Worried

[strawbirby]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting on the forums but I’ve learned a lot from reading here before bringing my baby home last summer. I’m very diligent about keeping any substances harmful to birds out of my house and I take the safety of my bird very seriously. I spent a lot of time bird proofing my home and giving my little one a safe and loving environment.

Recently I ended up getting extremely sick with the flu and I’m currently stuck in bed while my boyfriend takes care of me and our bird. As a precaution, he’s been sleeping in our spare room and wearing gloves and masks to protect himself from catching it and I sometimes wear them when I need to leave my room because of my cough.

Out of curiosity I just looked up the brand of protective face masks that he purchased and the website lists zinc and copper as ingredients in the mask. I never would have imagined these materials to be present in something as seemingly simple as a first aid product and I’m sure that he wouldn’t either. My fear is that somehow that even if we aren’t wearing them while handling her that these materials will make their way into the air and cause untold damage to our bird.

Am I worrying too much? Should we board her at an avian vet if my boyfriend also becomes sick? I really don’t want anything terrible to happen to her and I never imagined myself in this situation What do other bird owners do if they depend on medical supplies or medications that contain things known to be harmful to birds?

 

[Bryan Black]

I don't think it will be an issue. I am sure the amount the masks have is so low it would not matter any unless your bird was chewing/eating them.

 

[Hawk12237]

Hi everyone, this is my first time posting on the forums but I’ve learned a lot from reading here before bringing my baby home last summer. I’m very diligent about keeping any substances harmful to birds out of my house and I take the safety of my bird very seriously. I spent a lot of time bird proofing my home and giving my little one a safe and loving environment.

Recently I ended up getting extremely sick with the flu and I’m currently stuck in bed while my boyfriend takes care of me and our bird. As a precaution, he’s been sleeping in our spare room and wearing gloves and masks to protect himself from catching it and I sometimes wear them when I need to leave my room because of my cough.

Out of curiosity I just looked up the brand of protective face masks that he purchased and the website lists zinc and copper as ingredients in the mask. I never would have imagined these materials to be present in something as seemingly simple as a first aid product and I’m sure that he wouldn’t either. My fear is that somehow that even if we aren’t wearing them while handling her that these materials will make their way into the air and cause untold damage to our bird.

Am I worrying too much? Should we board her at an avian vet if my boyfriend also becomes sick? I really don’t want anything terrible to happen to her and I never imagined myself in this situation What do other bird owners do if they depend on medical supplies or medications that contain things known to be harmful to birds?

Highly unlikely the mask will pose any issue to your bird unless of course the bird got a hold of the mask and chewed it up. Basic monitoring of bird is the key when your sick as to not get into anything it shouldn't.