Birds are common pets in US households due to their ability to offer companionship and high intelligence levels. To keep your birds happy and healthy, you want to make sure that they have a comfortable habitat and quality bedding.
Try Dominion Hemp Bedding today or read more about how our bedding is the perfect complement to your healthy cage or aviary.
Understandably, choosing a bedding material for your bird’s cage can be troublesome. It is for this reason that we explore different types of bird bedding. We also explain why you should make hemp bedding your go-to solution.
You need to consider a few things before deciding on a particular type of bedding for your birds:
The surrounding of your parakeet or Budgie will determine how healthy it remains. For example, a dusty environment with no proper ventilation will cause respiratory problems in birds. As in the case of paper, bedding material with chemicals or ink may also cause gastrointestinal problems.
The health of your birds is a significant consideration for all bird owners. The bedding you pick for your exotic birds should not affect the health of your pets negatively. Birds often hide their illness as a survival skill. By the time a bird blatantly shows any signs of sickness, they are seriously sick.
The bedding should also give your birds maximum comfort. Birds that aren’t comfortable with their surroundings will appear withdrawn and less social even with the caregivers.
A bedding material meant for birds should be easy to use. Ease of usage revolves around installation, changing, and replenishing.
Now that we know what to consider, ensure that the bedding you choose ticks every criterion discussed in this section.
Bird poop doesn’t have a foul smell like that of mammals like cats and dogs mainly because a bird’s diet is composed of vegetables and fruits. However, as bird-dropping composts, it produces an ammonia smell.
The bedding material you use to line the cage should have smell absorption properties so that the cage smells fresh at all times.
Unlike other types of pets, bird waste is solid unless the pet has an illness. However, the spillage of drinking water and food is common because birds enjoy perching on bowls and other stuff in the cage.
The bedding you pick should absorb any form of moisture so that you don’t have an outbreak of mold and mildew.
Birds are affected by viral, fungal, and bacterial infections. Using bedding like hemp can help you control these illnesses because it has antibacterial properties.
When thinking about disposal, you need to factor in how safe the bedding is for the environment. Besides, a bedding material that composts easily is recommended because you can use it for your gardening as manure.
The quantity of bedding you purchase at a time is dependent on how much money you’re willing to spend at once. The bedding you want to use for your pet birds should give you the flexibility to either buy on-demand or even store some for future use.
Birds want to have comfortable bedding where they can rest and sleep. The bedding should somehow replicate the nests birds make in the wild.
If you have owned a bird, you know that birds aren’t the type of pets you can bathe daily. You also don’t want to deal with birds that have waste sticking onto their wings and feathers. The bedding you buy determines how clean your birds remain.
The bedding should also be safe for you to handle and for your birds. You don’t want to introduce bedding that will poison and, worse still, kill your feathered friends.
With the economic crisis, most of us are barely surviving. You want to make sure that the bedding you pick helps you save in the long run.
Ensure that the bedding is readily available in your location. Besides, the material used to produce the bedding should be available all year round and not only available seasonally.
With the knowledge of what to consider when buying bedding, here are some of the reasons why you should use hemp bedding for your birds. All our benefits are backed by science to give you enough reason to make your order with us.
Hemp is segmented using a soft outer layer and a spongy inner part that traps moisture. With our Dominion Hemp, you can bid goodbye to mold and mildew.
When birds inhale mold spores, they are likely to develop Aspergillosis, [1] an illness that affects the respiratory tract, eyes, and gastrointestinal system.
Birds enjoy flapping their wings, and dusty bedding can lead to a dusty environment for your pet. Hemp is low in dust, making it the best for you and your bird because allergens also affect humans. Dust and other allergens lead to respiratory diseases such as Macaws, Asthma, and Bird Flu [2].
Hemp bedding has antibacterial properties as a result of how the plant is grown using no chemicals. This property in the bedding helps control antibacterial infections in birds and other pets. Some of the most common bacterial illnesses in birds include Salmonella, Avian Mycobacteriosis, and Chlamydiosis [3].
With hemp bedding, you don’t have to deal with the choking ammonia smell typical in bird habitats [4]. Our Dominion Hemp has pockets that trap any odors that would normally escape into the surrounding area. Your home will smell good at all times, and your birds will have a clean-smelling cage - guaranteed!
Imagine having a bedding material that doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg to keep your pets comfortable. This is what you get with hemp bedding and so much more! Hemp absorbs up to 4 times its weight which significantly reduces change times and consequently your budget [5].
Probably you’re just learning about hemp animal bedding as it’s the new cool kid in the block. You’ve most likely used other types of bedding. Here is how they compare with our Dominion Hemp.
Hay is standard bedding in animal houses. For birds, hay isn’t the best choice because it tends to become dusty when it overstays. Remember, we’ve mentioned that pet birds are affected by dusty environments as they have delicate respiratory systems. Besides, it’s not safe for human caregivers to work in a dusty environment.
In this case, hemp is the best because it’s low in dust, giving you and your birds a safe environment.
Wood shavings such as aspen and cedar can work for other animals but not birds. The shavings are toxic because they produce a scent that acts as an allergen to your precious pets[6]. Continuous use of wood shavings in birdcages can cause body inflammations in birds.
On the other hand, wood chips aren’t the best because birds enjoy chewing on stuff, including wood. Treated wood can cause gastrointestinal problems. Besides, chips create uneven ground, making it hard to observe your bird's droppings' quality.
Hemp is the winner in this comparison because it not only offers an even surface for your birds, but it’s also entirely safe for your birds.
Clearly, birds are a favorite pet among many. As a bird owner, you have the responsibility to give your pet the best care and attention so that it can live a long life.
Did you also know that hemp bedding is one of the most responsible and caring pet products that you can share with your birds? It's highly absorbent, has very low dusk and, what's more, provides the perfect soft surface for their eggs to land on!
At Old Dominion, we stock premium hemp for small animal bedding, including pet birds. We stock hemp bales in different sizes, depending on your preference.
Call us today and buy quality hemp bedding for your birds.