FINCHforum

I bought the seed hopper that was recommended on here.. they are wonderful. I bought 3 initially, and just ordered 4 more. The birds were lined up waiting to feed.. Now, can someone tell me what I could use to cut down on the 'water splash' for bathing? The Societys and Euros seem to be the 'splashiest'. The inside of the cage and the bottom is literally soaked when they're done. Maybe the person working on a better mousetrap could divert his attention for a while and work on a splashless birdbath. I use a frisbee. They love it, but there has to be a better product. I put a canary bath inside on the floor, the kind that hangs on the side of the cage, hoping this would help. Anyone have any ideas or can you share what you use?

I have tried so many things. I have had the enclosure bird bath inside the cage, outside the cage, hanging on the cage. I have had open and closed and semi open blah blah blah. At the end of the day, they WANNA SPLISH SPLASH! I just let them have their fun and I put up a piece of plastic drop cloth around all of my cages. It also helps control seed husks QUITE a bit.

I hear ya, Finch fry. Someone suggested the plastic from Walmart that you buy in the fabric section. Guess I'll get some of that stuff. It won't help the water splatter, though, but at least it will keep it INSIDE the cage. All birds must be the same. Mine go bonkers as soon as they see the frisbee coming. They get their bath while I get their greens, etc. ready. Then they forage and hop and twitter in the morning sunshine. Makes me feel like they're happy... and it makes ME happy. Simple pleasures.

You can also go to a home improvement store (lowes, home depot, menards, ace hardware, to name a few) and ask an employee to show you to the drop cloth section. Buy a bulk roll of 4 or 6 mil plastic drop cloth. Also get some zip ties and you are all set.

Ok this is a bit odd but why not use a shower curtain liner. Most stores carry the clear plastic ones. But before using it, wash it in the washer with a little detergent and baking soda and air dry (I dry it on on the pool deck in the sun). When you open the package it smells "plasticy".

I had stack cages with parrotlets, messy little guys. They got my wall in the bird room so messy. After removing them from the room, I cleaned and repainted the wall. Before putting them back I lined the wall (behind and on the sides the cage would be with the liner. Easier wiping that down than cleaning and re painting a wall. Cheap to..about $2 to $3.00.

Not odd, its all different methods to the same goal. Plastic = stop water and seed husk control.

Cheaper and clever is always nice. I didn't go with a shower curtain because they are always made to be not clear so you cant see inside the shower, although if I cared to look harder, I could probably find them crystal clear too. The plastic drop cloth maybe be too much in volume, but its crystal clear so I don't lose 25% of the visibility of my cage/birds.

Chris do you have a Target nearby..that have clear. Love Target!!!!

You CANNOT stop them from splashing.
I used to have a bath bowl in the cage, but they would splash water all over the cage and whatever was within 4 or 5 feet of the cage.
Now I use an outside hanging bath. The only opening faces back into the cage. That limits the water they can splash to what they can splash out the opening and keeps the water off the floor.
I have the PlennPlax bath in the pix. Do NOT get this one. There is a design defect where water that is splashed onto the clear top half when it drains down, will leak out and drip onto the floor. I fixed mine by putting a drip sill of epoxy along the bottom of the clear top half. That much epoxy for 4 baths was not cheap.
Unfortunately I was not pleased with the other baths that I did see at the pet shops either.

As for the cage, 3 of mine are made of coroplast and the back of the cage is coroplast, so the water stays in the cage. The other cage has a sheet of Home Depot plastic sheeting on the 2 sides and back, which keeps the water and poop in the cage.

ac12 wrote: As for the cage, 3 of mine are made of coroplast and the back of the cage is coroplast, so the water stays in the cage. The other cage has a sheet of Home Depot plastic sheeting on the 2 sides and back, which keeps the water and poop in the cage.

Would be interested to see a picture if you dont mind

cindy wrote:Ok this is a bit odd but why not use a shower curtain liner. Most stores carry the clear plastic ones. But before using it, wash it in the washer with a little detergent and baking soda and air dry (I dry it on on the pool deck in the sun). When you open the package it smells "plasticy".

I had stack cages with parrotlets, messy little guys. They got my wall in the bird room so messy. After removing them from the room, I cleaned and repainted the wall. Before putting them back I lined the wall (behind and on the sides the cage would be with the liner. Easier wiping that down than cleaning and re painting a wall. Cheap to..about $2 to $3.00.

I did the same thing when I had my budgies in a cage. Worked great! And you almost don't see it...

I used that same bird bath and it does leak all over. The birds seem to be afraid to go into it, also. I was thinking about a tupperware round layer-cake holder. If I turn it upside-down and rig some sort of wire to hold it onto the cage, the birds would have lots of room to splash and the water would stay inside. I'd cut an opening about 2" up from the bottom for them to enter from the cage. I'm going to go to the thrift store and see if they have a used one. The new ones are too expensive for me to even own, let alone experiment with... Hope it works, I'll let you know. The can splash to their hearts content. All the other suggestions about the plastic and the plastic shower curtain are great too. I'll definately be purchasing those. Thanks

If you have room in the cage, you can put a plastic jug with one end cut open. That will keep the water in. The only problem is you need to have a large door and a cage large enough for the jug, which mine are not.

FinchFry
What did you want a pix of?

ac12 wrote:FinchFry
What did you want a pix of?

The coroplast cages to see the design of how they contain the water. No biggie if you cant. I am building an aviary and am always learning while I build.

FF
OK the coroplast cage is 1 piece of coroplast w 2 bends for the top, back and bottom. Then I make a tray out of coroplast or corrugated cardboard lined w plastic.
The bath is on the cage front, opening into the cage.
When the splash the water goes into the cage
- the coroplast back prevents the water from going out the back
- the water they splash into the cage is soaked into the newspaper in the tray

let me see if I can find the thread on the coroplast cage

ac12, those are both very ingenius ideas. I'm going to try the milk carton thing, I think it will be the answer. I do have very large doors so it would fit. Also, the coroplast for the cages is good thinking.
I always manage to go through Oregon to get to Georgia from Virginia in my way-around ideas

Thanks