healthy.

If I couldn't mop the floors we'd be in serious trouble here! I buy a special cleaner that's hypoallergenic because of my husband's chemical allergies. It works great around the birds (although I have not tried it on their cages). It's called SafeChoice Concentrated Super Clean (All purpose cleaner and degreaser). No fumes, no perfumes and it really works. You dilute it according to the type of use you're putting it to (spraying counters, mopping floors, etc). www.afmsafecoat.com

I try to avoid anything with perfumes or strong chemicals. I do use essential oils from time to time and haven't had any difficulties so far. I threw out about all of my teflon coated pans, but I hung onto the bread machine and rice cooker (that have coatings on the inner parts). I simply plug them in outside the backdoor so they're not in the house. If you don't have that option you might open all the windows, turn on a bunch of fans. I prefer to play it safe and just not take a chance because there's safer alternatives.

<img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I'm a little slow in getting in on this. Its nice to have others giving good advice in here.

Everything said by Denise & Holly's Mom is perfect and as long as you take precautions, there is no reason you can't have a clean home & also still be able to cook.

I havent had any problems with cleaning products and my budgies. When I know I am going to be using something caustic (ammonia, cleaning the self cleaning oven, etc) I will move them into the next room, open the windows and turn on the fan. I usually keep them in the room with me until the next morning. And as for cooking? Forget it! They get nuts when they hear water running, the sound of aluminum foil or smell cooking, especially rice! <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Just remember for the most part keep fresh air circulating in the room, move them out immediately if you burn something or are using something that needs ventilation and if you re not sure about something its better to be safe than sorry and move them out of the room!

well it depend where your moping if its the kicthen put him in the bedroom with the door closed if moping the room put him in the kicthen with the windows open.

I have a Umbrella Cockatoo and 2 African Grey Parrots currently but I also run a parrot rescue. I use dish soap, white vinegar and water for EVERYTHING including my bird cages, and I have for years with no problems. It is inexpensive, deodarizes, disinfects, degreases, and gets bird poop off easily.