humidity / humidifier

[Owlet]

So, awhile back I was trying to keep my room humid for Lincoln but i was never 100% sure what humidity it needed to be at and then someone mentioned to make sure the machine i was using didnt have teflon and what not. (somewhere along the way my monkey brain forgot that water needed to heat up to become steam x.x) so I stopped using the humidifier asap. I contacted the company that produces it with the model # and all that, never got a response. Welp... time to just get a new machine then.


What humidifier do you guys use that is safe? What humidity level should the room be kept at?

 

[ParrotGenie]

So, awhile back I was trying to keep my room humid for Lincoln but i was never 100% sure what humidity it needed to be at and then someone mentioned to make sure the machine i was using didnt have teflon and what not. (somewhere along the way my monkey brain forgot that water needed to heat up to become steam x.x) so I stopped using the humidifier asap. I contacted the company that produces it with the model # and all that, never got a response. Welp... time to just get a new machine then.


What humidifier do you guys use that is safe? What humidity level should the room be kept at?

Usually during the summer around 50 to 55 percent max and winter depends on outside temperature, but usually around 30 to 45 percent, the colder the temperature outside the less air can hold water and cause condensation. STAY AWAY FROM ULTRASONIC UNITS!! I get more into details later today when I have more time.

I tried a bunch of them and only one worth while that actually works in large spaces evenly, that not to much of a hassles to keep clean. They did fix a lot of problems this model had before over the years. I haven't had a issue with mines.

The AirCare H12 400HB

https://www.amazon.com/H12-400HB-Whole-House-Console-Style-Evaporative-Humidifier/dp/B008O7N8LY

 

[Owlet]

do you use tap, filtered, or distilled water?

 

[ParrotGenie]

do you use tap, filtered, or distilled water?

I use tap with very little bacteriostatic plus water treatment, or you can use grapefruit seed extract, works well and wick still looks like new 3 months later. I do clean it with vinegar and distilled water regularly.

https://www.iallergy.com/products/c...obW9VksYZRQMn45ulFSBTI8Z0-AkIW-xoC82IQAvD_BwE

 

[noodles123]

It depends on the species, but for a cockatoo (U2) I have read as close to 60 as possible, without going over (mold happens between 60-65).
I use a Safety First humidifier that I got at Walmart in the baby aisle a long time ago--It has a ceramic cylinder that heats and I have used it for a long time without any issues, even though, at the time, I didn't call to verify that it was Teflon free---bad bad bad me-- seriously...(you might still call and check, since it does matter). It goes through a lot of water when running on the highest setting, but it shuts off when it runs low, so that is nice. The water is also never hot and the heating implement shuts off the second the water level gets low (before the hot parts are ever exposed)...assuming it never fails. It is meant for babies, so the lawsuit potential would be pretty huge if it didn't. My bird has had a thousand tests run etc and she has perfectly healthy lungs and organs lol (just saying, I should have called--if you don't and I am wrong, it will kill me)...I researched the materials at the time and I was confident enough to proceed, but again, please call, as things can and do change.
It has no filter and so you need to use distilled water in order to prevent minerals/chemicals from going airborne. There are some people who say you can leave tap water out for a period of time and slowly pour from the top (allowing minerals to settle), but I don't feel comfortable doing that without a filter.
I wash it every 3 days or so with f10 sc and then rinse it out before refilling. I probably should clean it more, but I try to keep it pretty sterile in between fillings (and F10 SC is a very solid cleaner).

 

[SailBoat]

First, you really need to know what your current temperature and 'relative' humidity in your home or your Parrot's area truly is!

Second, what is the 'static' temperature the home is maintained at during the Winter months, plus what is the 'mean' outside Winter Temperature for your area during the heating season. The difference between these two temperatures is a statement of how much heat is needed to maintain the static temperature. The greater the differences the more heat that is needed to maintain that temperature. The greater the temperature difference the more moisture that is removed from the heated air.

Third, the greater the temperature difference the larger the humidifier needs to be. At home, we use a furnace mounted humidifier and maintain 45% relative humidity with a static home temperature of 70 degrees F. At the cabin, we use a stand alone unit and maintain 35% when we are not at the cabin with at temperature of 60 degrees F and 45% when we are there with a static temperature of 70 F.

NOTE: As we near 50% relative humidity at 70 degrees F we see condensation and that creates all kind of problems and IMHO is just not worth the issues involved.

We find that our Amazon is comfortable with both the home temperature and the relative humidity!

What I have found works:
- Use cold /cool water only! There is no need to heat water as it tends to cause all kinds of problems and does not allow one to maintain anything close to a static relative humidity level.
- If you choose to use a portable unit, it must have a device that sets and monitors relative humidity and switches on or off to maintain that level.
- Choose a unit that has a fan connected to the above switch and a easy tank fill method.
- Cold /cool water systems need a transfer /filter that the fan pulls moisture from it then into the room.
- Clean the transfer /filter and water tank based on units instructions adjusted to meet proper Parrot care.

The unit we have at the cabin is at the cabin and I will not have a manufacturer name until I visit this weekend.

FYI: We use Tap Water. But our water is naturally very soft as it is Lake Michigan Sourced Water. Hard water places demands on transfer /filter and increases the need for cleaning and replacement that may be off-set by moving to a modified (distilled) water.

 

[Owlet]

I'll have to check temperature but the bird room has been around 25-30% humidity. Usually on the lower end. Where would I get a humidifier that doesn't heat up ?

 

[noodles123]

Most of them heat up in some respect (even the cool-mist varieties).

There are some ultra-sonic types that don't use heat, but I have read that those can be problematic for birds for other reasons...I want to say that they produce a sound or something harmful...I can't recall, but I know there was a reason I didn't get one.

When I was a kid, we had a bunch of humidifiers with what I can only describe as suction motors (?). The problem is, I am pretty sure they were impossible to clean properly...especially for a bird.

Childhood humidifier overview: basically, you had a plastic tub that you filled with water. The lid portion detached from the base and the lid housed the motor and the power cord portion of the machine. At the the base of the motor (underside of the lid), there was a tube which was submerged in the water once the lid was attached--I guess it drew water up and outward. The humidity came out of the top of the lid and there was a crappy foam filter on the top....Again, the problem was that you couldn't clean inside the tube/motor area. That having been said, I played with these A LOT and they never got hot.

 

[ParrotGenie]

I'll have to check temperature but the bird room has been around 25-30% humidity. Usually on the lower end. Where would I get a humidifier that doesn't heat up ?

Get this one, it doesn't heat up and use a natural way of evaporation using a large wick and large fan. Yes easy to clean up and large, so does large spaces evenly. With smaller units and ultrasonic units don't do well in large areas and likely to over over humidify area it in. Plus ultrasonics units put back out everything and bacteria included, even the one with filters. Reason why I don't recommend them. and they end up leaking over time as relies on a ceramic disk with rubber seal around it which break down over time as the vibrating disk as use sound waves and high power to atomizing the water, so it can be mix with the air.

The AirCare H12 400HB

https://www.amazon.com/H12-400HB-Who.../dp/B008O7N8LY

 

[SailBoat]

I'll have to check temperature but the bird room has been around 25-30% humidity. Usually on the lower end. Where would I get a humidifier that doesn't heat up ?

Found the name of the unit we have at the cabin: Essick MA1201