How do others clean their bird cages?

[Guest41995]

I’m going to be 100% honest here. I hate cleaning bird cages. It’s time consuming, and I don’t enjoy scrubbing dried up for 5-10 minutes.

I wanted to see how others do this as I’d like to be more efficient, and still get the job done.

This is just how I do it:


I cut up old t shirts to clean my parrots cage. I used to use paper towels but they always broke open and then I’d get on my hands. Not to mention I was spending a ridiculous amount of money on paper towels.

I pull apart, or pull out the staples of magazines every few months for the bottom of my parrot cages (I use magazines for my cage liners). My family, and friends have been donating their magazines. This takes hours to tear apart magazines, and my hands hurt afterwards. I started doing this over days now. With having 3 parrots, and 3 cages I need quite a bit. With magazines going digital, and not even offering hard copies of issues… I’m going to eventually figure something else out. I know eventually I’ll have to get precut cage liners if anyone has suggestions here please do make suggestions. Are they expensive? Do they function any better than magazines?

I use Nature's Miracle Bird Cage & Surface Cleaner to clean the cages. It helps with the tedious scrubbing for minutes on end. If someone uses something that may magically clean a macaw cage quickly. You are a life saver… you post that below. I clean this cage daily, and it never fails that it takes more time than I’d like. My other 2 aren’t as bad.

 

[wrench1393]

FOr liner,I bought a roll of brown paper 48" wide and a table top dispenser (think bog roll holder, with a tear -off thingy on it). One of the best purchases I ever made for parrot care. I change the liner once a week and the roll is still going strong 2 years later. For the actual cage bottom bars, I spray the floor with hot water a bit, wait 4-5 minutes and then use a kitchen veggie scrubbing type brush to loosen and remove the now soft poop mess. Works like a charm, if poop can be said to be charming, and total clean up is like 7 or 8 minutes. Couple times a year, I have a steam cleaner for floors that has a hand held attachment and the sides of the cage etc get hit with that.

 

[Donna196483]

I use newsprint package paper that I bought off Amazon and to clean perches I use hot water, a scraper and a nail brush.
I have a quick wipe down and change the paper everyday and then a deep clean once a week

 

[Jcas61]

I’m with you; cage cleaning is not my favorite! We keep a basket of old washcloths and towels for cleaning jobs since paper towels tend to disintegrate with too much moisture. I also use a nail brush, as mentioned above, for tougher spots. JJ has one place right between the bars where he loves to poop which is almost impossible to get clean so the nail brush helps with that. Using magazines for the floor paper sounds economical but I can definitely see how that would become a chore for multiple bird cages! I get newspapers from people who are done reading them and that works for now but I have wondered what I would do if I no longer had access to free paper.

My Guinea pig cage is lined with fleece blankets over absorbent mats and I’ve wondered about doing something similar for the birds. I like the idea of just shaking it out, running it through the wash and then reusing it over and over. Not fleece because their claws would get caught in it but maybe a flannel fabric. I do have an old flannel baby receiving blanket under JJ’s big branch outside his cage and that has worked great. I imagine this might not work for a bird who like chewing soft things. Kudos to you for your dedication in cleaning; especially a macaw cage every day!

 

[GaleriaGila]

I just have one parrot and a couple of finches. I put on some loud, motivating music (pick whatever rings your bell) and use a spray bottle with plain old water, a kitchen scrubber-pad, and wipe the cages down with some choice towel rags. If I do that once or twice a week, we're good. If I get lazy, I break the scrubber out. I use regular newspapers under a grate and change 'em every couple of days. We subscribe to the local paper. If we run low I send my ol' man out to score a New York Times at the local stand! Now THAT stocks us up for a while.
Oh, I used to use those indoor puppy trainer pads... they're so tidy-looking but paper's cheaper!

