african outdoors in uk?

[shelleyinguernsey]

Hi there

my mother-in-law has an allergy to our african grey, and although she stopped coming to our house, she says she is still getting an allergic reaction (tight chest) when we go to visit her.  I am lothed to part with our grey as he is such a lovely bird and great company.  The only option we can come up with is housing him outdoors in an aviary linked to our garage so he will have shelter in the garage with an outdoor pen for flying. 

I wonder if any one has any advise for this, will he be warm enough in the uk, we live in the channel islands so we have milder winters? do we need heating in the garage? will he be lonely on his own?

Any help/advise would be great!

many thanks

shelley

[karine]

Your mother-in-law may have other allergies than to your Grey (she could be tested to know for sure)....Make sure you bath/shower him often to minimize the dust he produces though.

Other options : Stop visiting your mother-in-law
                      Allergy shots for your mother-in-law

Sorry I live in the USA so can't help you with the outdoor solution......

[leefind]

Wow, that's a tough one, but I can't help thinking that he will be lonely, it's not something he's use to and he may wonder what happened to his flock.  Good luck!!!

[miffy]

hiya

the breeder i got louie off housed her breeding pairs in her garden, in kent. so i would say he would be ok outside but obviously hers were pairs so i couldnt say if he'd be lonely for sure but i would think he would miss you!!!

[PakaBird]

Have you thought of a filtration system instead of moving your bird outdoors? Your mother-in-law would probably be fine  if most of the bird dust is filtered out of the air. There are lots of products on the market if you do a web search.

This one I liked if you have a large aviary:

http://www.quakerparrots.com/2006/air-purification-systems-help-with-allergies/

What we eventually found for the bird room is a simple box fan that has a compartment that holds a 20×20 furnace filter. We found this works beautifully for catching all of the bird dander, and it is very inexpensive to purchase and maintain. We buy the cheapest furnace filters that we can find and change the fan's filter out at the beginning of every month.

Who would have thought that a box fan could become an effective air purification system, but it really works well. We run the fan on the lowest setting continuously around the clock and have been using this method for cleaning the air in the bird room for over two years now. I am simply amazed at all of the dust and dander that it removes from the air!

I'm sure you could find a smaller filter/fan combination for a single bird.

Thanks,

PakaBird

[lea1985]

Hi,

My mum is also allergic to my grey but she is also allergic to cats. Birds can bring on asthma also and from you saying tight chest I think this may be a possiblilty and maybe your mum should think about visiting the Doc.

My mum is okay around bubbles and is even going to be looking after him for a couple of weeks while i am on holiday. The only time she is affected by her allergy is when she cuddles her but she has found out that if she Piriton tablets the allergies dont rear there ugly head.

My mum is not affected by us visiting her she physically has to be with bubbles. She doesn't even have this reaction from our Cat and her feline allergies are far worse, but same again when visiting us she takes a piriton and no more allergies.

I wouldn't advise putting your grey in the garage or in any room where she will be alone. Your grey is sociable creature and would feel lonley and may develop beahavioul issues. I take bubbles outside on her lead but even on the warmest of days our lovely british weather she can be cold if there is a slight wind. Also think of how cold the garage would be at night-time and  you elecy bill if you were to have it heated all night.

I found this on http://www.theparrotsocietyuk.org/petparrot.shtml

Cons - Prone to feather plucking if bored or frustrated, so needs lots of attention. Produces lots of feather dust, a white "powder-down" , which leaves a layer of dust which most house proud people would not appreciate. Also bad for asthma sufferers or anyone suffering from allergies

I seem to have rattled on a bit but I hope that this helps.