Used cages?

[Abzeez]

Since my cage budget went down the drain with the "ebay" cage I bought, I have been looking at getting a used cage. The thought kind of scares me. I found a 3 year old Kings cage, going for $200, but the parrot that was in it passed away. So it makes me wonder if I could get it really "clean." If you know what I mean. Anyone have good luck with used cages, and what did you do to make sure it was sanitized before you put your parrot in it?

Thanks.

 

[DallyTsuka]

my tiel's cage and munch's cage are second hand from a retired finch breeder. she had cleaned them but just to be sure, they were scrubbed with water and vinegar and ive had n problems.... and mango is getting a new cage soon... waiting for it to get here! its a second hand cage too from a friend on another forum. she had already disinfected it the same way...

i would ask HOW the other bird died and how old he was...

 

[mtdoramike]

Weeeeeelllllllll, I look at it this way, you have quite an investment there. Both financial and emotional. If you did buy a second hand cage and something happened to one of your babies, how would it make you feel.

But on the other hand, most folks buy NEW cages and then just stick their baby in it not realizing that there are different chimicals that could be on the cage from grease, oils things from the painting process that may not have been cleaned properly. So even a NEW cage, I would thoroughly clean and sterilize before use.

What I have found that works fantastic, is one of those hand held steamers. It only uses plain water, (I use bottled spring water) and go over every inch of the cage with the hot steam. I also use it to clean Tiki's cage once every couple months. I've only done it twice now, but it works great and the heated water should kill most any germs.

 

[Abzeez]

I would love to buy a new cage, BUT that is not really in my budget at the moment. I am going to a bird fair tomorrow, and HOPE that I will find something there. That would be ideal, but if not, I found another used cage that seems to be in good shape, from what I can tell from the pics.

Thanks for the tips!