My cockatiel Max died a month ago. I have since purchased a new bird. Since we are unsure of the cause of his death I cleaned everything with bleach and water. But, I have since read about corncob at the bottom of the cage and this is what was used at the pet store where the bird was purchased. I use newspaper, but my question is: will the use of the corncob before I acquired the birds (both were exposed previous to my ownership) have an effect on them later on?
Sharon
Sharon,
We're sad about the loss of Max, but happy to see you weren't discouraged to
the point of not getting another.
Diluted bleach is a wonderful disinfectant and cleaning everything before introducing another bird into that enviroment was certainly the correct precaution.
Corn cob vs. pine shavings in nest boxes, or newspaper on bottoms has been debated for years. Unfortunately, a perfect product for this use doesn't exist, to our knowledge. All of these materials and others, can become a haven for bacteria. It's a birds nature to peck at anything and everything, thus infected materials are introduced into the bird. Some breeders and companion bird owners swear by corn cob, others prefer pine shavings. There is a possibility if corn cob is ingested that it can collect in the digestive system and cause blockage. Our choice is pine shavings for nest boxes and newspaper on cage bottoms.
Whichever material is used must be changed often to keep down this bacteria to prevent infection. All the many different types of illness or disease have specific incubation periods and it is possible that an illness may not appear for several days. If you have any suspicions in regards to your birds health, a checkup by an avian vet may be in order.