FINCHforum

I am constructing my double decker indoor aviary. I have a couple of gimpy birds, one of which cannot perch at all. I am soliciting ideas on what to use for flooring for ease of cleaning and comfort for the birds.

Right now the gimpy birds are in a large cage which is inside a large bin and I have playground sand for the flooring. They were thrilled when I first did that b/c I think they had kind of a hard life before I got them. The sand is kind of messy though.

I have primed the plywood base of the two aviaries and applied a solid piece of vinyl flooring, so one option is to not have any additional covering. All ideas welcome! And yes I will post pictures when it's done.

My indoor walk-in flights had vinyl flooring and that worked out great though it might be too slippery for a bird to live on. I've also used sand and kitty litter, the sand would definitely be softer then the kitty litter.
Can't wait for pictures

Mine are cement that has been painted..... Is this a walk in or a large cage?

The aviary going to be two large cages, it sits on top of a large cabinet base for convenient storage and I put casters on it so I can roll it around. Hence, the height of the whole thing was limited to be able to fit through the doorways. Each flight is going to be 5 feet long by about 22 inches high to allow for UV full spectrum lights etc. I decided to make two separate flights basically b/c I have some males that need to be separated and I figured it's a good idea when you want to separate males/females etc. Plus I wanted to put the ground dwelling birds high enough to not torment my dogs ALL the time.

I have a walk-in aviary with button quail on the floor, and I use Fibercore paper bedding. http://www.fibercorellc.com/eco-bedding.cfm I also use it in the cage for my old budgie. She's about 11 and can't fly and perch well anymore so she is in a "retirement home" within the aviary. She spends all day on the bedding, same as the quail.

Ursula, how do you like those Button Quail? Did you buy them to keep the flooring clean? I saw them at the last bird show in Norcross.

I actually have two button quail outside also.. I will bring them in with the other once the indoor flights are built. I actually really like the button quail, although i'm starting to believe they will reproduce like societies! They're calls are so cute. Both the males and females will call to each other.

When someone figures out the optimum flooring (non-slippery, easy cleaning, highly durable) they have a chance to get rich beyond their wildest dreams. Think about all the stores/restaurants we visit and how slippery some of these are...

smooth/bumpy/non-slippery... hmmmm

Toddmin wrote: Ursula, how do you like those Button Quail? Did you buy them to keep the flooring clean? I saw them at the last bird show in Norcross.

i love the buttons! I like their crowing (some people say that's annoying). I couldn't imagine my aviary without them. No, I didn't get them for "cleanup". They have their own food, they need high protein gamebird crumbles. They do eat some finch seed and greens/veggies too, so they share that with the finches.

Anyone have a recommendation for good flooring for the indoor aviary?

I will be getting mine built next week, and I dont want to use wood shavings.
Currently I have wood shavings for the button quail, but I cant stand the smell of wood shavings.

Reminds me too much of rabbit, guinea pig, and hampter cages. I dont want that to be what I smell when I am in the house.

So looking for something that has no smell, and soft for the buttons to walk on. And doesnt cost an arm and a leg to buy.

I use "Fibercore Eco bedding". It's great for the button quail and not as dusty as wood shavings. I used to use aspen shavings and had the dust everywhere.

Here's a picture: https://picasaweb.google.com/udmoran/Av ... 3706678306

Here's a link to the bedding: http://www.fibercorellc.com/eco-bedding.cfm