Bird life hacks

[HowdyDoDee]

What are your creative ideas/repurposed products/tips/tricks for making caring for your feathered friend(s) easy?

Recently discovered ‘silicone crafting mats’ as a surface protector for frequented household perching places. Makes cleaning up easy, and less wasteful of paper products. Also plan to use this to line my gal’s nest box as it’s non-slip and may help prevent splayed baby legs. Heck, I may just keep an eye on good deals on these mats and stock up! They’re awesome! Thin, easy to cut to size as needed, grippy, easy clean- brilliant product with many potential uses for all kinds of creatures!

Any creative life hacks you have discovered that you can’t live without that you’d like to share?

Happy New Year!



Laura

 

[zERo]

Wrapping bowl holders (the ring type) in vet tape so your birds can't throw them out of the rings!

Don't throw away those plastic or glass containers, cheese ball jar? Now a millet jar! Peanut butter pretzel jar? Nope! Nutriberry jar! Make sure to wash them out with soap and hot water first!

Don't throw out those plastic bowls your birds cage came with! Not good for food and water use but perfect as foraging bowls! Fill them with shredded/crinkle paper and various toys parts and your birds fav treat!

All I can think of right now

 

[wrench13]

Got a couple of them

I use office chair mats under Saltys wet food feeding station and one for his cage. Get the smooth surface ones, not the textured ones. Easy to clean

We have a 10 ft length of heavy duty plastic chain going from one side of the room to the other. On it are hanging most of his toys, baskets, etc. He can run along that like its a highway! One end hangs down near his cage , so he can easily get on it when he wants to. Suspended by eyebolts into ceiling joists, very sturdy.

ALso hanging from the ceiling with a metal chain is a circular boing, with his wet food feeding station clamped on. Hanging from that is a 30 inch dia stainless steel food service bowl, which catches 90% of his discarded food. Office floor mat under that. Clean up is easy! I put a stainless steel round bar-b-cue grill in the bowl to keep him out of the discarded foods.

 

[HowdyDoDee]

Nutriberry tubs are great storage containers. I like that they’re stackable with the lid on, or can be nested when empty. They’re also perfect as a mini wash bucket, such as for cage cleaning. Store scrubbies and a little jar of dish soap inside when not in use and you’re good to go for next time!
They can also be recycled in some places.

 

[HowdyDoDee]

Got a couple of them

I use office chair mats under Saltys wet food feeding station and one for his cage. Get the smooth surface ones, not the textured ones. Easy to clean

We have a 10 ft length of heavy duty plastic chain going from one side of the room to the other. On it are hanging most of his toys, baskets, etc. He can run along that like its a highway! One end hangs down near his cage , so he can easily get on it when he wants to. Suspended by eyebolts into ceiling joists, very sturdy.

ALso hanging from the ceiling with a metal chain is a circular boing, with his wet food feeding station clamped on. Hanging from that is a 30 inch dia stainless steel food service bowl, which catches 90% of his discarded food. Office floor mat under that. Clean up is easy! I put a stainless steel round bar-b-cue grill in the bowl to keep him out of the discarded foods.

wow! He’s a lucky boy. That sounds amazing!!!

 

[HeatherG]

The heavy plastic bags that zupreem pellets come in are really good for rough storage—like hauling stuff to the garden. For a couple years the zip-tops didn’t work well, but they’ve been good lately. I rinse the zupreem bags out, dry them, and stash craft supplies (one project per bag) in them. They do really well keeping clay moist, too.

Years ago, Harrison’s pellets came in a cloth bag that made a nice lunch sack.

Quick-links are handy for many things, like locking your backpack closed.

 

[Terry57]

We use shower curtains attached to the wall behind our birds that enjoy trying to splatter their poop on the wall. We use ones from the Dollar store and they are easy to wash and easy to replace once they wear out. I guess I should say if they wear out...ours are still going strong after 7 years
We attach them to the wall with those plastic hooks that stick to the wall, putting them in every other hole on the shower curtain. Easy to take down and put back up
I would lose my mind if Dactyl didn't have a shower curtain, he is a serial pooper shooter who always aims for the wall.

 

[HeatherG]

We use shower curtains attached to the wall behind our birds that enjoy trying to splatter their poop on the wall. We use ones from the Dollar store and they are easy to wash and easy to replace once they wear out. I guess I should say if they wear out...ours are still going strong after 7 years
We attach them to the wall with those plastic hooks that stick to the wall, putting them in every other hole on the shower curtain. Easy to take down and put back up
I would lose my mind if Dactyl didn't have a shower curtain, he is a serial pooper shooter who always aims for the wall.

Quakers poop out of their cages, too, so for a time I wrapped part of Lucy’s cage in a heavy clear vinyl shower curtain. She wasn’t a chewy bird so there was no problem. But she walked around on the solid cage bottom a lot (bad leg) and seemed not to like to “go” in her cage but to mostly poop out.

