good or bad

Zada is still sneezing every so often. No discharge and her activity is normal. Could it be because my house is dry? Would it be a good idea to take her in the shower and let her get some steam?(she still doesnt like to get wet in the shower) Or would that make it worse and give her a chill?

Its gets dry this time of year and they can get irritated by pollen and such just like we do. Try the shower and if that doesn't help, get a humidifier and put it near her cage.

Im saving up for a humidifier so hopefully I can get one by christmas (:!

If it's really dry in your house, even placing a pan of water in the room will make a significant difference in the humidity level. As a resident of the super dry state of Colorado, I can assure you of this! The only thing you want to be sure to do is change the water and clean the pan daily so you don't have any mold growth. I've also heard you can also add one teaspoon of baking soda per cup of water to help slow the growth of some bacterias/molds/mildews, though I don't know how valid that is.

Another thing you can do to add humidity to the immediate vicinity of the bird would be to hang a wet towel on or near the cage. As it dries it will increase humidity in the area around it.

Remember though that increased humidity in an area changes the perceived temperature. I assume that would apply to birds the same way it applies to people, so keep that in mind when you're adjusting the thermostat.

VickiNumbers wrote:

If it's really dry in your house, even placing a pan of water in the room will make a significant difference in the humidity level. As a resident of the super dry state of Colorado, I can assure you of this! The only thing you want to be sure to do is change the water and clean the pan daily so you don't have any mold growth. I've also heard you can also add one teaspoon of baking soda per cup of water to help slow the growth of some bacterias/molds/mildews, though I don't know how valid that is.

Another thing you can do to add humidity to the immediate vicinity of the bird would be to hang a wet towel on or near the cage. As it dries it will increase humidity in the area around it.

Remember though that increased humidity in an area changes the perceived temperature. I assume that would apply to birds the same way it applies to people, so keep that in mind when you're adjusting the thermostat.

Those are great tips! I worry about the temp. in my house. My dad likes it pretty cool. We usually keep it an 75 at the warmest. Would getting a heated perch help her from getting cold?

That's not too cold, parrots are fine in temps from anything above 70 to as low as 65. And the larger macaws tend to be much warmer than the smaller birds, so you're fine. Also, when increasing the humidity, be sure to change bedding and such more often because the moisture tends to promote mold.

Hannah, it gets REALLY cold in our house. During the winter it's not unusual for it to be in the low 50's at night in our house. I have heating pads I put beside the cages for the birds who are compromised in some way - like Caesar who is plucked and hasn't refeathered yet and for Allie who's still a baby and I'm trying to get some weight back on her, but Bucky and JJ (if she were still here) would have had the pleasure of a cage cover and a full dish of food. OH, and being the species that they are, they also have "sleeping bags" (tents) that they sleep in. But if we were to keep Caesar, she wouldn't get a sleeping bag - she'd just get a full dish of food, a cage cover (probably a sheet), and a goodnight kiss.

Okay good to know Im not making a birdy popcicle! Zada is afraid of cage covers, she hisses at any sheet or blanket I try to put on. So I just have a nightlight, she seems okay with just that. Im pretty worried about her sneezing. Shes itching her ears and nose a lot and yawning like shes trying to pop her ears or something

That's common. Generally its nothing. Merlyn gets runny noses on occassion from allergies when its damp too long.

Okay I wont worry about it then unless I see some discharge

I've lived in NC and I wouldn't consider it a dry place. Unless the heater is sucking the moisture out of the air, I doubt it's because it's too dry. I haven't noticed any issues with dryness even where I'm living, in the foothills north of Los Angeles, which is much drier than NC, but not nearly as dry as, say NV.

Are you SURE she's not making an imitative sneeze?

ScooterNScotty wrote:

I've lived in NC and I wouldn't consider it a dry place. Unless the heater is sucking the moisture out of the air, I doubt it's because it's too dry. I haven't noticed any issues with dryness even where I'm living, in the foothills north of Los Angeles, which is much drier than NC, but not nearly as dry as, say NV.

Are you SURE she's not making an imitative sneeze?

Yeah its actually kind of muggy, but I thought maybe the house was dry. She might be!! But sometimes she itches her nose after she sneezes. That would be so funny is she was imitating

Um... I wasn't putting 2 and 2 together and getting you living in NC! LMAO! Does water even evaporate on the east coast? I'm pretty sure it doesn't in the south, but I'm not sure about the east.

In Colorado we routinely see humidity levels below 30%, and it's not uncommon to see them in the teens or single digits (it's a DRY heat y'all!), so utilizing evaporative cooling, or evaporative ANYTHING, is a fairly reasonable expectation. I don't know that it would work as well or even be needed in someplace like NC.

We ran humidifiers in the winter in NC because it does get quite dry in the house .especially when a cold front moves in from the Great White North.

Our new place is irritatingly "moist" inside, but when the heat is on, the main room where the birds are tends to be the driest because that's where the furnace intake is.

And yes, water evaporates in the East.

Maybe I feel like its dry because Im used to living an hour from the beach and having rain 300 days out of the year.

That could be

I would get a baking dish full of water and keep in under her cage. maybe put some vinegar or such in the water to help stave off grossness.

o'TikaandAurora wrote:

I would get a baking dish full of water and keep in under her cage. maybe put some vinegar or such in the water to help stave off grossness.

Aaaannndd..!!! (Looking around...) Yep! It looks like we're right back to my ORIGINAL idea! LOL! humph!

I'm just choc-full of geneosity today, aren't I!