For easy cage clean-ups I place newspapers on the tray on the bottom of their cages.
For bathing I put warm water in a spritzing bottle and spray them.
For cleaning their cages I use a non-toxic, non-abrasive all-purpose cleaner.
To keep dander and dust from eliminating all over my house I place their cages close to one of my furnace return ducts. I also use a HEPA filter in my furnace to catch most of all the dust particles. I make sure that I don't place them too close to the duct because I don't want their feathers getting sucked through the return duct and clogging up my furnace. Note that this is a return duct and not a register.
If you have a parrot that likes to play in his seed bowl and push his "good" seeds out of his bowl, I place a small tin pie pan under his food bowl on the bottom tray to catch the seeds, then I pour them back into his bowl. This saves me A LOT of money in feed. Make sure he/she doesn't have any poopie droppings in the feed dish, though. You don't want to contaminate the bird.
NEVER, EVER use your self-cleaning feature on your oven around or close to your bird. The fumes will send them into a sudden shock and kill them immediately.
Same goes for non-stick pans. If you allow a pan to burn on the stove the fumes from the non-stick substance sends off toxic fumes to birds.
Never use any cleaners, hairsprays, or air fresheners around your parrot. These are toxic.
Do not allow your parrot to chew on newspapers because the ink is toxic.
No matter what the controversies are about having your parrot's wings clipped, DO IT! It saves the parrot from flying into things and getting hurt. It's painless and humane if they're kept from the wild.
Have your parrot microchipped. This helps identify them if the parrot flies off or has been stolen.
Teach your parrot your phone number! If they become lost they can tell someone their phone number.
My Pionus has a shower perch but the Quakers love getting in the bathtub. They run from one end to the other, flapping their wings and making happy sounds. I love it too because the mess is confined.
I used to have an African Grey Timney and its cousin an African Grey Congo.. and an Unbrella Cocatoo. As I grew older it became difficult to care for them so I gave them to somone who I trusted to care for them. I used to put their cage one at a time in the shower.. I would open the cage door and they would stand on top and flap their wings as to clean each feather.. it was so fun to watch. They spoke well and understood what I said. It was so fun training them. When the shower was done and they finished the *wing flapping process* (what a wet mess I was cause I just had to peek in to watch and laugh and as I laughed they would laugh,so much fun) I would say "go in your house" or "go home" and they would go inside. Then I just removed the cage dried it off and did the next one.. they would always sing laugh and talk in the shower. I will always miss them. At least I have them on tape.. talking singing laughing. I loved to hear them talk to each other. They also barked like dogs.. so funny. My neighbor would bring over her Double yellow head Amazon, the Congo (Sambo) didnt like it,... he would get down in the corner of his house and growl and scream GO HOME!!!!!!!! lol They had a huge vocabulary... Sorry to ramble... I just miss them.
I am happy to see something about parrots. I have an african grey. All you say is true. I'm an avian specialest and do bird grooming. The spraying of the paper also saves your lungs from air borne droppings being inhaled. And good for you with the self cleaning ovens and teflon. Teflon is also on some light bulbs and irons, or ironing board pads. I don't use any of those things. Valery
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