I have the same clear vinyl cut to fit under Willows cage. He doesn’t walk on the cage bottom, though, so isn’t so determined about pooping “out”. This stuff is cheap so if it won’t wipe clean it can be replaced for a couple dollars.

Then I have little rugs under their drawbridge style cage door so they don’t mess the good carpet.

I go on walks after a storm and look for nice solid branches for cage furniture. They get washed and then baked to kill bugs and germs.

 

[wrench13]

Not really a hack per se, but weighing your parrot regularly is a great indicator of health, as sick parrots absolutely will hide symptoms until its almost too late. But weight cant be hidden so regular weighing will highlight their health. Inexpensive kitchen scales that can weigh out in grams are ideal for this. Coupled with a perch of some kind that the parrot can sit on when being weighed makes this a breeze, We check Saltys weight 2-3 times a week and keep a record of the results.

These scales can run $19 - 40 USD on Amazon. Do not buy from a dedicated parrot or bird or pet shop, as these folks mark up scales significantly, some by as much as 4-5 times the price from other sources.

 

[zERo]

Thought of another one!

Don't know how to clean the softer calcium perches? Just use a knife to scrape the dirty parts off!

 

[HeatherG]

An unused grill brush or putty scraper works well to clean cage grates, bars, and perches.

Also, cut a whole stack of newspaper to fit your bird cage tray and remove a layer or two at a time to make cage cleaning much easier.

If you have a feeezer or fridge space you can buy bulk food and preserve it in the cold until use. It’s cheaper than ordering a two pound bag at a time.

 

[HeatherG]

Dollar store or baby toy aisle for cheap foot toys or hanging chew toys. Heck, baby toys are made to be chewed on!

Dollar store also has cheap pizza pans if you want to make your own t-perch.

 

[Beebee0221]

Got a couple of them

I use office chair mats under Saltys wet food feeding station and one for his cage. Get the smooth surface ones, not the textured ones. Easy to clean

We have a 10 ft length of heavy duty plastic chain going from one side of the room to the other. On it are hanging most of his toys, baskets, etc. He can run along that like its a highway! One end hangs down near his cage , so he can easily get on it when he wants to. Suspended by eyebolts into ceiling joists, very sturdy.

ALso hanging from the ceiling with a metal chain is a circular boing, with his wet food feeding station clamped on. Hanging from that is a 30 inch dia stainless steel food service bowl, which catches 90% of his discarded food. Office floor mat under that. Clean up is easy! I put a stainless steel round bar-b-cue grill in the bowl to keep him out of the discarded foods.

Very cool! I’d love to see pictures

 

[Beebee0221]

What are your creative ideas/repurposed products/tips/tricks for making caring for your feathered friend(s) easy?

Recently discovered ‘silicone crafting mats’ as a surface protector for frequented household perching places. Makes cleaning up easy, and less wasteful of paper products. Also plan to use this to line my gal’s nest box as it’s non-slip and may help prevent splayed baby legs. Heck, I may just keep an eye on good deals on these mats and stock up! They’re awesome! Thin, easy to cut to size as needed, grippy, easy clean- brilliant product with many potential uses for all kinds of creatures!

Any creative life hacks you have discovered that you can’t live without that you’d like to share?

Happy New Year!



Laura

I have a cheap Bissel handheld steamer I bought on Amazon and stream clean their boingie hanging things (from planet pleasures), toys, bird cage, anything really! It’s the best.

I have linoleum flooring I cut for under their play areas. Got scraps from Home Depot. Really cheap!

This is great too. You can wrap the bars and adjust the bar height.

https://a.co/d/j5l0nKV

I use bird poop off spray from Amazon. It’s the best.
Poop-Off Bird Poop Remover Sprayer, 32 oz https://a.co/d/iizXrii

I also foraged branches (disinfected) and hand them from ceiling with jute twine and ceiling hooks (but use a stud finder befor hanging). Also bought branches to hang from here. https://www.etsy.com/shop/BloomsNBranches

https://a.co/d/f9g2BR6

Hope this helps

 

[HeatherG]

Poop off spray should have its own forum.

 

[Esther]

Got a couple of them

I use office chair mats under Saltys wet food feeding station and one for his cage. Get the smooth surface ones, not the textured ones. Easy to clean

We have a 10 ft length of heavy duty plastic chain going from one side of the room to the other. On it are hanging most of his toys, baskets, etc. He can run along that like its a highway! One end hangs down near his cage , so he can easily get on it when he wants to. Suspended by eyebolts into ceiling joists, very sturdy.

ALso hanging from the ceiling with a metal chain is a circular boing, with his wet food feeding station clamped on. Hanging from that is a 30 inch dia stainless steel food service bowl, which catches 90% of his discarded food. Office floor mat under that. Clean up is easy! I put a stainless steel round bar-b-cue grill in the bowl to keep him out of the discarded foods.

I'd love to see pictures of this setup - sounds amazing!