welllllllll never let it be said that when im wrong about something i wont admit it ...seems i was wrong about something...this is going to be a lengthy post to clarify some serious issues on DISENFECTANTS

since there has been recently some talk about how to disenfect our cages and what is safe and not i couldnt rest and my mind was bugging me something awful about all of this.

so, i have been up here for hours and hours doing some online research about all of this and found out some very interesting an surprising info...seeing how id like to clear up this issue for all of us this is what ive found.

first of all there is NO disenfecting hand wipes SAFE for our birds NONE....

secondly inspite of some very popular belief VINEGAR is at best only a mild disenfectant and does NOTHING to prevent any of the bird bacterial diseases our friends may come in contact with...in fact according to someones husband who is a microbiologist reported that while it may be a MILD disenfect to SOME things it in fact also is one of those that also ...hold onto your hats now...will INCREASE some bacteria and mold because of the acid in it.

third...ANY of the household products that you would normally think of as being a disenfectant and bacteria destroyer is NOT safe for our birds...no matter how you use it...

i found only two things that has supposedly been affective to kill exoctic avian bird bacterias....and one is SUPER expensive and hard to locate one of the particular products mentioned...its called OXYFRESH and OXYFRESH DENTAGEN...you will have to copy and paste the below link to your browser...its ingredients are specific to safety and effectiveness if any of you care to again do your OWN research on the ingredients and how this works...but good luck that will take some searching for you as a lot is mentioned about it for human use and dog use and for birds but of course ..ya need to dig around for it...and further promise you your brain will get quite confused the more you research this ..which will be a LOT.

https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/rec.pets.birds/-WjVMvzbiWY

and now for this..

hydrogen peroxide...seems to be the best solution as its easily accesable and cheap...here is what one site says about hydrogen peroxide

Vaporized hydrogen peroxide is one of the chemicals approved for decontamination of anthrax spores from contaminated buildings, such as occurred during the 2001 anthrax attacks in the U.S. It has also been shown to be effective in removing exotic animal viruses, such as avian influenza and Newcastle disease from equipment and surfaces.

regarding Newcastle disease you may want to read this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcastle_disease

scroll way down to find this

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinfectant

now im not sure how all this info will affect anyones choices in what they do but i personally have always been a stickler about the things i recommend and NEVER want to mislead anyone...so this has all been to correct some things mentioned about me personally about using anticeptic hand wipes for wiping down our cages etc...

i have been using these now for several months and have seen NO problems ...however, just because we sometimes see NO problems doesnt mean there isnt any as ive seen researching here tonight well into the night about all of this.

so i thought ok back to vinegar till i THOROUGHLY researched THAT as well...and found what i did that it really does NOTHING as a disefectant or fighting bacteria that is relevant to our birds and their specific diseases, in spite of all the hype you hear about it being a good disenfectant...thats not regarding our birds and THEIR needs.

also as mentioned by a microbiologist how it actually can create issues instead of fixing them because of the acid involved which means guess what...

all those things we have been thinking about some cleaning agents that have acid in them do the same...any of those other products.

needless to say IM SHOCKED...and felt HORRIBLE about all this time using antibacterial hand wipes and telling folks this..and how ITS NOT SAFE AT ALL...NONE OF THEM ARE for our birds.

so now ill be getting hydrogen peroxide...and using a clean sterilized cloth that i will keep separate and sorry to say this again VACUUMED SEALED for each use when cleaning and wiping down the cage inside and out and all the things in it.

for the rest of you...its all your choice now what you do...and i hope this clears up a LOT about many things including how we have been basically duped into thinking ..vinegar...was a good alternative, or any of the other acid based solutions out there being sold as a disenfectant for birds or other things.

its now 4:57 am and i can finally feel some peace about all of this and maybe get some sleep

some of you may want to research on your own about OXYFRESH as its even mentioned its good for feather pickers...myself...im DONE researching because i soooo hate it and do waaaay to much of it in my opinion.

and like ive said and kksuns too ...just because some things are safe for humans...doesnt mean they are for our birds.

g'nite or i should say g'morning...will check back later about any comments made here

awwww man. Here we go again with the research bug. Ya got me going again illusive. lol You know me
No time now but I'll be digging in to this later.
THANK YOUUUUUUU for the heads up about hand sanitizing wipes and good ole ACV. Dang i loved that acv!

