Definitely clean anything that you think might be a source of zinc. With the light bulbs, the mercury is inside the bulb - it's safe as long as it doesn't get broken. They're chewing on bricks because they want grit. If you want to, you could provide them with small amounts of safe grit like this:





Lots of people will tell you "never give grit to a parrot" but this is a load of crap IMO. Cockatiels eat grit in the wild and they have a natural craving for it. It's prudent to not have an 'all you can eat' grit fest and it's safest to not provide it when you have tiny babies in the nest. But in general moderate amounts are OK. If anyone is interested in reading a huge article about it, I have one here: http://www.littlefeatheredbuddies.com/i ... -grit.html

If you have big windows that you can't cover up, you can put decals or strips of colored tape on them to help make it more obvious that there's a solid surface here. You can get peel-off decals that stick to the glass without using glue so you don't make a mess that you'll have to clean up later.

Depending on the design of the lamp and how the birds are getting access to it, you might be able to use a piece of hardware cloth to keep them out. Buster and Shodu wanted to nest inside a light fixture a few months ago. I used wire to attach a piece of hardware cloth across the top and now they can't do this any more.

I don't understand how those CFL bulbs can be so easily distributed if they are SO dangerous when broken. One lamp in garage just fell and CFL bulb broke! I got it out and keeping in my yard in the box while I am figuring out how to get rid of it safely. But I never found a small piece that broke off.
We were supposed to call a certain number when mercury thermometer was broken in the past.

thank you all...


so the burning question remains the same... vet consulted avian specialist in Kansas State University about use of hardware cloth for aviaries. the specialist said that hardware cloth should never be used. He said there is no evidence that vinegar scrubbing removes or reduces zinc.
I of course don't question expertise of our specialists on the forum... so... can it be said with confidence, from your experience, that hardware cloth is OK after it's been scrubbed with vinegar really well? Lots of birds used it and stayed safe, right?

I think the dangers of broken CFLs are greatly overstated. There are large numbers of senior citizens who played with drops of mercury with their bare hands as children and suffered no ill effects from it. I've had a couple of CFLs that exploded (apparently they tend to do that sometimes). I just cleaned up the broken glass and mopped the area, and nothing bad happened.

LEDs are becoming more affordable and I'm starting to switch over to those in some of my most frequently-used light fixtures. But be sure to pick out one that you like, because it'll be with you for a long long time. They last for 20 years or more.

Scrubbing hardware cloth does remove the loose zinc powder on it, and there tends to be lots of that on a new roll. I looked into the safety issues before I built my aviary, and many people reported using ordinary hardware cloth with lots of birds for decades without any problem. If I had birds that liked to chew on wire as a form of entertainment I would be concerned, because they could ingest significant amounts of metal that way. But my guys just climb on it and I haven't had any problems. It's possible to buy stainless steel hardware cloth that's zinc free. There's also a type of polyester-coated hardware cloth that's very durable, not the flimsy stuff they have at Home Depot. But these are hard to find and very expensive.

just a few pictures.
Our sick girl loved swinging on this door chain (I don't know what material it is and I saw her exploring it with her beak )

chewed up paint on household item

this is the light fixture I was talking about, They like to get in with the light on

That type of light fixture is PERFECT for blocking birds out. You just put a piece of clean hardware cloth over the top. The light can still get out but the birds can't get in.

The chewed up paint on the rack looks like it could be dangerous. Most household paint is nontoxic nowadays to protect young children who might chew on it, but who knows. We don't know what kind of metal is underneath either.

The door chain looks too strong for a cockatiel to easily chew metal bits off of it. It could be a pinch hazard however.

They certainly look like a happy family!

Thank you!
I don't want even hear about hardware cloth again do you mean to cut a circle of a diameter a little smaller than the top of the fixture and put it in there? then they would probably be sitting on the wire pooping into the bowl
I think paint on the rack wasn't very toxic, otherwise they all would be doing not so well. But I took it away from them.
I realized that chain on the door is for "decoration" only - doesn't do any work so I simply removed it.

I am looking for something to conceal furniture edges from chewing - it became a real problem. Maybe a sticky strip of fabric, like felt? Does anything like this exist? tape like a scotch tape with with fabric on top? anything that would be safe and not easily destroyable?

today I scrubbed our aviary screens much better with vinegar with rough sponge. haven't used aviary since she got sick, but planning to do it tomorrow again.

Covering things up is pretty effective against cockatiels. I don't have a lot of wood-chewing issues but I throw a sheet over my couch to keep the poop off the fabric. There's a lot of furniture though where a cover-up wouldn't be easy. You'll just have to get creative with it and figure out something that will work.