cage cleaning

[zebsoc]

I find that I need to clean my bird cage just as much with a large cage and 3 society finches
As with 6 finches
Or a small cage

The society love their double wide cage
But paper goes much faster than a small cage
Plus due to health my hope had been less often to clean
But instead same cleaning needed and More cage and Nooks and corners, much harder to reach

Ideas for reduced cleaning without smelly birds if don't clean daily
Esp with weather starting to warm.

I do need to go back to using air purifiers now weather warmer.
Last summer when I had 6 finches and new purifiers they didn't smell.
But by end of summer the purifiers were actually making the smell Worse even after cleaning still smelled.
Expensive if have to change filters monthly. And not sure if purifiers will retain smell to some degree anyway.

Any tools used to help reach
And for all the tight corners etc?
Anyone tr y a steam cleaner? - my cage is double wide with divider so I can block them from 1 side while I clean

Any products have found most helpful with birdie smell reducing?
I like poop off. But have to wipe it on thoroughly everywhere. Anything in spray on?

[zebsoc]

Cage picture

[Dave]

For spray cleaning, I've used Dawn mixed with water--1 part Dawn and 3 parts water. Spray, wait a minute, wipe off. I don't rinse. I've done this for years. Mostly because it is inexpensive, and it works.

[Nerine]

I just use straight vinegar to clean everything-works well!

A steamer is excellent for disinfecting hard to reach places. If I would've known I could've used one on cages, I wouldn't have gotten rid of mine last fall I just found out about this a couple weeks ago.

[lem2bert]

zebsoc

I use very small hand brushes and dustpans that you can buy at the dollar store for brushing off anything dry, then a wet toothbrush works very well for corners and racks and bars. I wipe off any poop on branches every day so it does not build up can use toothbrush for that also, not too wet, sometimes a damp paper towel is all that is needed. I don't have any smell coming from any of my birds' cages.
Hope this helps.
@Dave
I like the idea of the dawn and am going to try that. Right now I use a product called Pet Focus, but it is expensive, and I always have dawn handy.

[Sojourner]

I don't use spray bottles around my birds because I worry that the fine particles may cause breathing problems. I wipe the cage down once in awhile, I use a damp toothbrush to clean crevices, and I have a "perch cleaner" that has fine wire bristles to brush dried poop off perches, then follow up with the damp toothbrush.

I TRY to change the paper daily but sometimes it goes 2 or 3 days. Since I give them baths at least 2 or 3 times a week, sometimes more often, the paper gets wet on the one side but there is never any smell. However for whatever reason they poop more on the other side of the cage. Weird. No idea why they do that - there is more room to perch on the "clean" side.

I use a roll of brown paper I buy at Home Depot for the finch cages. It sits on the shelf above where the finch cage is and I pull it out to the right length and rip it off along the edge of the shelf for a nice clean edge.

I use grocery ads for the other cage because they fit that cage almost perfectly. I do tape the paper in a couple places where it overlaps so it doesn't slide around. I do NOT use wire bottoms in any of my cages, which fortunately works out well since they have good quality litter pans in the bottom. Not having to clean both the wire bottoms AND the pans does make cleaning easier for me.

My finches are in the Prevue F070/F075 (whichever DOESN'T have the stand) which has a divider. So I can chase the birds into one side, put in the divider, and clean the other side without worrying about them getting out while I have the pan out. Then I just do the other side the same way - pull the divider part way out, encourage them into the now-clean side, put it back in and clean the other side.

With the Budgies there is no cage divider so I just block the opening when I pull out the tray. I plan to get an extra tray for that so I can just pull out the dirty one and put a clean one right back in.

I also use a crumb tray and crumb brush to sweep away dry seed hulls etc. And the finches cage sits in a ginormous plant tray which catches 95% of seed hulls and feathers and whatnot that might otherwise end up on the floor. I pull that out and dump it once in awhile.

[lovezebs]

Sojourner

What kind of a plant tray do you use? Do you happen to have a picture?

I'm always looking for solutions to cut back on the seed/feather mess.

[zebsoc]

Thank you Everyone for the Great ideas.
Will definitely be trying out to see what works easiest for me.

I usually use Ivory for washing dishes.
Is Dawn safer for birds?

I used to use a Mild antibaterial soap that really made the cage smell good.
But I can't find it any more and the antibaterial soaps tend to have too strong a perfume. I figure if not good for my allergies not safe for the birds respiratory system.
Anyone know of a mild brand in Lavendar scent?

[Sojourner]

lovezebs

I get them from the Greenhouse Mega store:

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/prod ... ys-inserts

They have a bunch of different sizes in that brand. I believe they are made in the UK. They are VERY sturdy. My Prevue F070/F075 (without the stand) fits in there perfectly and the tray fits perfectly on the 4x2 shelving unit I got from the Webstaurant store - keeping in mind that the 4x2 measurement doesn't give you the full use of the shelf because some of that is taken up by the 1" diameter posts, so you lose an inch square at each corner. So the fact that the tray is just slightly smaller than 4x2 means it WILL fit on the shelf.

[ann]

I love those little air purifiers, but the filters are expensive and very hard to find. I bought a huge 2-layer furnace filter, that is supposed to keep the air fresh and clean. I used an old filter as a pattern and cut out about 15 filters for my little purifiers from it. They work great and the price is right.

[zebsoc]

ann
Could u provide a link or a name or picture

The air purifiers I got were supposed to have permanent filters but the reality is that they pick up smells and cleaning doesn't always work, esp with things like pet odors.
Would love to use ur low cost idea for replacing the filters on mine.

[ann]

I bought the filter a long time ago. It was for a furnace, and I seem to remember it being really big, like 28 inches by 22 inches. I remember it cost about $16, but those little filters for my purifier are at least $3 each, so this is very cost effective. And it really works, I think just as well as the ones for the purifier. I wish I could remember the name. It is in two layers, a regular filter layer and a charcoal layer. Even with changing it every month or so, I have lots of them left. Sometimes if I want the room to smell extra nice I will cut a strip of a fabric softener sheet and put it between the outside layer and the cover.

[zebsoc]

ann - thank you for the info and picture on the filters very helpful.
Great idea, hadn't thought about the fabric softener.
My birds r in the livingroom and some people don't like any bird smell which is esp hard to completely eliminate in the hot summer.

[zebsoc]

ann - I forgot to ask, what is the name of ur purifier?

[Sojourner]

zebsoc - is there no way you can get a window AC unit? You can get a small one for just a bit over $100 from Home Despot. It probably won't cool your entire apartment but at least it ought to keep things way cooler than 108F!!!

I hate to think of what you and your birds have to go through without it. You can put a stick in the window frame if you're on the ground floor to keep anyone from opening the window from the outside.