 

[Vampiric_Conure95]

I change the papers every 2 days. Deep clean once a month. Since I got the steamer, I'm gonna be doing the deep cleaning more often. I have a palette knife/scraper, and I use a spray bottle of water to wet it down. Once I'm done, I wash the pan with dish soap (Palmolive).

 

[osklvste52]

I guess I am kinda lazy. Nameliss cage isn't far from front door or bathtub. I put her in travel carrier. If weather nice she sits outside. Otherwise she sits on counter. Carrier or cage only places she can be unsupervised. I take tray to lawn or tub hose lt down, let it soak with some baking soda on her favorite spots. Steam and wipe the spots on cage. Food box hand wash every week. Water bottle when empty. Only put enough water for a few days. She has usual poo spots. Lazy again. I arrange perches so they don't often get hit. Rinse tray well. Depending on weather it either is tilted in sun or in to bathtub hot water rinse and dry. Rarely much active scraping. I get punished here. Not much newspaper, magazines and the like here. I very, very rarely shop Amazon. No particular reason. I rarely shop online anything. I use puppy pads. Nameliss doesn't bother them. Cage cleaning about every other month. I try to do a total steam cleaning of cage periodically in nice weather. Nameliss is hinderence. Long times in carrier means traveling and people watching. So constant yelling of some on I gotta go to work or late. Over and over. Loud and louder.

 

[Tman]

I have 4 in my flock, I clean cages every day. I start with the bottom trays. I sit at the kitchen sink. I rinse off the try I spray nature's miracle urine and stain remover. It breaks up poop really well. Rinse it off, wipe it down, I do all 4 at once. Then I go to my work table. I use brown paper kraft. It is 18" wide the size of the tray. After that I pull out all the foot toys, pull out the grids on all the cages. And clean them off. Using same cleaner. Before I put back the grids I check perches for poop. I use paper towels. I put a paper towel on the perch and let it sit on the poop for awhile go to the next perch. I try and setup the perches so that they don't over lap as much as possible. Then I go to the bottom of the cage on the edges. I use just paper towels and water and wipe them down then I put back the grids. I try not to have to pull a perch out of the cage unless I have to.
But every morning I do this. Then I wash the food and water bowls by hand. Here comes my OCD......I have name tags on all the bowls. Name tags on their trays. The tags are water proof if you wash by hand, in the dishwasher they fade a little.
That is my morning routine everyday. I will as time goes by,
Pull everything out of the cage, and spray it down with bleach hose it off really well. And hand dry it . Bleach rinses off with water, the water dilutes the bleach. So its safe.

 

[GaleriaGila]

I offered you a guest room when I heard how great your chop was, and NOW that I hear about your cleaning prowess, I'm gonna throw in a bag of cookies!

 

[Sundowner]

I’m going to be 100% honest here. I hate cleaning bird cages. It’s time consuming, and I don’t enjoy scrubbing dried up for 5-10 minutes.

I wanted to see how others do this as I’d like to be more efficient, and still get the job done.

This is just how I do it:


I cut up old t shirts to clean my parrots cage. I used to use paper towels but they always broke open and then I’d get on my hands. Not to mention I was spending a ridiculous amount of money on paper towels.

I pull apart, or pull out the staples of magazines every few months for the bottom of my parrot cages (I use magazines for my cage liners). My family, and friends have been donating their magazines. This takes hours to tear apart magazines, and my hands hurt afterwards. I started doing this over days now. With having 3 parrots, and 3 cages I need quite a bit. With magazines going digital, and not even offering hard copies of issues… I’m going to eventually figure something else out. I know eventually I’ll have to get precut cage liners if anyone has suggestions here please do make suggestions. Are they expensive? Do they function any better than magazines?

I use Nature's Miracle Bird Cage & Surface Cleaner to clean the cages. It helps with the tedious scrubbing for minutes on end. If someone uses something that may magically clean a macaw cage quickly. You are a life saver… you post that below. I clean this cage daily, and it never fails that it takes more time than I’d like. My other 2 aren’t as bad.

