Bird cage and windex

[TheAutisticBirb]

I was away on vacation and allowed my parents to take care of my two birds, they’re small lineolated parakeets, but I found out while I was away they COMPLETELY sprayed down the WHOLE cage and every toy inside. I don’t know which day they cleaned it, I was only gone for 3 days, the birds look fine, they’re currently in their smaller cage that we bring to travel (not a carrier, it’s just not as huge as the one in my room), but I need answers to these questions and I can’t find the specific answers I need. This site kept popping up though, so I thought maybe I could get some help, thank you ^^”

- should I just get rid of the toys and get new ones? or can they be properly cleaned? (it’s a large thick plastic slinky, some bells, a few wooden perches, a rope they climb on and chew at, a little swing/perch that they like to pick at, and a felt hanging toy thing

- I don’t know which one of the 3 days they sprayed, if there’s a chance they were put back in the cage and ingested any of it due to it being on their toys and especially one of them loooves to chew on the rope (which got sprayed) should I take them to the vet? Could even ingesting a small bit kill them?

- one of them has had loud breathing problems (well, loud for a tiny little bird) since we got him, the doctor said it seems to be anxiety and not underlying health issues, he used to pluck himself but he’s been a lot better, but I worry that I’m unable to tell if he’s sick or he’s just breathing loudly like he does a lot?

- how can I clean the cage? The cage is maybe 5ft tall, on wheels; and hard to move out of my room, is there a bird safe cleaner I can make or buy to try and clean it down to the best of my ability?

- how much winded would they have to ingest or inhale for it to kill them and what are warning signs? What should I look out for in the next few days

- do the toxins in windex stay there even once it’s been completely dried? This cage was in the sunlight (not directly, but it got natural light) and I don’t know if it dries and lessens the effect?

I know I’m asking a lot but I’m so desperate for specific or at least as close to specific as I can get answers. It stresses me out greatly when I can’t find anything specific, thank you so much

 

[GaleriaGila]

YIPES!

Well, I only use water for cleanig... and sometimes I soak stuff for days before sundrying. When the whle shang needs, cleaing Rb goes into his travel cage, and I roll the whole age outside and hist with the hose. As for your toys, etc., I guess I'd soak/soak/soak for a WHILE, sundry... if in any doubt like with porous material, I guess I WOULD toss 'em. Anyway, good for you being so vigilant and caring.
Let's see if folks smarter than I have more info...

 

[Trogdor]

Hi! So sorry that happened! How stressful!
I’m a scientist (biologist) and have some training in chemistry so I’ll try to help. If it was regular windex and not another windex brand product, the ingredients include 2-hexoxyethanol, isopropanolamide, ammonium hydroxide, laurel dimethyl amine oxide, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfate, and water, fragrance and blue dye.

At this point I wouldn’t worry too much about the solvents and surfactants- they will be mostly gone by now with the possible exception of the 2hexoxtethanol, especially if you wiped everything down with water or washed it off. The non-porous items such as plastic and metal are fine once you rinse them off. The porous items (the rope, soft wood etc) may have absorbed the windex and could retain some of the components with slower evaporation rates. It’s probably not a huge quantity, but you can simply remove the rope and toys from the cage and soak and wash them well in a basin of water then hang them out to dry in the sun. Any residues should be minimal at that point and you can do a sniff test to make sure (they will smell slightly sweet or like windex if any is left!).

The thing I would be most concerned about is the airborne exposure to the caustic ingredient ammonium hydroxide directly after the cage was sprayed. The chemical will be all gone now, but it’s very irritating to lungs and would have been volatilized in the air around the cage when it was sprayed. Were the birds out of the cage? If so, were they in another room? How long were they away from the cage and did the ammonia have time to fully evaporate and dissipate before they were returned to the cage?

At this point the exposure to the ammonia is in the past and there shouldn’t be much respiratory concern with anything left in the cage. I’d keep an eye on them for new respiratory symptoms and if anything comes up I’d make sure to tell the vet that it is possible they inhaled some ammonia fumes. Hope this helps!