Tray liner option

[cindy]

Deborah, no basements!!! So sad it is part of living in Florida!!!!

I got it a Roomba vacuum...little disc that vacuums constantly and parks itself in the charger when it needs a battery boost. It would keep the dogs busy chasing it, stick a treat on it and it cleans and excerises the dogs all in one!!!!!

[FeatherHarp]

Oh...yeah...Duh....I forget some people don't have basements....best not to have them...they just fill up with junk anyways! Handy for when tornadoes are rolling about tho!

Say.....I am glad you mentioned the Roomba....I was considering that kind of thing and wondering how it worked for people with birds. Does it get the seeds up pretty well?

I was looking at the IRobot "Dirt Dog" model....the heavy duty one for bigger messes. Just wondering if that would do an even better job of getting the bird dirt and dander.

I can just visualize the dogs chasing the Roomba around going after that doggie treet on top...lol! I once saw on Funniest Home Videos where there was a small parrot riding around one one of those IRobots.....so darn cute!

[L in Ontario]

I currently have a "Hoover Hound" which is always sneaking into the birdroom and comes out (after I yell at him) with a muzzle FULL of seeds! I'll have to get a pic of him the next time I shoo him out (most likely toight).

I also have seed all over the floor from these birds/cages and I pull out the trays about 6" to help catch 'some' of the seed and it does help a little. I have newspaper on top of all the grates and use seedhoppers for every cage as well. The Hoover Hound does a better job!

[CandoAviary]

LOL... I too have a hoover hound. She looks like she has sesame encrusted turds

I have several roombas.... the first was brought as a joke when my husband and I were dating and my floors always had seeds. He asked me....when we get married you promise to vacuum everyday. I said yep and bought him his first Roomba for that Christmas.... while we were still just dating. He married me anyway

The Roombas work great, the dirt dog and other...we have scoobas too. The problem is the batteries will not hold a charge for more than about 6 months. We ordered replacement bateeries...at $65.00 a piece the second set we got maybe 8 months charges out of them. Then more replacements. I know rechargables don't last forever but was hoping for a longer life than what we have experienced.

[cindy]

My littlest cavalier, Zoe always has something hanging out of her mouth, dried grass or coco fiber. I just tell her to give and she drops it...she likes to like up the seed. I think it is funny when one of them have a feather stuck to their nose, they don't even know it is there!!!

I don't know anyone that has the Roomba, tempted a few times to get one though. Hmmm...note to self "add Roomba to my Christmas list"

[L in Ontario]

LOL... I too have a hoover hound. She looks like she has sesame encrusted turds

YES - our ShihTzu too

Oops - off topic

[cindy]

This isn't so off topic, we are talking seed, feathers and nesting material on the floor and how to clean it up...dogs are just trying to do their part in keeping the birdie area clean!!!!!!!

[MLaRue]

Cindy,

Michele with Fairest Finches swears by the Oil Dry that can be bought in the Auto section of Walmart. This could take the place of your kitty litter you tried. I've heard others swear by it too. I use paper because without a skirt on the cage the seed never stays in there anyway...

[cindy]

Thank you Misty. I am going to WalMart tthis weekend and I will check it out. I like the cat litter idea but the dust is a concern, it really was not bad only when I dumped it in the trash. Like JohnBoy said better safe than sorry. I know people with larger hookbills that use it under grates but they are not as flitty as finches and less likely to stir the dust up.

I'm still considering training the dogs to use the vacuum

[MLaRue]

I've never used it because I thought it would create more dust. But the people that do use it or have tried it - always love it... so it must be a good product. It is very cheap too.

[cindy]

I looked it up you can get like 30 lbs for under $10.00. I will check it out. Thank you Misty. This might do the trick.

[FeatherHarp]

Oil Dry sounds like a great product.

But I was wondering....for those of you who use it do you purchase the Fine Granular....Coarse Granular...or Cellulose Granular? I am wondering which type would be the best application.

Here is the link to the 3 kinds I was reading about:
http://www.oildri.net/Granular.html

[cindy]

Maybe the coarse...my thought the bigger the pieces and space between the grandulars the more likely it would be to trap the seeds and delightful little gooey stuff they drop!!!!!!

[Sally]

I used the Oil-dri product that is sold by Wal-mart, I believe it is probably the coarse. I was using it in trays of cages. One problem is that with plastic trays, this product is quite heavy, so it had a tendency to bow some of the larger trays (32x21). I solved this by sliding small blocks of wood under the middle of the tray for additional support.

I stopped using the product, as I felt there might be some problems with it. I do not have a good sense of smell, but when a friend stopped by, she was immediately aware of not only an odor, but the driness of the air in the room. As she pointed out, the product is designed to absorb moisture, and it seemed like it was taking too much humidity out of the air.

I would love to find a product that would work without grates in a cage and that would not be too expensive. I have emailed Oil-dri about the cellulose product they now have. Of course, none of these companies will endorse a use for which their product is not designed; I just want to find out where I can buy it, and I can try it for myself.

I would also love to hear if anyone has found anything else that might work. I know some have used walnut bedding, but it is recommended to be used with a grate between the birds and the bedding. In fact, most of the manufactured beddings for caged birds state that they should be used under a grate. Since I take all the grates out of my cages, this presents a problem. I like for my birds to be able to forage on the bottom of the cages (plus I hate cleaning grates!), and I love the fact that my cages do not have grates. Some of my cages (the HQ flights), have fairly shallow trays, so there is a problem with using bedding that might blow or fall out, making a mess on the floor. Some of my cages have quite deep (3-4") metal trays, so bedding will stay in the cage.

I tried coconut chips, which seemed to work--they stayed in place better than most beddings. However, I have yet to find an economical source for them. Corn cob is out because of the mold problem. Aspen shavings are about the best I can come up with right now, and they will only stay in place in the deep trays. So I'm back to newspaper, which is free but has to be changed out more frequently than other bedding.

[MLaRue]

This is directly from Michele at Fairest Finches:

Course granular. And, I don't pour it out of the bag. I open the bag and lay it on the floor, then slowly lift the bottom of the bag while wiggling the top part from side to side. This keeps any dust going into the air to an absolute minimum.