GSE

[Jeddy]

Anybody use for general cleaning and soaking?

 

[Big Blues]

We use GSE in the water for cleaning our cages. I also put two drops in my dish washer.

 

[Birdiemarie]

I add a couple of drops in the distilled water I use when I fill the humidifier in the winter and add some to wash the filters.

 

[Billie Faye]

I love GSE....
I use it in a LOT of ways:
GSE USES AND DILUTION RECOMMENDATIONS

• To disinfect surfaces in the aviary and nursery such as brooders, incubators, cages, perches, and carriers, make an all purpose cleaner by adding 30 to 60 drops of GSE to a 32-ounce pump spray bottle filled with water. Mix well and spray.
• To disinfect wood surfaces, apply a few drops of GSE to the cleaned wood while still wet. Let stand for half an hour.
• To clean formula from baby parrots' faces and feathers after syringe feedings, add a few drops of GSE to a bowl of warm water to wet the cleaning cloth. It kills bacteria and gets the skin and feathers squeaky clean.
• To sterilize syringes, pipettes, spoons, and other handfeeding utensils, make a solution of 15 to 30 drops of GSE per pint of water. Soak between feedings.
• To make your own antibacterial soap for the nursery and kitchen, add ten to fifteen drops of GSE to an eight-ounce pump dispenser of hand soap.
• To make a disinfectant soak for produce, add 10 to15 drops of GSE per gallon of water and submerge the fruits and vegetables for 15 to 30 seconds.
• To make a disinfectant spray for produce, add 20 or more drops to a quart spray bottle and spray on fruits and vegetables.
• To prevent the growth of algae and mold in incubators and humidifiers, add three or four drops of GSE per gallon to the water reservoir.
• To clean and disinfect cutting boards, apply 10 to 20 drops of GSE to the cutting board. Rub it into the board with a wet sponge or cloth. Leave the GSE on for at least 30 minutes and rinse.
• To purify water, add 10 drops of GSE per gallon of water and stir vigorously. It is more effective than iodine.
• To treat skin fungi, parasites, or bacterial diseases of the skin of birds and other pets, mix 30 to 50 drops of GSE per quart of water and spray on the infected area.
• To boost the cleaning power of dishwasher detergent for bird dishes, add 15 to 30 drops of GSE to the dishwasher along with detergent.
• To disinfect towels and cloths used for baby parrots, add 30 to 50 drops to the wash cycle, or add 10 to 15 drops of GSE to the final rinse to ensure that the laundry is fungi and bacteria free.
• To disinfect carpet in bird rooms, add 10 to 15 drops of GSE per gallon of water to the reservoir of the carpet cleaning machine.
• During hot weather in outdoor aviaries, pathogens grow quickly in drinking water once organic matter has been introduced by food-covered beaks or food dunking. To prevent bacterial infections, I use one drop of GSE per large cup of drinking water when I must be away from home and cannot change the water when needed. I credit this practice with helping to prevent illness and I have never had any indication that it adversely affects my birds' health. Water bottles also can be contaminated by dirty beaks or food stuffed into the opening of the drinking tube. I prefer to use a food based preventive substance than chlorine or other harsh disinfectants....

Taken from:
Land of Vos - Wingtips Articles - A Gift From Mother Nature

 

[birdlvr466]

I put a drop in my birds food and water dishes along with soap to clean. I also use a drop in their drinking water a couple times per week as a preventitive to illness. Personally I use it as well for a gargle for a sore throat, mouth rinse. There are many uses as Billie Faye pointed out

 

[Jeddy]

Thanks for all your great ideas. I will be ordering some for sure.

You guys are great.

 

[Parrotlove]

I use gse for cleaning too and OOOO It works great on mosquito bites makes the itching stop right away.. Miss Bonnie told me of this one and boy was she right.. Hug's Barb and Isis

 

[srtiels]

To prevent bacterial infections, I use one drop of GSE per large cup of drinking water when I must be away from home and cannot change the water when needed. I credit this practice with helping to prevent illness and I have never had any indication that it adversely affects my birds' health.
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This is something I wrote several years ago, after losing some birds to Preventative Treatments. It is food for thought.
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Before I go into detail I'd like to ask each person to ask himself or herself: ‘Why[FONT=Arial,BoldItalic]’ [/FONT]are you considering using products such as GSE, Nolvasan, etc. in the birds water? Was it because you heard about it from others? Or based on what you read? Or you want to use it simply as a preventative? If as a preventative, ask yourself: [FONT=Arial,BoldItalic]“[/FONT]As a preventative against what?[FONT=Arial,BoldItalic]” [/FONT]How do you know a bird has a problem? And if you are simply assuming there is a problem, do you know what the problem is? Or even the cause?

