Merlin is itchy

[roxynoodle]

Merlin seems to be suffering from dry skin and is scratching a lot. I tried lightly misting her with an aloe spray I got from the vet, but she really hated that. I think she needs a humidifier, but I am reading a lot of conflicting information. Some say get the cool mist ones, and others say no, those put mold spores in the air and to get a warm mist one. But, some of the warm mist ones use teflon on the heating elements, and I'm not sure that would be listed on the box or not.

I saw a couple people on another forum recommend the Pureguardian ones, but they use ionizers. Not sure on the ionizers.

Does anyone here have an opinion on a bird safe humidifier? I tried doing a search, but didn't really find an actual recommendation. The room she is in is 16ftx16ft.

 

[sssaucey]

I don't know about humidifiers, but do you know if she likes showers?

My lovebird doesn't love them but sometimes I bring her in just for the steam and she sits out of reach of the water

I have a very dry house during the winter and this seems to do the trick, plus it's cheaper haha

good luck

 

[roxynoodle]

No, she doesn't like showers. She likes to bathe in a large dish. I'm not sure how she might react to my putting her somewhere in the bathroom while I shower since I know she is afraid of the actual shower.

 

[sssaucey]

Most likely she will not want to be around the shower if she fears it, I have never used aloe on birds can you mix it into her bathe water?

 

[Pedro]

Birds sometimes seem to scratch a lot, usually around the molt, it's a way of them grooming themselves. Also a lot of parrots will groom like crazy after they have been handled. I know with some of my birds especially after a pat & a cuddle will stand for some time having a good old scratch & putting each feather back in place.

Roxy if she is bathing herself i would think she is just grooming. But if your at all worried & if you do have a bird room & it's heated you can put a few shallow dishes of water in the room. That will make the room a bit more humid.

 

[merlinsmom13]

I use a humidifer. Now I have a cool mist one & its noisy. I couldnt find the warm mist humidifier when I bought it. The warm mist supposedly heats the water to kill bacteria & make it safer. I had several for years & I really liked them. The cool mist I have now scares me & I dont run it as much. I feel I have to sterilize before I turn it on. Its good for all of us who have to have the heat on in the winter months.

 

[cockatielfan17]

u could just humidify the place by spraying a water bottle over the room

 

[roxynoodle]

Yes, she is molting, and yes, she always grooms after I pet or handle her to put her feathers back. But, she scratches a lot. More than any other bird I have, and the last few days more than before.

I'd rather not actually spray water around my room if I don't have to, lol!

The aloe is mixed into distilled water and is a light mist, but she definitely got upset about it.

I think Greys tend to be dry anyway, right? And with winter and forced air heat, it's probably pretty dry for her. Being a warmer, wet winter I'm not as dry as usual though.

 

[usamimi]

Kevin loves to scratch and play and fling dust and little fathers into the air. I never see Ra scratch like this. I was concerned she'd gotten fleas or something! But I think she just likes to preen.

 

[roxynoodle]

Greys (and amazons) are definitely dustier than conures. I never see dust flying off of Rowdy. With Pete and Merlin, I'm always cleaning up their dust. I also will be getting a quality air purifier for them and myself. My allergies flared when Pete came, and flared again when Merlin came. Conures are quite hypoallergenic!

 

[Mayden]

My Merlin is a little scratchybug. We don't know what's making him itch so much but it seems way more than it should be. We think it's also to do with the humidity.

We've been using Johnsons Super Plume spray on him and it seems to help him at least a little bit.

"Super Plume
New ready to use pump spray. Enhances and beautifies natural sheen of plumage, containing tea tree oil and aloe vera with anti bacterial properties to clean, deter mites and soothe irritations."

 

[roxynoodle]

She might get used to the spray. She did forgive me pretty fast for doing that to her, but we've only been together a short time, and I don't want to mess with our bonding either. Of my 3 birds though, Pete is the only one who likes being sprayed with anything.

 

[Mayden]

What I do with Merlin is just mist it wayyy above the cage, so he just gets the really fine mist. He just shudders a little bit like "what was that?" but if I was to do it out of the cage and closer... well if he sees it I lose a chunk of skin on my hand, so. I'd suggest doing really really fine misting with it, maybe she'll take to that better

 

[roxynoodle]

That might work better. She heard me priming it so she knew I had something in my hand. And when I misted her with it, she showed body language that she wanted to bite to get me to stop doing it. I'll try going over the top of the cage entirely to mist her as lightly as possible.

 

[roxynoodle]

Well, no luck today on finding a humidifier. Home Depot was out of them, and Walmart only had the cold mist ones.

I picked up my cat's new limited ingredient food from the vet though for her IBD, and holy moly, $48 for an 8lb bag! Good thing I love her so much!

 

[merlinsmom13]

Try online, I couldnt find one locally & now I wished I had waited & bought it online.

 

[roxynoodle]

Try online, I couldnt find one locally & now I wished I had waited & bought it online.

That's usually the best way for me to find what I want. What I couldn't tell looking online though was if any of the warm mist ones had teflon or some other non stick type coating on the heating elements. I was hoping that by looking in person I would see if that was listed on the box or something. I may just have to call manufacturers and ask.

That germguardian one that uses an ionizer I found online for a bit less than what that company is selling it for. It's on the pricey side, but it has a run time of 55 hours, which is pretty good.