Macaw Poops off Side of Metal Seed Catcher

Hi there,

I am having a problem with my Macaw pooping off the side of the seed catcher, defeating the purpose of catching seed and poop. Is there anything I can do to the seed catcher to prevent him from standing on it. He even does the big morning poop off the side of that just to spite me.

We have mounted his cage to the wall and only are using 2 panels of the seed catcher. I just do not know what to do to keep him off of those.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thank you.

Alex

Put a drop cloth under the cage so it doesn't matter. Sheet of plastic or cardboard box flattened etc.

Hi there Alex, and welcome to the forums.

I guarantee you, your bird doesn't poop to spite you. If he's gotta go, he's gotta go. And if he decides he likes to poop right then and there...for whatever reason that may be, he WILL go there.

I've got 2 enormous Java trees, and 9 out of 10 poops end up on my kitchen floor. Why? Because my fids decide to climb on over to the most outer perch, push their bottoms backwards and squat while 'letting lose'. :54:

You can add to the drama of the event by having dogs. Yuck!!! They wait for it and run over to 'clean it up' as you run for a paper towel.

My Gilbert tries not to poop on me and he will sometimes say 'go poop' and give me time to get him somewhere appropriate, but other times, he does that 'butt extension' and it lands on my foot. LOL

I used to keep a small machine washable rug in front of the cage and pop it in the wash every few days but now I have wood floor and just wipe it if he misses.

I hate the seed guards. I took them off my cages. They are way harder to clean than the floor to me. I toss rag rugs around the cage and just wash em when they get too gross.

Mimsy01 said:

I hate the seed guards. I took them off my cages. They are way harder to clean than the floor to me. I toss rag rugs around the cage and just wash em when they get too gross.

Click to expand...

I am about to do the same thing. I swore by the guards but that was back when it was NEW LOL

I find seed guards to be a major PITA and use a easy-to-clean slab under Kiwi's cage (he likes to poop off the side too):



It's just a piece of plywood cut to about 6" wider (each side) than his cage. I glued down a piece of scrap linoleum on top. Easy to clean, protects the floor and keeps the cage from sinking into the carpet/food getting caught under the wheels. Cost under $40 to make.

Thanks Kiwibird for the photo. That's a very nice idea. I think we can handle making that.

My Pritti used to poop off side of the metal seed guards when he had a cage with them.
For Cody-Blu's cage without the seed guards, I use colorful placemats that are easy to wipe off, rinse in sink or hose down outside. I bought 8 of them, each being 2-sided with a different design on front and back. That's enough to lay down all around the cage if I want.

I originally did the old paper trick under the cage, but it caused such a mess which is why I bought a new cage that I mounted to the wall. I have just a wooden floor underneath but have not been able to stand the mess of poop and seed.

I have attached a picture of what it looks like without the seed guard and a few other toys and perches I have yet to put on. I attached two panels of the seed guard hoping he would not want to climb on it and poop off the side. Just imagine the seed guard is attached to the very bottom of the cage in the picture. Does anyone have any creative ideas of how to keep him off of it?

Something birds don't like to step on maybe? I thought we out smarted him. But he got us again!

Any ideas welcome!

Alex

awayne said:

Something birds don't like to step on maybe?
Alex

Click to expand...

Alex,
Just a thought -- vet tape or maybe those sand covers that slide over perches (they can be cut lengthwise and "clipped" on the edges. I had a bird that didn't like to step on either of those two textures.
K

I ended up tossing a couple of the office chair mats under mac's play stand. I've found the seed skirt to be rather ineffective, and a bigger pain to clean.

Why not hang something underneath the stand just out of reach to catch the poop? Since he's not actually in a cage (not that it's a bad thing) I think you may be fighting a loosing battle. Ever since I stopped closing my birds cage door during the day, he's taken to ONLY pooping outside his cage. The only time he poops inside is at night when he's covered, otherwise he goes off the top. I don't think he likes pooping in his home unless he has to (seems to be a common trait in birds, my moms "free all day" amazons do the same thing). I will say, while the slab under his cage catches the poop and a lot of the food, some of the food (especially when he gets some seed) still gets on the floor. They are messy beasts, unfortunately I have found daily vacuuming the only *truly* effective "weapon" against the mess. That and using a plastic paint scraper every morning (before I let him out for the day) to scrape up the dried poop to vacuum up. I will say, I find a flat linoleum surface MUCH easier to clean than powder coat, angled seed guards.

Something *similar* to this (out of reach), made of an easy to clean material like heavy-guage vinyl under the stand may help catching some of the mess if you REALLY want to keep it of the floor:



If you rig it right, you can take it down every day, shake off outside and clean before re-hanging (though seeing as he has no cage, he may take the opportunity while your cleaning to poop, but it would catch the majority).

Like others, I find seed guards to be a nuisance and one more surface to clean. My solution is to use sheets of painters plastic cut from a large roll. Thinner gage plastic is used below the elevated flight cages as they aren't walked on. The "bird room" tile floor is totally covered with a thick "base layer" that is changed about once per month. A medium second layer is placed below each cage, the playpens, and other areas they frequent, and is swept daily and changed weekly. Each cage has paper linings in the pan below the grate. The plastic is hung vertically outside from an upstairs balcony for at least 24 hours to out-gas. It's a lot of work, but they have free access anywhere in the room.