Amazing cage bottom

[ann]

Today I was shopping at a fancy nursery in Laguna Beach, where they keep beautiful live birds as part of their display/decor. The litter at the bottom of the cages was made up of small twigs and leaves, mostly eucalyptus. It looked really natural and beautiful, and now I am wondering if I could do that with my cages.
And the woman told me in the shop they redo the cage bottom every week or two, I sure like that better than changing the paper every day, which is what I do now.

Has anyone tried this? I would think that I could just cut some branches and let them dry, it's probably not a good idea to pick up what has already fallen on the ground. Has anyone tried this? Do you think it's safe for my birds?

[30 Seconds to Bob]

I used to use natural eucalyptus leaves as nesting material for my lovebirds with no ill effects. It was recommended to me as a breeding trigger for some reason. Bob

[Sally]

I think eucalyptus should be fine. I have used hay in the bottom of cages before, it definitely looks nicer than dirty paper. I found that much of the poop fell through the hay, so it was hidden underneath. I did not clean the cages as often with using hay as I have to using paper.

[MiaCarter]

I'm glad you asked about this as I've been thinking about this too. It does look really nice.

I've used hay and I liked it for the reasons Sally mentioned and I love the smell of Timothy hay too!

My only worry would be the possibility of introducing nasties of some sort. Bugs or bacteria or mites or even just a leaf with some diseased bird poop or something else harmful from outdoors. So I'd pop it into a bag and freeze for 48 hours to kill off anything harmful. That's what I do with my hay. Something I learned volunteering at the shelter.

I currently use floor diapers (puppy pads) for a cage liner and it works nicely. It looks cleaner than newspaper and the feathers tend to stick to it.