Air purifier vs dehumidifier

[Paco]

Hey guys! Want to hear your thoughts/experiences...my bird is a rescued red lored amazon around 6 yrs old. I've been battling against what has been ruled as "allergies" by the vet. On hotter summery days he does great, but on colder days he starts sneezing a bit. We live in a country where there´s only 2 seasons, and our rainy season is the longest...Humidity readings stand in the range of 67-80% (67 being the lowest n 80 the highest). I keep a heater in the room to keep temperature above the 24°C (75.2 Fahrenheit), which runs mostly late at night a couple of times. Been cleaning and vacuuming as crazy, no cleaning products used, no deodorants, perfumes or any other thing that could make him uncomfortable. There are good days and bad days, thankfully the REALLY bad days are over (saw 4 vets and went to several nasty rounds of antibiotics which altogether actually made it worse). Yes, you could say I'm most definitely an obsessed mom, but I rather be a crazy careful over worried mom than a lazy one who ends up loosing her baby parrot. Ok...should I get the air purifier or the dehumidifier? Thanks guys, all and ANY guidance here will be highly appreciated!!

 

[weco]

RLAs are native to parts of Costa Rica & should be amenable to your environment, so humidity should not be a factor.....if it is allergies, it could be genetic.....

What were the anti-bios for ? ? ? Since none of us are medical/vet types around here, I would think your best bet is with vets that are hands-on with the bird.....sorry.....

I'm not sure that there are any 'zon members from CR, so I don't know if you'll get any replies from there.....

I enjoyed several months in CR in 2002 cleaning up a condo project a corrupt manager had in a big mess & have give a bit of thought to moving down there, if I ever decide to retire.....

PS, welcome to the forum.....

 

[crimson]

welcome to the forum!... I have allergies, asthma actually, and on certain days can get really bad for me. I have plenty of animals, dogs,cats, 30+birds, guinea pigs, and a few others.... I purchased a air purifier not too long ago, and OMG! what a difference it has made, I'm breathing easier, the air is cleaner, not as heavy, so it will surely help your bird.
Just make sure it does not contain Teflon, and run it for at least 4 days straight before you put it near him.
I have a Honeywell Air Purifier (which is highly recommended by Mike Holmes)...I'm not sure if you know who he is, anyways I plan to buy a small one for my bird room soon.

the first time I pulled the filter out to clean it I was blown away what it traps!
the black is the clean side, and well....you can see what the rest is... and that was just after a few weeks of running it.

IMG_1158_zps36a13e64.jpg Photo by bmckellar735 | Photobucket

 

[Paco]

OMG guys thanks a lot for the replies!!!
RLA are indeed native to Costa Rica (though illegal to own by law as of last month)
My Paco is a half rescue/half bought bird...was not planning on getting a bird, but when I saw the add on the web and met the little guy, I just HAD to get him. He (avian vet said he thinks is a she...DNA test pending) was living in a tiny rusty cage, with rusty old tuna cans for food and water containers. Feathers all grey, wings clipped so short he must have bled really bad. Full of traumas (noise, thunder, rain, people) he too one look at me and that was it. He is like my kid! It´s been a long and arduous process to bring him back to life. Can't believe someone would deliberately keep a bird in such a tiny cage for 6 years...
Anyways, when I first noticed him sneezing hard and feathers all fluffed with nasal discharged, I got really worried and called vet #1 (first antibiotic), he wasn't getting any better so took him to vet #2 (second antibiotic), he got even worse so took him to emergency hospital and paid for x-rays which showed a bit congestion on right lung (extended second antibiotic for 1 more week). But I still felt we were getting no where so I went to vet #3 (third antibiotic). Long story short, I found this avian vet who is sort of a legend here (he is awesome) and came to a conclusion that he is in fact allergic. I treat his "episodes" with nasal decongestant and antihistamine drops. As I stated before, he is doing a lot better. But as I stated before ALSO, I'm a bit of an obsessed mom I want to make it better for him, and since I'll probably have to buy the air purifier online (not able to find a lot of those around here) I wanted to be sure it was a good idea!
I will take all your savvy comments into consideration when I go online this week then...thanks a lot really, it's been my long life dream to own a parrot and i love my Paco dearly. There are times when I'm honestly baffled by my lack of expertise...it's good to have an overseas helping hand...or 3!
Hugs

 

[Paco]

welcome to the forum!... I have allergies, asthma actually, and on certain days can get really bad for me. I have plenty of animals, dogs,cats, 30+birds, guinea pigs, and a few others.... I purchased a air purifier not too long ago, and OMG! what a difference it has made, I'm breathing easier, the air is cleaner, not as heavy, so it will surely help your bird.
Just make sure it does not contain Teflon, and run it for at least 4 days straight before you put it near him.
I have a Honeywell Air Purifier (which is highly recommended by Mike Holmes)...I'm not sure if you know who he is, anyways I plan to buy a small one for my bird room soon.

the first time I pulled the filter out to clean it I was blown away what it traps!
the black is the clean side, and well....you can see what the rest is... and that was just after a few weeks of running it.

IMG_1158_zps36a13e64.jpg Photo by bmckellar735 | Photobucket

:11: no wonder why we suffer from allergies...I should have posted a pic of yesterday´s vacuum "harvest"!!
You have honeywell´s exact model by any chance? I'm already in the hunt for it

 

[Sudz1109]

This is most likely a little late but depending on the size of your room, we adore the following air purifiers in our household:

Winix WAC5500 (our open plan main living area, kitchen and bird space, guinea pig space is covered by this one). This has a nice washable filter but is more expensive than others.
Germguardian AC4825 is used in our bedrooms

Also, we have something in common... I will be adopting a RL Amazon within the coming week who is also called Paco!