Oil-Dri as bedding or cage litter

Post by **Sally** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 2:35 pm

I posted earlier about using Oil-Dri in the bottom trays of my cages. It is similar to kitty litter, yet not exactly the same. It is a fired-clay product sold in automotive places to absorb oil spills. It is also dusty, I'll be wiping up dust for weeks to come.

Heidi (hfentj) was at my house Saturday, and she noticed right away that the Oil-Dri had a sort of smell, and the air in the birdroom was very dry. I don't have a very good smeller, so had not noticed this, but I had mentioned to my doctor that I had this persistent dry cough. He chalked it up to allergies. This first happened last year, and may have been about the time that I first tried using the Oil-Dri, didn't really pay any attention, but that is when he first put me on allergy medication (I've never had allergies before).

I've also had a fairly lousy breeding season so far, with many clear eggs, DIS, tossed babies, dying handfeds, etc. Well, DUH, sometimes you just have to hit me over the head with a brick! I sit around and complain, but can't put two and two together.

I had already replaced half the Oil-Dri on my divided breeding cages that have two trays--one tray still had Oil-Dri, I placed coastal Bermuda hay in the other tray. That afternoon, I dumped all the rest of the Oil-Dri and replaced with newspaper. I kept the hay on one side of the breeding cages, but on cages that have juvies or non-breeding birds, I didn't want to stimulate breeding behavior with all that nesting material.

The other big change was that when I had all the cages out in my backroom, I used a humidifier. I hadn't set it up in the bedroom that is now my birdroom--I have laminate flooring that is very sensitive to moisture, so I worried about having a humidifier going 24/7. So now I have the humidifier set up again.

I also stopped taking my allergy medication. This morning, I was not stopped up for the first time in quite a while. (Yay, that's one more pill I don't have to take--I hate pills!)

Heidi said that the Oil-Dri will pull moisture out of the air. Breeding is stimulated for most finches by the start of the rainy season, which gets the grasses growing and seeding up--and which is also a humid time of year.

Only time will tell if this is true, but it certainly makes sense to me--too bad I have trouble seeing the big picture sometimes! All the successful breeders keep saying that we must try to simulate the birds native environment as much as possible. I will update this thread when enough time has passed to tell is there is improvement.

franny · Post by **franny** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 2:50 pm

This is very interesting. This is precisely why this forum is so helpful... we don't all have to make the same mistakes to learn...we can learn by letting others find the mistakes for us!

Well it was an interesting experiment, but now you know that it was not a good choice. Thanks for letting us know. (I quit using a clay litter for my cats long ago, when I saw how dusty it was. No matter how safe they claim it is, it can't be good to breathe in all that dust, especially for a little cat, or now that you've mentioned it-littler birds.)

About the humidifier... don't you worry about bacteria? I've read a few posts on the african finch forum that don't recommend them. Some seem to think it's not worth the risk. Maybe it's better to just offer baths more often, or just have more sources of water in the cages? That would up the humidity, but then again, you'd still have to use KD or Virkon or something in that water anyway... I personally don't need to worry about low humidity (where I live in BC it's in a coastal rainforest).

Edited to say, I'm glad you're feeling better and off the alergy pills!

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 4:20 pm

Thanks for sharing that Sally. I also do not worry about humidity. I have a fountain in the aviary and hopefully that provides enough.

I know I don't have cages, but IF I did, I think that I would just put newspaper in the bottom of all of them. I know they would have to be changed daily, but I do this anyway in my aviary and in the cage I keep at school. Everything is cleaner and dusty free.

So glad your feeling better!

FeatherHarp · Post by **FeatherHarp** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 5:38 pm

Gosh...that is too bad Sally...but thanks for sharing that info for the rest of us. I hope your birds do better once the stuff is gone.

I have a super great smeller...I inherited it from my Mom and passed it on to my Daughter. Hubby calles me "Dog Nose"..I think that is a compliment?

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Mon Feb 16, 2009 5:51 pm

Wow that's great news about getting off the allergy meds, Sally! I too only use newspapers on top of the grates that I cannot remove. I'd be interested in your thoughts on humidity as I have not turned my humidifier on this season yet but I have eggs in every cage with a nestbox on it. I just laid laminate in part of the birdroom and would prefer not to have to turn on the humidifier if I don't have to.