New addition to family, possibly

[Monica]

I've heard of a few cases of people keeping cockatoos and macaws (or greys) together. They were usually able to solve the problem dust by giving the cockatoo daily baths and having an air purrifier in the room to keep dust at a minimum. It really helped, and they saw that their other birds were breathing better.

Cockatiels, the cousins of too's can be pretty dusty as well, however, I have found that Casey is less dusty than when I first recieved her, and so the dust problem is no longer an issue here. I do not have an air purrifier (whish I did), and Casey doesn't get daily baths. I'm not sure what got her dusty self less dusty as she use to hate getting baths, however, I recently found out that she now loves 'em, so she gets them more often.

[The Outlaw]

Monica:

With all due respect, and I do respect you, baths and air cleaners are woefully inadequate. Most toos rarely get a soaked to the skin bath on a daily basis, and that would be an absolute necessity, in my humble opinion. Unfortunately, Elwood is a blue and gold and they are the MOST susceptible to respiratory disease from too dust. You don't even realize the magnitude until about 6 years down the road, and its just too late once you do. There is NO cure or treatment and the birds succumb eventually to the disease. Its very, very much like emphysema in humans. I haven't begun to really stress how bad it can be. Most folks that tell you they are happily housing both haven't done it long enough for the rotten stuff to even show up yet. Let's hear from folks that have had toos and macaws together for the last 20 years. I doubt that you'll have many responses. And that, my dear, is why I continue to preach.

THE OUTLAW

[TooLover]

Joel - please get out of my thoughts. Hubby and I were just talking tonight about an outdoor aviary. Also, I have decided to take both birds and keep both; my daughter (who is 17) wants the sun conure. I also have a friend who has a 'too who is a bit mistreated, IMO, so she may be coming to our house as well. I have told hubby that my ultimate "dream" is to have a building at the back of our lot to house all the birds that no one else wants. He agrees, of course we have to pay off our bills first.
He says my birds are my "thing" and he will support me always. What a great man I have!
:!: :?: :!:
Nancy, I do agree with your post and hubby and I are looking into the best possible way to keep Elwoodblue "safe". Cost is no factor and hubby told me if I could find it tonight to go ahead and order it.
Again, I have an awesome man!

[Monica]

Outlaw, there is one air cleaner recommended for too owners, and it's recommended by a 'too and macaw owner (as well as an electus)... I don't remember how long she has been into birds (over 10 years), and rescueing them, however, maybe it's something to check into... Though she keeps many of the birds outside, she has some inside as well, and uses an air cleaner that helps.

For the post, go to:
http://www2.toolady.com/forum/showth...&threadid=9665

And for the air cleaner itself:
http://www.toolady.com/shopping/aircleaner.htm

[The Outlaw]

Its pretty much like this: where are the long term test data results about this filter and the effects on birds in its environment? Frankly, it will take about 10 years before you'll really know.

Here's why I continue to preach. I have a dear friend who had a charming BG named Billy for about 12 years. He took in a needy and very beautiful M2 named Candy. Candy was a delightful creature and performed for him all day long. Billy also seemed to like the companionship of Candy. John loved them both, vacuumed constantly, had 2 air cleaners and a humidifier running constantly and bathed both birds every other day with a misting on the off days.

Billy started to seem weak and stopped eating. John noticed that he wheezed and had a rattle in his chest. He hadn't had Billy vetted in about 2 years since he'd never been sick and always had great annual reports. This time, however, his vet seemed quite concerned. Billy had indeed developed the early symptoms of respiratory disease. By now, the two birds were best of friends. But John knew that Candy had to go. He couldn't very well place Billy, who was sick and getting worse and couldn't keep Candy because she was the cause of the illness.

John found a good home for Candy. It was hard on all of them. Billy got depressed and that only made his illness worse. Candy started plucking with a vengeance and the new owners were beside themselves trying to "fix" her. She had to endure all kinds of meds, vitamins, diet changes, prozac and the dreaded collar. She'd grow out feathers and then once the collar was removed, not only pluck every one she could reach, but then added mutilation of the chest wall to the equation. Before it was all over, Candy developed a nasty infection and died of septacemia and Billy struggles to breath every day. This all happened in LESS than 5 years.

John regrets the day he fell for Candy. In the end, it caused such tragic consequences to all of them.

That is why I take this so very seriously. With so many diseases that we can't prevent out there, it seems foolish to me to create problems that we can prevent. I know I often do things that seem risky, but never with things that I know can eventually lead to me losing my birds. Frankly, I can't imagine having to chose which one has to go. JMHO

THE OUTLAW

[Monica]

I see your point, and made quite clear. It is good advice knowing what can happen to macaws with a cockatoo(s) around.

Having the cockatoo in another room or even outside may be the best way about keeping the two different birds for a long period of time. Of course, this is where I will stop, as I do not own either of these birds, even though my mother has fallen in love with cockatoos...

[TooLover]

Hubby and I have talked this over, and Elwoodblue will have to be moved out of the bird room and given his own space in the living room. :!:

[wildirish]

That's my whole problem now, trying to keep the dust as low as possible. The only thing I can do at this point is clean constantly and put them at opposite sides of my living room, which is rectangle (14x27), I know it is far from the ideal situation, but hopefully we can helpit soon, by moving and building onto this place. The next step is new air filters. I had 2 but they were sold a while ago. oops, bad timing on my part. I would love to have the space to have seperate rooms, but I don't, and certainly didn't expect to have too's and macaws.

I am always open to more ideas here, I clean things alot and have swiffer dusters and stuff, but I definately need the filters. :oops:

[The Outlaw]

The single best thing that you can do, under the circumstances, is to soak and I mean to the skin soak, your too every day. Also, the same applies to the macaw. The water will help keep the dust down and will also help the macaw keep its nostrils clean.

I know I'm the bad guy. I actually understand far better than you may imagine how much and how hard we fall for these birds that really shouldn't share space. If you love birds, then you probably love most species. I know I do. However, since I've seen such bad problems develop and the vet bills that accompany them, I know that the average middle income family just can't afford to create problems.

I'm telling you, once you have your toos for a couple of years, have your heating ducts cleaned professionally. When you see how much junk comes out, you will be astonished. In my area, having the heat ductwork professionally vacuumed runs about $800 to $1200. I'm not talking about the little furnace cleaning that you have done annually when the heating season starts. I'm talking about really cleaning the ductwork. I could not believe my eyes. You'd have thought it was a cocaine factory. In the end, we all do the best we can. I just think its a bad idea for most folks to start something that they can't control. But, hey, I'm old! What do I know?

THE OUTLAW

[TooLover]

To update you all - I got my U2 and my sun conure........they are both so loveable and so well taken care of. The sun says "nite nite" when the sun goes down - so cute. The U2 has taken an instant liking to me and is quite the love bug.
When I picked them up I received their cages that had a couple of toys in them..............and no toys were sent home. I had the same thing happen with Elwoodblue. Do parrot owners not realize that their babies need toys? Elwood and Merlin have a toybox in their birdroom full of toys and toy making stuff. They were going to give me a cat carrier that was pretty beat up - they go to Alaska twice a year and that is what the U2 was flown in. I have a "Wingapgo" for the little guys and they were so impressed.................am I the only one that searches the internet for "neat" stuff that is cheap and comes in so handy? I just don't understand...
Anywho, both "new" babies are doing well, and the 'toos really are the love of my life, though no one could take Elwood away from me for any amount of money.