In the meantime it's back to peroxide for me n mine. That's what I used to use.

I have also heard that listerine mouthwash is a safe disinfectant. Have to look in to it more tho.
I do know that my cousin who is a nurse says they use listerine to disinfect now days.
Bird safe? Not sure...research needed

I just for the heck of it googled peroxide and bird mites and just skimmed on the point that it's supposed to kill mites.
Maybe a good idea for...was it keetlvr?...with the mite problem? To use it for disinfecting her cage, toys, dishes and cover etc???

gtg
thnx illusive

uh huh yep i know you like myself when that curiosity bug gets rattled how we both are with the deep digging for info...had me going alllll nite till very very late

so today i picked up at CVS 2 large bottles of peroxide as they had a buy one get one at half price thing going...so its darn well cheap enough for sure as i got the two bottles for only $3...and i know thats gonna last a decent amount of time too with only dampening a sterile cloth and doing a good wipe down...and heck where it specifically kills bacteria related to bird diseases figure ya cant go wrong...where as the other hand wipes the research i found said...and this is regarding ANY brand of them....

MODERATELY toxic to birds...well thats not good enough ...and it doesnt kill any of the germs and bacteria related to birds...so what the heck?!?!?!

other research i found said the jury was still out on the old standby ive known about for YEARS ...NOVASAN i think or novascan something like that ...you know me with names giggle...and that stuff was ALWAYS hailed to be the super of the dupers out there altho again not cheap....not like peroxide...

so did my research good luck with yours...sorry to have to inform you about the ACV but ya gotta figure a microbiologist knows their stuff...

and yeah that mouthwash FOR HUMANS like the OXYFRESH stuff i wrote about ...again good disenfectant BUT not for BIRD DISEASE does it help in anyway ...seems like the only thing that does is the peroxide...and yep good deal about it with mites too as a lot of birds get that.

gotta go for now...

No. I refuse to believe that about vinegar.

But, seriously, thank you for the info.

I have used grapefruit seed extract (GSE)for years. I buy it at any health food store and it is cheap too. You only need a few drops to do most jobs with it. It is non toxic and all natural.

I had stubborn toe nail fungus which is usually not a fungus at all but a deep seeded low graded bacterial infection. The GSE killed it in a few short weeks and I did not have to use harsh chemicals.

Here is a link

http://www.holistichealthtools.com/grapefruitseed-extract.html

as mentioned tho tess any fruit seed with acid to it kills some forms of bacteria but not those related to BIRDS that are the crucial bacteria to killer diseases our birds get and...

secondly inspite of some very popular belief VINEGAR is at best only a mild disenfectant and does NOTHING to prevent any of the bird bacterial diseases our friends may come in contact with...in fact according to someones husband who is a microbiologist reported that while it may be a MILD disenfect to SOME things it in fact also is one of those that also ...hold onto your hats now...will INCREASE some bacteria and mold because of the acid in it.

this holds true with any citric acid based disenfectant such as what you use...and yes while it is safe it doesnt, like hydrogen peroxide get specific bateria related to BIRD diseases... such as New Castles, just for one of these serious diseases...and as kksuns mentioned it also has a promising affect on mites.

ONLY hydrogen peroxide does.

I have used it for years and it works great. I stand by GFE, whether anyone wants to use it or not its up to them. If it is used in hospitals to kill bacteria and fungus, it works very well or they would not use it.

Many hospitals are fighting the super bugs that cause flesh eating bacteria. I doubt that any kind of bacterias birds have are any worse than that.

I do not worry much at all about high levels of bacterias in my cage/home. I keep it clean and sanitary daily.

I am going to continue to use vinegar lol...I even use it on my floors

that everyones personal choice just remember it does NOT affect birdie bacterias of killer diseases...or potentially mites

Hi I'm newbie here. Just stumbled upon this forum when I am surfing for safe cage cleaning method and glad to know that the forum has lots of very interesting info. Has anybody heard about F10SC and used it before? It seems its a very effective disinfectant and safe to birds. What's your thought on it? Oh yes, I've been using soap and hot water to clean the cage and its accessories but thought that isn't good enough.

http://www.f10biocare.co.uk/sc.html