Household Dangers

Summertime brings memories of picnics, barbecues, and spending many hours outside. As summer wanes, now is a good time to be thinking of your bird, and the dangers it might face as you spend more and more time indoors.

One of the things people do less of in the fall and winter is cook outdoors. Common kitchen pots and pans coated with Teflon create a hazard for your pet bird. Teflon, when heated to a high temperature, can give off fumes that are toxic to your bird. So too can oven bags, oven cleaners and self-cleaning ovens.

People also seem to do more crafts indoors during the cooler months; therefore, it is imperative to look at any materials used in crafts. Some items, like Scupltey, can give off fumes if heated for too long in the oven. Paints, glues, etc., can also give off fumes.

Now is a good time to have your heating system checked. After sitting all summer, dust and other pollutants can build up on your ductwork. In addition, faulty furnaces can give off gasses, such as carbon monoxide that are fatal to both humans and pets.

Also, check for ventilation. With the home closed up for summer, or winter, little fresh air can enter. Ensure there is a window open to allow fresh air into the home, or spend some time with the air conditioning off. (Of course, you wouldn't want to turn off the heat in winter, for birds can be susceptible to colds, but an open window, even just a crack helps).

Although this is by no means a complete list of all household dangers, I hope it will get you to think about the things in your home that may not be healthy for your bird. With the bustle of this time of year, it's easy to overlook things that need to be done in order to prepare your home for winter, and to ensure your bird's safety.

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