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Spring Cleaning

Cleaning cages can be a daunting task. You can help yourself minimize the hassle by having a daily routine that only has to take a few minutes.

It’s a good idea to begin with picking out or scraping off any loose or excess droppings or toy pieces from the grate, this way it will fall into the already soiled tray. Change papers second so any mess that drops from the tray will get swept or vacuumed after.

Tip for NON-paper shredding birds is to line the tray with several layers of paper. When it is time to change them, just remove the top 1 or 2 layers and discard!

Don’t forget to take out and clean off perches and toys. They can both accumulate dander and droppings as well. This is a convenient time to change perches around and rotate the toys so your bird doesn’t get bored. Also, try to position perches so they aren’t overlapping above each other; this prevents the lower branches from ‘catching’ all the droppings.

There are products available to make the clean up easier:

Handheld vacuum: Convenient for carpet and hardwood floors to round up loose feathers and crumbs.

Cage Skirt: Generally can be found in sizes for cages up to 105″ inches in perimeter. Helps keep in loose feathers and seed shells.

Poop Off: This is a non-toxic and biodegrable enzyme formulate to help break down droppings for easy clean up. Comes in wipes, bottles with a scrubber end, spray bottles, and gallon refills.

Pet Focus: This is a ready-to-use disinfectant, available in a 1-quart spray bottle or gallon size. Spray on and wipe off or let air dry.

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Cages

Cages have long been viewed as a negative, but necessary part of bird keeping. What a cage may lack in freedom though, can be turned into a great opportunity for a safe and enriching area for your bird.

The cage is an important part of keeping your bird safe while you are away. A fidgety or curious unsupervised parrot on a stand can easily get itself into trouble. Many will make it a point to climb down and explore their surroundings. Others may get scared and jump off with no way to climb back up. Electrical wires, houseplants, and furniture all make for very expensive and very dangerous chew toys.

A cage should have enough space for a bird to stretch the wings out fully and not touch the cage on either side. It should also be tall enough so the tail does not drag on the bottom, and that it can have an upper perch area for sleeping. When purchasing a cage, ask if the bar gauge and bar spacing is appropriate for your parrot. For small birds like finches, parakeets, and cockatiels, ½” spacing is recommended so they cannot either fly out or get their heads stuck. For medium parrots, like senegals, and many conures, ¾” spacing is appropriate and generally offers more strength for the slightly larger beaks. Macaws and cockatoos are best with 1” spacing, allowing them to climb without getting toes or wings pinched in-between the bars.

It is also important to keep in mind for birds that are kept flighted, like canaries and finches, which benefit and get exercise from horizontal flight, small cages and narrow, tall cages are not appropriate. Many antique or wooden bamboo cages may also look pretty, but old or rusted metals can be toxic and wooden cages will be chewed through!

Cages should contain more than one or two perches, preferably natural wood ones. A variety of toys should be placed around the cage in easy to reach locations like above a perch or to the side of the cage next to one.

Cages can be a big investment, so it is important to get the right kind of cage for your bird.