Indiscriminate usage of products as a preventative measure is only masking a problem, and forcing gradual changes within the body. What we are trying to prevent can in fact become more resistant and pathogenic. It is better and in the long run, more healthful for the bird to find the true cause of the problem and treat or correct it than to indiscriminately use preventatives that have a non-specific purpose.

Anything that can act as a disinfectant or a cleaning agent should not be used internally in our birds!!

For everything we do there is a [FONT=Arial,BoldItalic]‘[/FONT]cause and effect[FONT=Arial,BoldItalic]’ [/FONT]action. A bird has internal defense mechanisms that protect it against harmful or invading pathogens. These act as barriers to allow the immune system to respond and destroy the invader if it does get past these defenses. ANY factor, which includes: poor nutrition, trauma, improper use of antibiotics and disinfectants will damage this defense system and make a bird more susceptible to all types of infectious pathogens.

Within a bird are mucous membranes that line the gastrointestinal, respiratory, and urogential tracts. These mucous secreting cell/membranes act as a physical barrier preventing many organisms from entering the body. The interactions of normal microbial flora and the mucous membranes and these specific cells and their secretions also act to attack pathogenic bacteria before they can attach to the cells. When these beneficial bacteria and fungi are destroyed by careless use of disinfectants or unnecessary antimicrobal agents the normal flora can also be destroyed.

The normal bacteria found in the digestive tract plays an important role in preventing viral, bacterial, and fungal infections. These are non-pathogenic and compete for nutrients, and inhibit organisms from reaching the lining of the GI tract. They also secrete compounds that prevent other bacteria, fungi, and some viruses from gaining access to the cells that line the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, the indiscriminant use of using agents/products that also act as disinfectants internally can overtime destroy or weaken the body's immune responses. The body is daily replacing these cells, but when indiscriminate use of a disinfectant agent is used this is also effecting the replacement of this mucous/cell barrier.

NOTE: The book: AVIAN VIRUSES, Function and Control by Branson Ritchie, DVM, PhD goes into detail on Avian defense mechanisms.

Have you ever wondered what happens when we use water treatments that can also act as disinfectants? The above information briefly explained some internal changes going on, but what else happens? A disinfectants purpose is to kill or in diluted form reduce pathogens/bacteria. Many of the pathogens/bacteria that are listed that these products are effective against are also normal bacterial residents of the body that work in harmony with each other. They are rarely harmful unless something creates an unbalance of one pathogen and an overgrowth of another.

Over extended periods of time these products are ‘supposedly’ working and keeping the bird from yeast or bacterial problems, but what is actually happening in the body is that these normal bacteria are learning how to adapt to these products that is seen as an invader to their environment, thus are becoming more resilient to survive. In other words they are mutating into a stronger and more resistant form of bacteria. Therefore, later on when a bird becomes ill the bacteria involved in the illness may have developed a resistance to an appropriate treatment it otherwise would have been sensitive to.

My point being that many products sound great, and innocent, but if it is a product that has the capacity to kill bacteria and yeast it can do as much damage to the body over a period of time as extended or indiscriminate usage of antibiotics. Many times extended use contributes to a resistance to normal treatments, and a stronger more pathogenic form of bacteria in the body.

In summary, the above is food for thought, and I encourage you to do some researching on your own. Don’t go by simply word of mouth because someone said they found the solution to their yeast (or bacteria or whatever) problems. If they are using a product as a preventative, they have NOT discovered the source of the problem, they have only put a [FONT=Arial,Italic]‘[/FONT]band-aid[FONT=Arial,BoldItalic]’ [/FONT]over the problem. Meaning they still do not know the cause and once the preventative treatments are stopped the problem is right back again. Or worse yet, the immune barrier has been damage, thus the bird is very susceptible to harmful pathogens that can be harmful or fatal.

Many times the source of the problem is something simple that can easily be corrected without use of preventative or medicinal treatments. It could be diet or some type of stress in the environment, to name a few things. Try to do a ‘rule out’ of potential causes before you blindly treat. If you are unsure of the cause discuss it with your vet or another breeder. Have some gram stains or cultures done to find out if there truly is a need for treatment. And most importantly, find out exactly what the problem is and the proper course of treatment…if needed.

© 2002-2009 Susanne Russo, all rights reserved

I can post pix's from a necropsy to show the damage to the GI tract if needed.​