FINCHforum

This may seem like a fairly obvious question and I sincerely apologize if similar questions have been asked, but is it best to use vinegar + thorough rinse with hot water to disinfect food and water dishes on a daily basis? Up until recently, I have been using a mild soap, but I'd like to go the extra step in making sure their food and water dishes are thoroughly clean, in a safe, effective way. I have also found that some soaps contain a chemical (Triclosan) that can be toxic to the bird so I am definitely searching for a more natural method of cleansing dishes daily.

For those who don't use vinegar to clean their bird's dishes, which products do you use on a regular basis? I have heard GSE is a great disinfectant, but am unsure of which brand/how I should be using it, if it's OK for daily use, etc.

Thank you all in advance.

Hi, you don't really need to wash your birds dishes every day, just once a week, and if you notice any poop on them, give em a bit of a scrub and it should be fine... There's a specific bird cage cleaner that is made of all natural products, which a lot of people use... But I'm not sure what it's called, so find a good pet shop that has a big bird section, and find the health and hygiene section (with the mite and lice sprays and scaley mite sprays) and you should be able to find the brand... Someone on here should be able to tell you what it's called

Thank you for your reply. My finch absolutely adore taking baths on a daily basis, thus contaminating their water... so I have no choice but to disinfect it, sometimes 2-3 times in one day!!

I wash mine, about once a week, just in hot water with regular dish soap, rinse well, and allow to dry completely. I have extras of all dishes, so I can swap out sooner than a week, if needed, and so they don't have to wait for food and water while they dry.

For the cage itself, I have been using Pet Focus, which is a no-rinse disinfectant, completely safe for animals (only needs to be rinsed if used on food/water dishes). So far I am very happy with it.

Thank you!! I will look into Pet Focus. I have heard many good things about it, and have used basic vinegar up until now to clean the cage portion of things.

By recommendation by my avian vet I pull all dishes and water tubes and soak 15 minutes in a bleach and water solution, rinse well set out to dry. I use a clean supply of backup dishes and water tubes while the others dry.

suninthewinter wrote:Thank you!! I will look into Pet Focus. I have heard many good things about it, and have used basic vinegar up until now to clean the cage portion of things.

I order from http://www.ladygouldian.com
I bought the spray bottle the first time around, but I will get the concentrated form in the gallon jug next time, and just refill my sprayer!

Thank you! I may invest in a second set of bowls and do that, as well. For changing the water dish on a daily basis, I have been reading on http://www.cockatielcottage.net/disinfecting.html and several other websites that say mild, soapy water for this daily usage purpose... However, never specify the type of soap they're using. I might try Seventh Generation's dish detergents for every day use. I have read the ingredients, and they don't contain anything toxic to birds.

Don't go nuts...hot soapy water and rinse well.Manufacturers will tell you anything to sell their products.

Jus a word of caution...do not mix some dish detergents or vinegar with bleach....the fumes can be overpowering.

Definitely will avoid that. Triclosan is in a lot of soaps (especially ones that are antibacterial), even dish detergents (noticed it in a bottle of Dawn), and it IS toxic to birds, not to mention some of the negative side effects on humans... I wanted a more natural (and nontoxic!) approach to disinfecting their bowls and since they take baths in their water bowls several times a day, I am cleaning their bowls often. I picked up a natural detergent without Triclosan and plan to use that instead, with vinegar as a regular disinfectant.

Thank you for all your help!!

poohbear wrote:Don't go nuts...hot soapy water and rinse well.Manufacturers will tell you anything to sell their products.

Agreed! And don't go overboard with the cleaning/sterilizing. If everything is sterile in your environment, your birds won't be able to build up any kind of immunity. Then if you ever sell or give away birds - they will be very suseptible to any and every germ out there. Nature is not sterile.

L in Ontario wrote:

poohbear wrote:Don't go nuts...hot soapy water and rinse well.Manufacturers will tell you anything to sell their products.

Agreed! And don't go overboard with the cleaning/sterilizing. If everything is sterile in your environment, your birds won't be able to build up any kind of immunity. Then if you ever sell or give away birds - they will be very suseptible to any and every germ out there. Nature is not sterile.

A very good point for all to remember

I use virkron-s and soak all dishes over night once every 10 days. They come out sparkling clean in morning.

Rich, Where do you buy the virkon-s?