Conditioning My Parrot To Vacuum Cleaners

As most of you know, parrots are usually terrified of the vacuum cleaner. Here’s what I did so that mine is not scared and I can run the vac right next to her sitting in the open and not scare her.

I started with buying a smaller/quieter vacuum cleaner because the big one would probably give the bird a panic attack. I bought this one and highly recommend it for anyone who has a pet (especially a bird).

This mini vac is battery powered, light, and relatively quiet which makes it ideal for cleaning up after your bird. I started to have a routine where I would put my bird into the cage in the evening, serve evening meal, and clean up around the bird area while she ate. I started with the little vac far away while letting her eat and watch and work my way closer in but without making her panic. I avoided making eye contact or looking at the bird and vacuumed very matter of factly so that it did not appear like this vacuuming was to harm her. I made it look like it has absolutely nothing to do with her. And like I said, I started far away and worked my way closer so the sound got only gradually louder. I made a routine of vacuuming feathers and food scattered around the cage while my bird ate so the vacuuming was almost a pleasant sound associated to food rather than terror. Furthermore, I put the battery charger stand for the stick vac right next to the bird cage. This way she can see it from the cage every day and is used to me taking it in and out and vacuuming near her cage. For instance, if I use the stick vac in another room, I will come back with it running up till the stand and then turn it off as I pop it in. This way, every use of it involves the bird and shows it that the vacuum is not dangerous. One more thing I’ve done is let her sit on my shoulder while I vacuum which makes her feel less scared and at a safe enough distance from the vac.

Eventually I could vacuum in any vicinity of the bird and even inside the bird cage with the bird in it without any issue. I think she is still cautious and keeps an eye on it but doesn’t mind. I repeated this same process to get her used to the big noisy full size vacuum by starting far and working my way closer and never making it look like it was aimed at the bird. So start with a smaller/quieter vac and get the bird used to it before moving up to the full sized noisy one. Follow these steps and you won’t have to tiptoe around your bird and worry while cleaning.

Above is a video of how Kili is calm when I am vacuuming in and around her cage.