 Hello everyone, my name is Marlene McEwen and this year is my African Gray Merlin trying to take a leave of absence, and we want to welcome you to this series called Parrot Care 101. Today, we are going to be talking about the 10 hazards that you have in your home that you may not know are deadly to your birds. Number one. I chose this as number one because it's kind of like the most mind-blowing one to me that I hadn't really ever thought of. So I wanted to put it first. Some of you may know, but whenever I hear stories of this, they are the most tragic. That's why. Number one is self-cleaning ovens. Not the oven itself, but your oven on self-cleaning mode. Yes, this is detrimental to your birds. I just want to tell you guys all the stories that I've heard with regards to birds dying. For some reason, the self-cleaning oven mode stories are the saddest. And I think it's because quite often in these stories, people have multiple parrots and they're all dying within 10, 15 minutes of one another and it just sounds like my worst nightmare. So what happens when you turn your oven onto self-cleaning mode is that it's got a heat of everything in the oven to such, such high heat levels that basically everything burns off and turns to ash, right? Well in order for it to do that, it's got to set off some gases somewhere. And you know those fumes are toxic to your birds. Now while some people believe it's the Teflon in the oven getting heated up that's toxic to your birds, it could just be the heat itself setting off some gas. I don't know what is in your oven and that is up for debate. But you guys definitely never want to turn on that mode. It is just heartbreaking. I would go so far as to say, even with windows open, birds outside, just don't let those kind of fumes linger in your household. Worst stories I've ever heard in my life. Number two, generators. This is not something I would have thought of or known because it's not something I would have ever bought myself. But again, with recent weather conditions that we've had this past winter or you guys might have with electricity going out, you might want to run a generator. Never do that inside your house. This may seem extremely logical and obvious to some people because it's dangerous for you as well as human beings. You can die, but still you want to make sure that you don't have that generator anywhere in the house or near the birds or anything else that produces any level of carbon monoxide. Just be aware. And one thing you can always do is make sure to get a carbon monoxide monitor and put that in your house somewhere just so that you're always aware of the levels and when that carbon monoxide is seeping into your house. Number three, Teflon. Guys, you want to avoid Teflon at all costs. I know a lot of people say Teflon's only dangerous. If it's overheated or if it burns, do you know how easy that is to do? And by the way, any nonstick pan has a version of Teflon in it. Teflon is just a brand name. So sometimes things say that they don't contain Teflon when in actual fact they contain just as dangerous nonstick chemicals in them. That nonstick coating can release toxic fumes into the air that can break down the tissues of your birds. And it's one of those things again that when it affects your birds and hits your birds, it's going to be too late. Number four, Smoke, secondhand smoke or tobacco. This is very similar to perfumes and scents that are on your body. These are toxins that you're now surrounded with and they can irritate your bird, your bird's feathers, your bird's skin, and it can lead to plucking in your bird just because of how irritated your bird can become, not being able to remove all those toxins from its feathers. Number five, a car exhaust or running a car in your garage. Now guys, this has come up a lot this winter when a lot of people in Texas and other areas lost power and they were freezing and didn't know what to do. There were people that would go into their car in their garage and run it. Well, that's dangerous in general, but even if you have the garage door open, let's say you're just sitting and waiting in your car, if your house is set up anything like mine where the kitchen or living area is attached to the garage by one door, all of that carbon monoxide from that car running could be seeping into your living room or kitchen anywhere in your house and be toxic to your birds. So some people think it's okay if the garage door is open, but I'm just trying to show you guys that sometimes, even though you think you're taking safety precautions, it could be dangerous just based off of the layout of your house and where your birds are as well. Number six, candles. Guys, candles are so dangerous for your birds, not just because the birds can fly into the candles. Candles released into the air is toxic for your birds and for you as well. Did you guys know that scented candles burn paraffin wax, which derived from coal and petroleum? And what's more is when burnt, they release carcinogens into the air like acetone and benzene. So you can imagine how unhealthy that is for you, your bird and the environment. So please guys, don't burn any scented candles in your home. I mean, me personally, they give me such a headache so you can only imagine why. Now this brings me to number seven, which is an array of household appliances, which you would never even consider or think to be dangerous for your birds. Now a lot of these things are dangerous because they're known to have Teflon in them to use to heat up quickly. Some of those things are air fryers, hair dryers, toasters, many different things that you wouldn't even consider looking into. And some of you like to blow dry your birds after a shower to make sure that they don't stay cold in case they've gotten drenched, right? You just want to make sure you know what is in all your appliances and how you use them with regards to your birds and just be aware of this to keep your birds safe. Look into anything that heats up very quickly. Number eight, cleaners and insecticides. Guys, you really want to be careful what you put into the air in your home. So many cleaners have harsh chemicals and their respiratory irritants for your birds. Here's an example. Did you guys know that bleach gives off a chlorine gas? Have you ever walked into your house and gotten lightheaded just from the smell of bleach? Well, those fumes are toxic and dangerous to your parents. Number nine, perfumes, deodorants and colognes. Now, of course, the same thing goes for the chemicals that are in the air. Those can be respiratory irritants for your parents and they are. But here's that added problem with perfumes and things that are on your skin. Same with lotions as well, if they've got heavy scents. When you pet or touch your birds feathers or let's say your birds feathers get up close to you or wherever you've sprayed these chemicals, they get on the feathers of your bird. And when your bird goes to preen itself, it's now ingesting all of those chemicals. So there's an extra added danger to those kind of things being on your body. If you're going to spend a good amount of time with your bird. Likewise, you never want to spray any of those in or around your bird. So if I were you, I would always opt for no scents or something more natural. Number 10, plants. I am not a plant expert and I will not pretend that I am. But definitely before I bring any kind of plants into the home, I make sure that it's not toxic to my birds because birds will get out and eat and chew anything they possibly can when you're not looking. So you just want to make sure you're minimizing those dangers. And of course, the same thing goes for flowers. When someone brings you flowers to your home, just always check and don't leave things around because you guys know birds get at everything. I want to thank you guys so much for watching this video. I'm Marlene McCohen and this is Merlin. And if you guys like this video, don't forget to subscribe for more tips, tricks and all around entertainment here at the McCohen house. I love you guys so much. Bye.