Urgent Baby lovebirds vs. wildfire smoke

[Nightingale]

It is now 11:55pm here in Cape Town. There have been several wildfires since this morning and even more now. I've tried to keep my home smoke free but it proves to be very difficult (even my asthma is giving me grief right now). My 4 week old baby lovebirds are sneezing and breathing very quickly ... what can I do to help them??

I manually misted the room and am keeping them under a light blanket. I do have access to avian vitamin and medical drops. Please help, any advice??

 

[WendyN]

Good that you changed the forum to 911.
Good luck.

 

[iamwhoiam]

Can you move them to room where they will not have exposure to the smoke? Do you have an air purifier? You may need to get them to the vet although they would be exposed to more smoke when you take them outside. Can you call a local vet for a consult and advice. We have frequent wildfires here and when those happen I remove the dog door and move birds away from any windows. I run the central air conditioning system as needed and turn up the speed settings on my air purifiers. I wish I had better advice for you.
Hope they will be OK and hope you will be OK, too. If you can totally get away from the fires and the smoke that would be a very good thing.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Do you have, or can you get, a high quality air purifier? Also, plugging up any holes where air can get in with damp towls will help keep the smoke out. I saw something on the Internet once about things you can do, I'll try to find it. Is there somewhere you can take the birds temporarily that's smoke free?

 

[Donna turner]

Can't think of anything more than you're doing except maybe wet the blanket to make it more inpenitrable. If there is any way to get an oxygen tank ?you could pump that to them. I don't know where or how to get that. Have you tried calling a vet ? Maybe they could give you some advice

 

[Tiel Feathers]

• Found this:
• 
  As you well know, our feathered friends are particularly susceptible to smoke.
  
  There are a number of steps you can take to minimize the harmful effect of smoke inhalation on pet birds:
  
  1) Gold Standard - Remove your bird completely from the environment and have them boarded in a facility that is not in the path of the smoke.
  If boarding your bird is not an option, do the following:
  
  2) Place bird in the least smoky room in the house. [sincesmoke/heat rises generally a lower level room is best]
• 3) Keep all doors and windows closed.
• 4) Place an air filter/purifier in the room (the smaller the room, the more effective the purifier will be). We recommend HEPA filters.
• 5) Place a damp towel or sheet under the door to further reduce the amount of smoke allowed in the room.
• 6) Place a damp sheet over the cage.
• 7) Close the air registers within your bird's room or, if your home is at a comfortable temperature, turn off any circulating air (Heat or AC) within the house.
  

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[iamwhoiam]

Here's what I found about running the a/c:
"Run your air conditioner, if you have one. Keep the fresh air intake closed and the filter clean to prevent bringing additional smoke inside."

How To Evacuate Your Pet Bird In A Fire | Petcha

 

[sunnysmom]

I hope you and your babies are okay!

 

[Nightingale]

I have taken my birdies to the bathroom and used the shower to humidify it. It seems to be doing wonders for the birdies as well as for my asthma. It is 1am so I will be camping with them in the bathroom for the night and will keep humidifying the bathroom as needed. I will definitely use the damp towels for their brooder and my room's doors. Thank you all so very much for ALL of your input and assistance! I am blessed to get to meet such a helpful community!

 

[WendyN]

Wish you the very best!

 

[camelotshadow]

Scary, lots of good advice.

It's after midnight there now & your lovies are only 4 weeks old.
Hope its going well.

Good Luck

 

[fidsmom]

Hope you and your babies will be ok, Please update when you can.

 

[EllaMay]

Hope the babes and yourself are doing well.

 

[Nightingale]

It is now 7:30 am. Babies are all doing very well, no complications. The fire outbreak however seems to still be an issue for local authorities due to the drought South Africa is experiencing along with the strong prevailing winds here in the Cape.
I stay at Somerset West, so you can see how many fires surround my area.

 

[iamwhoiam]

It's good that the babies are doing well. How are you doing? Hope they are able to get those fires out ASAP.

 

[Nightingale]

Thank you iamwhoiam. They have been sending choppers and planes the whole of yesterday and started again early this morning. I did get my asthma under control, so I will see how the rest of the day plays out. Will keep up-to-date.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

Yikes! I hope they get those fires contained soon. I'm glad you and your birdies are feeling better, and that you continue to do so.

 

[metalstitcher]

Please stay safe. I am glad your birdies are doing well and you have your asthma under control.

 

[rocky'smom]

make sure to keep the room as smoke free as possible. wet towels around the windows, A/C running air purifier running and change the filters often.

 

[CallieCadmoor]

Oh no! I had hoped the last wild fire outbreak would stop the next lot for a very long time... Glad that everyone is doing better xx