Proper cage cleaning

[bbslovie]

Hi, I would like to get others input on how often, what they use and how to properly clean your birds cage. I know this is pretty basic :blush: but I just want to make sure that I am doing this correctly every time. Thanks!

[linda040899]

How often you clean the cage is pretty much an individual thing. I will say that I feel it's important that birds be exposed to bacteria or you can weaken their immune systems. I try to keep mine clean but they are not immaculate.

I clean perches, toys, etc. as needed. I use soap and warm water. Depending on the toy, I've been known to put some smaller, plastic foot toys through a cycle in my dishwasher. Ditto with food/water dishes. Water dishes are cleaned every day and food dishes as necessary between dishwasher cycles.

As for cages, my breeder cages are pressure washed outside every 6 months but spot cleaned when needed. Since each stack is 9 cages and they are quite large, it's hard to do those as often. Again, trays and dishes are cleaned daily. Just the cage structure, itself, is pressure washed.

[michael]

I've found that I only need to clean Goof's cage about once every 3-4 weeks. He really doesn't slop up the cage itself with poop (like pooping on cage bars) or wet food all about. Generally, the floor liner (typing papers) are changed every day (sometimes an occasional 2 :whistle:) along with a thorough spot cleaning before replacing them. Food and water bowls are always checked daily with the water bowl being changed twice a day. His birdy buddy gets washed once or twice a week in the laundry (which I have to do when he's not looking because he gets pissed off >:) and his perches touched up with sandpaper and wiped with a damp cloth whenever necessary. Some toys like plastic ones I throw in the dishwater whereas wood and other porous items get cleaned off by hand with lots of manipulating to help spark his interest in them. I use a mild solution of GSE and water for wiping things off along with Oxyfresh gel. As far as him and the rest of the house....thats a different story :roll:! I guess me and goof should go do a little "spot cleaning"..............:)

[Janie]

I did a major cleaning yesterday (I AM POOPED!) which meant rolling the cages and play gyms out on the back deck and using the pressure washer. I do that once every three months or so, depending on how often I've spot cleaned in between. I clean the cage grates about every other week even though I've never seen any of my three play or walk on the grates. I use "Poop Off" wipes for spot cleaning and change out toys/perches and clean the dirty ones as needed. I change out the cage liners (newspaper and/or paper towels) every day in Oliver's smaller sleep cage and once a week in the two larger cages. The reason I change Oliver's night cage every day is because it's a small cage, he's an older bird, and I want to keep track of how his poops look on a daily basis.

My cages are far from immaculate! :D I just keep telling myself (and I do believe it) that they do need exposure to some bacteria! :)

[Pips mom]

I keep my cages pretty darn clean! although like Linda, I don't really believe in sanitizing everything-----some soap and warm water to wash things works just fine. I clean the papers on the bottom every other day or sometimes every day-----pip's cage not as often as he doesn't spend alot of time in there and he doesn't poop as much as the others! The tiel's cage gets it the worst because they all like to hang out on top of theirs, so theirs gets cleaned most often. I clean the grates every few days too so that nothing gets too caked on where it takes alot of work to clean it. With the tiels, I have to keep all perches free of bird poop because my male likes to go around eating it! Yuck! I depend alot on poop-off to clean the grates, it works wonders! I take out toys and other things to wash as needed when they get dirty, and water dishes all get washed thoroughly each day. Overall I think I keep the cages very clean and free of any poop or any dried fresh food that gets scattered. I take cages outside for a thorough cleaning with the hose in the summertime----wish I could do it once again in the winter, but it's too cold out there! Pip's cage can be done inside anytime as it's smaller than the others, so I take his all apart and clean it about twice a year.

[rbalbury]

i clean the aviary once a week with soap & water... sometimes it goes 2 weeks. the birds dont seem to mind either way, i do it for me as much as them

[bbslovie]

Hi all, thus far my routine has been to clean all food and water dishes and change the paper and wipe the trays with poop off wipes daily. I change the water twice daily. I spot clean the grates every two to three days and take them out and scrub them with soap and water weekly. We have the rope perches and I cycle them through the dishwasher as needed. I wipe down the inside of the cages with the wipes weekly. So far I had just been hand cleaning the toys but now I'm just going to toss them in the dishwasher also! Thank you all for your input! Sometimes it's kind of embarrassing :blush: asking the seemingly obvious questions. Just like everyone else, I just want to do what's right for these wonderful little creatures that have captured our hearts! :)

Barb

[Flapjack]

[I spot clean daily] [scrub grate, wipe bars and scrub perches and toys once a week] [ I disassemble everything and powerwash once a month] [food and water bowls daily]
I use poop off and antibacterial soap and HOT water on a cage sponge.

[Kristina]

I do a thorough cleaning about once a week. When I change his newspaper at night, I wipe things down quickly, but nothing major.

[Chickobee]

One thing we did to make things faster at feeding time each morning (4:00 a.m.) was to buy another set of food and water dishes for each bird. Then we fill the clean ones and replace the others as we feed the birds in each cage.

We also bought small saucers and ramekins at a restaurant supply store. We use the saucers for their birdie bread, veggies etc. and try to set them in the bottom of the cage somewhere that is not directly below a perch. We use the ramekins for birdbaths and they work great!

All of these things can go right into the dishwasher, which is another timesaver.

Linda

[linda040899]

Linda,
I do the same thing and you're right! Sure does make things easier. Remove one set and replace with another! Dishwashers are wonderful inventions when you have a lot of birds! :happy: :happy: :happy:

Another trick I've learned is to try to put food dishes on the same side of the cage in all cages and put the water dishes on the other side of the cage. Makes it harder for the lovies to create their famous "Lovebird Soup"! I always know which is the food dish and which is the water dish, as I'm reaching on the same side of the cage for each one.

[Mydoona]

oh I just clean their perches and bowls in hot water and change the paper every second day... and clean the bars when needed..I don't use chemicals or
sprays..is that wrong?

[Mummieeva]

Not that is not wrong. I use mainly hot water to clean things in bird cage. I do run the dishes through dishwasher though since i have 3 sets. Once a month I run toys and perches through also. I spot clean as needed with diaper wipes(they work pretty well).Normaly I take it outside and hose it off atleast every other week. But my state and area are under a water ban so I can not take Drac's cage and hose it off like I would like. So hopefully I get a good rain shower soon and can put his cage outside to get cleaned(after moving him to another cage of course). Either that or I might have to clean the cage at midnight in the dark.lol.


Steph