As far as newspapers/magazines if you have an Aldi near you they typically have a stack of free magazine absorbant type papers for their promotions/sales at the front of the store and you can always grab one...or two if you know what I mean. Publix too! That's typically what I do.

 

[osklvste52]

I just looked. None near San Antonio. Too bad.

 

[ATLBirdMan21]

I’m going to be 100% honest here. I hate cleaning bird cages. It’s time consuming, and I don’t enjoy scrubbing dried up for 5-10 minutes.

I wanted to see how others do this as I’d like to be more efficient, and still get the job done.

This is just how I do it:


I cut up old t shirts to clean my parrots cage. I used to use paper towels but they always broke open and then I’d get on my hands. Not to mention I was spending a ridiculous amount of money on paper towels.

I pull apart, or pull out the staples of magazines every few months for the bottom of my parrot cages (I use magazines for my cage liners). My family, and friends have been donating their magazines. This takes hours to tear apart magazines, and my hands hurt afterwards. I started doing this over days now. With having 3 parrots, and 3 cages I need quite a bit. With magazines going digital, and not even offering hard copies of issues… I’m going to eventually figure something else out. I know eventually I’ll have to get precut cage liners if anyone has suggestions here please do make suggestions. Are they expensive? Do they function any better than magazines?

I use Nature's Miracle Bird Cage & Surface Cleaner to clean the cages. It helps with the tedious scrubbing for minutes on end. If someone uses something that may magically clean a macaw cage quickly. You are a life saver… you post that below. I clean this cage daily, and it never fails that it takes more time than I’d like. My other 2 aren’t as bad.

This may sound crazy and neurotic but I clean as he goes. I work from home and his cage is in my office. If he isn’t out of the cage on his java wood stand then as he goes, I literally clean as he poops. Then I do a thorough cleaning weekly.

 

[Bradmtx52]

This may sound crazy and neurotic but I clean as he goes. I work from home and his cage is in my office. If he isn’t out of the cage on his java wood stand then as he goes, I literally clean as he poops. Then I do a thorough cleaning weekly.

Well I work a 9-5 job and the Missus is home till around 1. I am the evening clean up crew. I spot clean every day. I use Nature's miracle for the poop and Briotech for disinfectant. Water and food tray cleaned and washed everyday. Since each bird has his own cage I change out the bottom tray twice a week. Every weekend I do a complete cleaning (labor of luv).
.

 

[ATLBirdMan21]

Labor of love is a great way to say it. I use Natures Miracle for the weekly and diluted vinegar mostly for the daily.

 

[Vampiric_Conure95]

Since discovering a hand-held steamer for cages, I use it with a scraper head and wipe it off. Bowls get done every other day, and water bottles whenever they're empty. Quakr's water bowl gets cleaned once a day, as I'm training her to bottle.

Trays get done once a week. Winter (dog) cleans up after the birds pretty well, so if there's anything in the trays, it's shredded toys and mild poop.

 

[osklvste52]

Curious. Do any of your flock take water bottles showers? I've always wondered how Nameliss decided she likes that.

 

[ATLBirdMan21]

I use both a water bottle and dish for mine. And I do have one who sticks his head on the nozzle cause he realized itll get him wet. I cant call it a full shower but he more or less plays with it.

 

[Vampiric_Conure95]

Curious. Do any of your flock take water bottles showers? I've always wondered how Nameliss decided she likes that.

Pulsar would take frequent water bottle baths. Vortex sort of does it, but I think she does it for the scratching more than anything else

 

[ATLBirdMan21]

Haha. Yeah maybe mine is doing it for the scratching too now I think about it.

 

[osklvste52]

Well Nameliss takes a full shower every other day or so. More during molts. About a quarter cup worth. Lots of splashing. She gets  WET! Everywhere except top of her head. It's weird. She taps that ball. Gets enough air in for a good gush. I've just thought her weird.