Cleaning your bird and cage!

SafamirzašŸ¤

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Mar 26, 2022
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377
Parrots
Cockatiel
Hello! I have a 3-5 month old male cockatiel named Kiko :)


I was wondering if someone could answer some questions for me regarding cleaning your bird and itā€™s cage:

1. I use plain water to spray my bird once every other day. Is it fine to JUST use water? I heard dawn dish soap is safe for birds, but i donā€™t know how I feel about that. My cockatiel broke a blood feather like a month ago, and the blood that was on the area he pulled from has dried and wonā€™t go. He opens up his wings when I spray him and everything but the blood stain wonā€™t go.

2. CLEANING HIS CAGE: I use plain water to clean his cage fully once a month, and I use news paper to line his cage. Am I supposed to properly disinfect his cage with something other than water?

3. How often Should the cage and the bird be cleaned? Am I doing it correctly?

Thank you to anyone who replies! ā¤ļøšŸ¦œ
 
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SafamirzašŸ¤

SafamirzašŸ¤

Well-known member
Mar 26, 2022
294
377
Parrots
Cockatiel
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Hello! I have a 3-5 month old male cockatiel named Kiko :)


I was wondering if someone could answer some questions for me regarding cleaning your bird and itā€™s cage:

1. I use plain water to spray my bird once every other day. Is it fine to JUST use water? I heard dawn dish soap is safe for birds, but i donā€™t know how I feel about that. My cockatiel broke a blood feather like a month ago, and the blood that was on the area he pulled from has dried and wonā€™t go. He opens up his wings when I spray him and everything but the blood stain wonā€™t go.

2. CLEANING HIS CAGE: I use plain water to clean his cage fully once a month, and I use news paper to line his cage. Am I supposed to properly disinfect his cage with something other than water?

3. How often Should the cage and the bird be cleaned? Am I doing it correctly?

Thank you to anyone who replies! ā¤ļøšŸ¦œ
Oh! And a quick question about cage size: i know you should get the biggest cage you can find, but what is the ideal cage size for cockatiels?
 

Ria.345

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1. Never use anything else on a bird other than plain water. The blood stain will eventually fade off after a while and just disappear. Even bird shampoos on the market aren't good because any soap can remove the natural oils on a birds skin. The good oils.
2. That's fine. But to disinfect I personally use a 50/50 mixture of water and white vinegar. Works wonders and kills bacteria.
3. The cage should be spot cleaned regularly and thoroughly cleaned weekly. Deep cleaned every 1 to 3 months. That's just what I do. However I'm a neat freak with my birds so I like cleaning everything even stands just every single day. But you don't have to go that far. I'm just kind of insane tbh.
4. I hope someone can pitch in for this answer!
 

zERo

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Yeah I agree, only use plain water ON your bird. As for cage cleaning, I change paper daily, if I see poop on the bars, perches etc. I clean it, the like once every 2-3 weeks I deep clean everything with hot water. Cage size for cockatiels...I have 3 cockatiels and the mated pair is in a 32in.(W)X21in.(D)X35in.(H) then the whole cage with the stand is 62in. tall. I also have my Quaker, Gcc, and the budgies, in these sized cages too. The single cockatiel is in a smaller cage 25in(W)X17in.(D)X27in(H), the whole cage with stand is 53in tall, this cage is fine for a less active or older cockatiel like mine but if you let yours out a lot I think it's good too.
 

HeatherG

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Apr 25, 2020
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Please, no dawn dish soap on your bird unless he gets very very dirty with something! Like, if he were to get some substance all over his feathers that couldnā€™t wash out with water.
 

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