Are gccs messy?

[Tjmcnee]

Hi, soon I might be getting a gcc (green cheek conure) but I’m wondering if, are green cheek conures messy? Cause I’m going to keep it inside the house unlike my budgies which have their cage outside most of the time. I’ll be moving the cage regularly, usally from my room to the lounge room or the play room, keeping the bird in my room while studying or on my computer. But I don’t want to get my room messy! What should I do? Should I put a tray outside the cage? Thanks!

 

[LordTriggs]

any cage suitable for a conure should have the potential for a seed guard. Mess wise it's a bit odd. Some are the tidiest things on the planet, others like to get in their food bowl and throw their food all over the place. I found the biggest mess made when I had mine was through me using wood chips for the base, every time I cleared it out I would spill half of the chips on the floor but it took about 5 minutes to clean up.

 

[adz1984]

All birds are messy and high maintenance in my opinion and seedguards do not do much for me.
There is a couple things you can buy to make life easier like seedmate and a plastic mat for under the cage.

 

[LordTriggs]

good point by adz. Birds all create a mess, it's a fact. You can mitigate it but you'll find feathers, food and of course poop no matter what. f you have a carpeted floor in the bird's main room then a plastic sheet under the cage is a must! just to save your own sanity and the carpet. But I would get used to the concept of bird poo pretty quickly, seems to be the biggest turn off though I find it no issue. Probably something to do with having to pick up the poo of a 51KG dog!

 

[FlyBirdiesFly]

I have found that my GCC is much more messy than my budgies and cockatiel, because his poop is bigger and more liquid, and he eats fruit which gets on the walls and the floor. You will have to clean up feathers, splattered food, poop, and shredded toy material. A lot of the mess gets on the floor!

 

[asagiyuu]

Even with a seed guard Hana is a MESSY eater. I pretty much change out the newspaper once or twice a week and I try to spot clean because I can still find bits of pellets all over the place. But considering I deep clean every friday it's not really that bad

 

[T00tsyd]

Syd varies day to day. I have just given him a much bigger cage and this seems better for scattered food etc. My last cage was lower to the ground than this one and I mostly solved the problem with some small gauge (1/2") plastic mesh about 8 inches wide pegged with clothes pegs right around the bottom part of the bars.

So far this cage performs better. The worst time was when he first moved in and didn't appreciate the in house menu. He threw most stuff out - nothing would have stopped that except encasing the whole cage in plastic.

Poop on carpet is simply wiped up with wet wipes. Best thing I have found. Otherwise a wet cloth is always to hand for hard floors. It's easier to clear when fresh. Once dry it's a scrape job!

 

[dhraiden]

Seed guards (those stretchable mesh coverings), daily use of a portable dust-buster, and one of these food corrals go a long way to keeping an area tidy.

Our fids only eat inside their cages, within one of those corrals. It has really cut down significantly the number of hulls and shells and food bits that end scattered everywhere - but they still somehow manage to make a small mess, impressively.

When they're out, the most you should have to tend to is wiping up droppings. Use disposable, compost-able wipes or an old rage that you wash regularly for that purpose.

Triggs' advice on getting a plastic mat (like the kind office chairs can easily swivel about on) if the floor beneath the cages is carpeted is excellent - cleaning is much easier since we did so.

 

[IndySE]

I've had both parakeets and conures. Conure's poops are messier (budgies are very small and you can usually flick off; conures are much wetter generally, but no unbearable). But otherwise I've found the conure cleaner. I'm not sure if it's because I clean better, but somehow parakeets are really good at flinging seeds and feathers everywhere ? It seems like there's a lot less fluff and projected seed with Kermit. The only time Kermit is super messy is when I give her berries, because she likes to fling her food as she eats.

 

[syakti]

Both my gcc and budgie are messy, too They love to carry the food to the edge of the cage and then eat right there so that their cage stays clean and all the mess goes down to my floor.

 

[Tjmcnee]

Ok, Thanks for the help everyone I do have a caroet in middle of my room, but that gets messy anyways. Also my mum did warn me about feces and feathers coming out the cage with my budgies, but surprisingly my budgies aren’t really messy, they only get seeds and feathers out. But also mum warned me about feces smell infecting my room, but I don’t think I should worry much since my house is super-ventilated! Once again, thanks for the help!

 

[Carl_Power]

Buy a big rug or a mat to go under the cage. I just have a wipe every day and then 2 full cage cleans every week but i dont think i need to really, i have cleaning issues or OCD. It wouldnt be too much work cleaning up after a small Parrot x

 

[reeb]

I think all parrots are messy, it's something any prospective parrot owner must consider. Even with a seed shield, theres a lot of vacuuming, wiping and constant cleaning of cages and play gyms. A small sacrifice to make in my opinion. My mom also used to freak about hygiene. Just clean everyday.

 

[Sunnyclover]

Birds are messy. For instance this morning my baby Nanday Conure, Fin, pooped his morning poop (basically 12 hours of poop from sleeping) off the side of his cage causing it to drop down the whole cage and get into crevasses that a miracle of modern science can't even clean out. So yeah....good morning to me lol

 

[DebraS]

Birds in general are messy. This is the second conure I've owned. Both were and are messy. I'd don't think they are meant to be totally caged birds. Baby spends a lot of time on top of the cage on the play gym,but the floor gets covered with bird poop and bits of news paper, he loves to tear and watch fall to the floor. He also loves to sit on the back of my wheelchair and it gets covered too. Baby is 2. He keeps me entertained and I no longer get depressed. For me the mess is worth the joy he gives.