Dumpster diving.

Shadowfax · Post by **Shadowfax** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:44 am

Well almost. I was diving past a plaxce and saw a beautiful big cage sitting out to be taken by the trash collectors. The cage looks fairly new and in very good shape and perfect for finches. Not that I need another cage because ya know if I have a cage I'm just going to put more birds in it.

Judging by the toys inside the previous occupant was probably a parakeet or cockatiel. The cage is not really clean. Not nasty and no bid feces inside that I can see so probably just dirty from sitting outdoors.

Any advice on cleaning/sanitizing precautions before I use it to house finches? This may be just a hospital cage for now but knowing me I'll wind up owning more birds.

Post by **Sally** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 1:44 am

Some people don't like used cages because they could have mites. I guess that is always a possibility, but I recently got a bunch of galvanized breeding cages from a canary breeder that were a really good price, so I wasn't about to pass up on that! She had already powerwashed them, but I went ahead and washed them again with hot water and Pinesol, and then sprayed them with a 10% dilute bleach solution. Since you don't really know who had the cage before, just check it over carefully for any critters (mites will hide in the cracks). I guess you could always spray it with an insecticide (or a miticide) before washing it, just wash and rinse well to get rid of any trace of the poison. And I would toss any perches that it had and just get new ones.

Shadowfax · Post by **Shadowfax** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 12:48 pm

Would freezing kill off the mites at all? I have been leaving it out side in the cold air for right now. I had planned to take everything apart and deep clean with bleach, Pine sol is a good idea too. But bleach I can be sure will dissipate and not leave any residue to harm the birds.
The cage looks new to me, toys not really chewed on either. So I am guessing whatever bird lived in it did not live there for long. Possible escape?
The perches and toys in the cage all look fairly new but not appropriate for finches so they will get tossed. the food cups I will wash and sanitize along with the cage.

Hmm Power washing sounds like a good idea. I can take it to the car wash along with my horses stuff.

Post by **Sally** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 2:12 pm

I have no idea if freezing would take care of any possible mites--probably would need to be for 3-4 days nonstop below freezing. Powerwash, scrub with hot water and Pinesol, rinse well, spray with dilute bleach solution and let air dry should do it. Sounds like a good deal you happened onto!

EmilyHurd · Post by **EmilyHurd** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:24 am

I would wonder why it was sitting by the trash can???

Anyway, they have good mite sprays that you can spray down the cage really well and let it sit for awhile before rinsing.

How big is the cage?

rottielover · Post by **rottielover** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 6:13 pm

What about using a dilute bleach solution?

Wash the cage throughly with soap and water (if you have a power washer, HOOYA!), then let dry... Then spray down with a solution of bleach and water and let dry. Usually letting a dilute bleach solution dry on something is considered to kill off just about anything.

Since there's nothing living the cage right now you'd have the time to complete this operation.

There's also the old saying about any parasite, no host(s) no parasite...

Meaning that IF there were mites crawling around the cage, if you don't put any hosts in there durring their lifecycle, then they will die out. This is of course dependant on the lifecycle of the parasite (Ick parasites in fish tanks for example, it's generally accepted that if you remove all the hosts (fish) from the tank for 2 months none of the parasites will have any food, and will all die out). Of course in that example if you re-indroduce a host that's already infected you also re-introduce the parasite...

Well enough ramblings from me...

Shadowfax · Post by **Shadowfax** » Tue Nov 13, 2007 10:29 pm

Thanks for the info and Ide4as. Right now it is sitting outside. I took it apart and am letting it just sit for about a month. Then I will bring it in and give it a good wash with hot water soap and a bleach rinse.

I did not see any mites at all in it. In fact it looked pretty clean. Maybe the owner got a newer cage? maybe the bird flew the coop? The toys inside were consistent with a cockatiel or budgie. Most look new some are well chewed. All will be discarded since there is no use for them. I think there were some little rope toys I may run through the wash and then bleach.

here is a link to a cage that looks a lot like it. The one I found is a kind of turquoise blue though.
Finch Cage

I am not planning to put any birds in it at the moment. I had not wanted to have more than 4 birds but think it will be nice to have this as a spare or a hospital or if somefay I decide I need more finches...

rottielover · Post by **rottielover** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 10:45 am

I'd only use the bleach solution rinse on hard surfaces, not on rope or anything that can absorb moisture. There's a risk that the bleach could remain and then when the birds chew on it... that would be bad.

So I'd only use the bleach rinse away from the birds (outside) on hard surfaces (cage) and let it dry completely.