First time Cleaning Cardinal Cage: health and safety

Hello everyone,

In the next few days we will be clearning our cardinal Amadeus' cage for the first time.

He lives outdoors and we would like to know how to clean his aviary in the most hygenic way possible.

For instance should we wear something over our mouths to prevent inhaling his sand/dried droppings? Should we keep the paper with dried droppings completely out of the house ot is it ok to wrap everything tightly in a garbage bag and then take it outside.

I am probably being paranoid and that these are basic questions, but we do realise he is a wild bird and we do have a 1.7 year old child.

Thank you,

Samantha

Cleaning up bird poop while it is still wet (moist) is better as one can just roll-up the paper and place the paper into the trash container. Unless you are over-feeding fruit or meat based foods, a healthy birds stool is fairly neutral chemically speaking. So no reason to go hazmat on the clean-up. If you are feeding bugs, the simple roll-up still applies.

The concern with totally dried out stool is that it can powder and lift into the air. A bit is not a problem, in volume it can be dangerous with continued exposure. Don't over think this, as regular cleaning will not get to that point!

Clean-up:

After the paper has been removed and placed in the trash. With a misting bottle of hot water with a product like Dawn Original. Start high by misting the bars and use a bristle brush to clean off food and poop. Note it is not uncommon to need to pre-mist or spray poop that as dried, especially in corners or weld points several times prior to bring out the hot water and Dawn Original soap.

Rise liberally with fresh water (drinking quality).
It is not uncommon to need to spot wash and Rise again.
Using older bath towels dry the cage.

NOTE: You will likely need to remove some if not all perches to allow you easy access. The same process can be used on the perches and near everything else.

Have fun with this!!!

For cage and bird stuff cleanup use this bird safe product. F10 is a veterinary disinfectant or disinfectant/cleaner.

F10SC is a disinfectant only, does not need to be rinsed.
F10SCXD is a disinfectant/detergent which needs to be rinsed off if the bird will touch it.

I use the disinfectant/detergent but I think I'm in the minority, most just use the disinfectant. Because of the dilution ratio, 100ml is plenty and will last you the 2 years shelf life...which by the way if you order of Ebay first ask them the expiration date on their product. If you have Amazon Prime and choose the F10SCXD, just return it if the expiration date is too close.