What do you prefer for the bottom paper, etc. on your aviary

[monotwine]

Janine I just love your idea. Simple and reusable. Though I must behonest I tried the towelling thing and well.... I just cannot be fussed to wash them regularly enough. I have enough regular washing without adding to it.
I use newspaper too, but I don't have many cages.

For my breeding area in the shed I lay down a piece of durable platic sheeting and cover this with pine shavings / hay. This lasts for months and I only take out the soiled bedding as needed. Once in a few months I replace the lot.

[mitch]

I like to use news paper, easy to change, no mold or ingestion problems--my family save thier papers for me so i always have a little stock pile--had a small outdoor flight once and used a piece of linoleum over a plywood floor, it was easy to clean, just hosed it off, but if i wanted something more permanent i think i would go for concrete of some kind of tile.

[Anne73]

All of the different ideas are great! I have been using newspaper in our cages and small aviairy and it works fine. I want to try for a different look in the aviary, so I am going to put down a bottom layer of newspaper, with a covering of aspen bedding to see if I like it or not.

[Mozelle]

I"m so glad I checked out this topic - thanks for posting it!

Great ideas all around. I've been using newspaper for the most part - shavings for the quail.

[Anne73]

I tried switching my small aviary over today from newspaper to aspen chips. It looks nice and took very little of the compressed bale to cover the bottom. After about 7 hours though I still had not seen the finches ever come down off their perch and could see no signs of their feeding. They were scared of the big change I think. So I went and covered about 1/2 of the bottom area (under the water and a couple of food dishes) with a layer of newspaper over the chips. Soon they vertured down to eat again. I will try to decrease the size of the newspaper now over several days, until they seem used to the chips.

[Anne73]

I have been using the aspen chips a little over a month now. The birds did take to it fine, after I slowly reduced the amount of newpaper and added more shavings. They like to chew on the aspen pieces too. I am thinking of trying something else though maybe as a mix, as they blow the aspen off the bottom middle newspaper layer, in the bottoms of my two small aviarys - from flying close to the ground. I might try oderless cat litter or paper pellets in the middle, to see if they are heavy enough to stay in place.

[nelloyello11]

I work im retail and many of the vendors use the brow paper sheets as packing material. They come crinkled up, but I just flatten them out and bring them home. They are perforated in 30x18 sections, so it is perfect for my cages! I put one in the tray and on top of the grate.
I am considering a different solution for when I finish building the cages I am working on. The floor will be whiteboard so I am thinking of going to carefresh bedding or aspen shavings. I think this will help absorb moisture from the bath, urine, etc and protect the whiteboard a little, and help catch seed hulls and keep them from blowing out of the cage.
Has anyone found either the carefresh or shavings to work better than the other, as far as odor and moisture absorption go?
How do you go about changing them out? I am thinking a small dustpan or poop scoop sort of method...

[finchandlovebird]

After learning from experts on this forum, I switched to newspaper over the gratings in my 2 finch cages. I LOVE to hear the pitter patter of their little feet, & the sheets are very easy to change out. Can't do that in my Lovebirds' cage though, as he's a fanatic paper shredder; so he's on the cage's grate. I give him a toilet paper tube every once in a while to add joy to his life.

[Diamond Sparrow]

In my avairys I use straw or oaten chaff,the straw allows droppings to fall beneath it stopping the birds from eating eat.I clean it out every few months.You must be careful using any type of wood chips or mulch due to bacteria buid up.

[tt101]

i use the really thick paper towels because
1 really cheap
2 can check dropping color
3 absorbent
4 easy to roll up and throw out.

i tried newspaper in the past but was unhappy with the way it got soggy and broke apart making an even bigger mess.