Whats your toy/perch cleaning regimen?

ShaunaR

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Jun 5, 2014
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Alberta, Canada
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Pixie the White Bellied Caique
Hi All,
I was wondering how you all clean new toys and existing dirty toys. I have found some new toys are very dusty and have an excessive amount of dye. Do you have a regime you follow? What if anything do you use for soap? Is Dawn dish washing soap really safe for birds?
Thanks ahead,
Shauna
 

Hawk

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Dec 5, 2014
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5 Parrots, 8 year old Blue-fronted Amazon, 2 1/2 yr. old African Grey, 2 3/4 year old Senegal. 5 month old ekkie, 5 month old Albino parakeet. Major Mitchell Cockatoo, passed away at age 68.
Hi All,
I was wondering how you all clean new toys and existing dirty toys. I have found some new toys are very dusty and have an excessive amount of dye. Do you have a regime you follow? What if anything do you use for soap? Is Dawn dish washing soap really safe for birds?
Thanks ahead,
Shauna

A jack hammer, muriatic acid, sand blaster, nuclear zap, a few whacks up against a tree, ought to do the trick, if all else fail...throw in front of a bus.

Just kiddin', very warm water and tide I use. with a scrub pad...then throw them into a clear water rinse.
 

Giggleagain

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Jul 5, 2014
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All my rescues: Pepita, Rocky and Eva, my Quaker Parrots Clover and Sweet Pea, YNA Willie Buttons, and TAG Coca.
Dawn, warm water, stiff scrub. Rinse twice or more. On pooped on things I use Poop-Off. It works wonders and is completely safe (or so they say and I hope it's true!).
All of the more unusual methods described by Hawk work also :)
 

OOwl

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Oct 12, 2010
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Rosebreasted Cockatoo, Congo Grey, MRH Amazon, Lovebird
On perches, I use a tool that's used for scraping wood molding. It has a bit of a sharpish edge on it and cleans dried poop off better than anything I've ever had. It's a bit difficult to find the correct tool for that. Big Box hardware stores are pretty clueless. I bought mine years ago and it got misplaced so I tried to buy a new one without success. The one that LOOKED right, didn't have the sharp edge it needed so was worthless. Fortunately, I found my original one, but I did manage to locate it on Amazon, where it's called a shavehook tool. Best thing for perches EVER! Every parrot owner needs this tool!

Toys, I wash in Ivory dish soap and hot water, dunk in a vinegar/water rinse, rinse well in hot water, dry, and then rotate back to cages when dry.

If I can run a toy in the dishwasher, sans detergent, I do. I learned to wash their boings in there (stainless wire is important in those things so get the good ones because they don't rust). Plastic toys do well in there, including all their puzzles and foraging toys made of tough acrylic. Really gets that Grey and Cockatoo dust off of them and makes them sparkle like new. I even run the DW with the heat dry, which gets all those nooks and crannies nice and dry.
 

ZephyrFly

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Sep 21, 2014
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UK
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Pazu - Green Cheek Conure - Hatch Date ~27 September 2014~
For new toys fresh out of the box, I give them a spray (and chance to dry) with some f10 disinfectant I have (vet grade).... I maybe need a refill soon.
For older toys I use a few things. If plastic then I give it a wipe with the dish cloth then a spray of disinfectant (and dry); If wooden then it'll get a periodic wipe with a cloth that has some soapy water or poop-off spray on it, OR I take it to the bath and spray it with the shower and Poop-off (actually called clean'n'safe but it's for removing poop from things like carpet, it's safely pink and has stained one of our arm chairs but great on carpet and wooden toys/perches), I leave it for a bit then wipe it down and rinse it off then off to dry (with a spray on disinfectant when it's nearly dry). I've got a couple of calcium perches and they just end up with dry food on them so they get brushed off with a dish brush (I brought one just for his cage as they are cheap) that's been sprayed with some disinfectant..... No wonder I need a refill.
I don't do this all in one take as my bird ends up with me the entire time. And certain toys don't need cleaning very often.

Note: I'll be replacing one of his calcium perches with a polly cement perch soon, so he still has a rough perch for his nails and beak but not so much calcium.
As for rope and wood toys, I soak them in some bleachy water when they get pooped on too much, rinse and scub. I have a wooden rope toy thats really brightly coloured, so much that the first time he pooped on it I thought he had blood in his poop but I realised that the dye came out (he pooped on a red bit). The bleach water may seem extreme but it took out alot of the dye, the toy is still bright but not like it was and the colour doesn't run anymore so I'm happier with it. Obviously (by now) I sprayed some disinfectant on it while it was drying.
 

AmyMyBlueFront

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Apr 14, 2015
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Amy a Blue Front 'Zon
Jonesy a Goffins 'Too who had to be rehomed :-(

And a Normal Grey Cockatiel named BB who came home with me on 5/20/2016.
For wooden perches I have always used Dawn <25+ yrs> with no ill effect. I use one of those green curly plastic scrubby thingies and warm water,wash thoroughly and rinse and wipe down a couple times.
At times I have used a piece of course sand paper to scruff the perch just a bit for better footing for the darlings.

I have a couple of those...what cha call 'em? perches NOT made out of wood! lol and just wash with Dawn and warm water.

For plastic toys,like those different colored interloopy things Hot water and dawn. When it comes to rope things,like swings,if they are pooped on I soak them in hot water till the ca-ca can be wiped clean off and cook 'em in the stove! Yep,you read right..in the stove..dries them real good and kills any bacteria that might have formed. If they are soiled too much,in the trash they go!

Jim
 

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