FINCHforum

Hello fellow bird enthusiasts, its me Nick again. I have had one answer in a different post but wanted to put it up in a more appropriate area. I was wondering what kind of substrates everyone uses in their bird cages. I personally am using cleanable, pre-washed play-sand that I bought at a local hardware store. I wanted to know what everyone else uses? I hope everyone that sees this post will please leave a comment of what you use.

And if anyone would like me to buy them some o the good sand down here that is cheap please private message me for more details. Down here the sand only cost like 2.54 for a 5 -15 lbs. bag plus tax. Please comment and feel free to PM me.

I also use sand in my flight; it's cheap and easy to clean if you use a sifter. The main concern is mildew, but this can be prevented by spreading wet sand across the top to dry and removing any organic material. If anything starts stinking, vinegar should clear it up.

Icearstorm
cool. so I see i'm not the only one to use sand.

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so what does everyone else use?

I use sand for my aviary floors- mixed with seed and seed husks.

Flight Feathers
alright. so a lot of use sand. guess it is the preferred substrate.

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so does anyone else use something different? i not or if so just post what you do use or prefer to use.

For my quail, I use sand. For the finches, I previously used newspaper pellets, but have recently taken to using shredded junk mail. I wouldn't want to use sand in my finch cage (Prevue F040) as I feel it would be too heavy and the tray would be likely to just fall out.

Celeris
alright. cool. I decided to use sand because it is cheap and easy to clean. My type of cages means that no matter how much weight is in the bottom it shouldn't fall off because my plastic bottom is surrounded by a metal "cage".

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How about everyone else?

For breeding waxbills, I use hay (coastal or timothy) in the bottom of the cages. The birds use it for nesting material. Then, since waxbills are so prone to tossing babies, it provides a soft landing for the babies. One down side is that the babies often slip right through the hay and are then hidden. By the time I find them, sometimes it is too late.

alright. that can be bad.

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How about everyone else?

I just use junk mail grocery flyers. I only have 3 birds at present in 2 cages though - 1 lonely Bengalese finch and 2 parakeets.

FinchLover&Breeder wrote: Flight Feathers
alright. so a lot of use sand. guess it is the preferred substrate.

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so does anyone else use something different? i not or if so just post what you do use or prefer to use.

To be honest there's a whole lot more seed than there is sand.

Was thinking of wood shavings or sand to replace the bounty tissue paper I use now. Only concern with sand was the weight on the plastic tray. Has anyone used wood shavings ?

swethakyadav Pine or cedar shavings aren't good for birds, but aspen shavings would be fine.

I use contractors brown paper I get at Lowes or Home Depot. I cut it into strips about 7 inches wide and put under perches on top of the grate. The grate is not removable, but I wish it was. They are in cages not an aviary. Then there is a foraging dish which is a reptile feeding dish with lava rock and seeds in it. There are also some small stones on the outside of the dish. They have oat spray in there too along with an herb dish and a mineral dish. It's getting hard to get good paper though. Some of the rolls have a chemical odor, so I don't buy them. Sand or aspen shavings would be good if you don't have a grate. My cages are the 30 X 18 X 18.

I use newspaper since I only keep two finches and I don't have room for an aviary either. I have to clean it out on a weekly basis. Are seed husks easier to clean out because I have lots.