Your Parrot may learn a lot of things from you, but housekeeping is something that they never seem to grasp. So that falls on you and since many of you have more than one Parrot here are some pointers to make your job easier, faster and safer for your Parrot.
* Use newsprint paper or recycle newspapers to line the bottom of the cage,
* Place multiple layers of newsprint in at a time so you can quickly roll up a top layer when it starts to look dirty,
* Spray or wipe clean grates and skirts with 100% olive oil,
* Put old phone books on top of a playtop cage and eliminate having to use the tray and grate,
* Clean around the cage as required with a warm solution of water with a bit of vinegar,
* Use a clear office chair mat under the cage to protect the floor and catch misguided poops.
Newsprint is the safest and most economical cage liner. Newspaper works just as well and the ink is vegetable based thus not harmful to you or your birds. Using a paper surface has other benefits, the most important is making it very visible to monitor the morning droppings. We will do a Blog on the importance of this in the near future. Using savings or other loose matter hides the droppings from view and people tend to clean the bottom of the cage less often. Poop and other moist debris can cause a mould hazard so at the very least clean the cage bottom daily.
Quick and easy daily replacing of the paper on the cage tray is easy, all you have to do is put several layers of newspaper on the tray and remove yesterday’s every morning. Any excess crumbs that collect can be vacuumed up by lifting the wad of papers. A quick run around the cage skirt and floor with the vacuum can be followed by a wipe with a little bit of white vinegar and warm water to clean off the dried poop.
If you choose to use the grates in the cage you can wipe or spray with olive oil. If spraying with an aerosol product such as Pam, ensure your bird is no where nearby as the off-gas from the cartridges are not safe for you or your bird. The olive oil allows the poop and sticky foods to slide off the bars reducing the amount of scrubbing while doing a weekly cleaning.
You can also eliminate the need to clean the top grate and playtop tray simply with strategically placed phone books. Place them to prevent droppings from hitting food bowls and toys inside the cage. Tear the top pages off as they get soiled. Your Parrot will love to chew the book from inside the cage as well.
If you are like me and don’t want a scattering of papers on the floor surrounding the cage, try using an office chair mat under it. The heavy duty plastic will last indefinitely and washes easily with a poop spray, diluted vinegar mix or soap and water. By the way, we recommend the diluted vinegar for regular cage wipes because vinegar is safe and has anti-bacterial properties. The chair mat will protect your floor around the cage. They are also near invisible at a glance. You can find them at most office supply stores.
Here are some points of what you should never do.
* Never use corncob bedding,
* Never use gravel or grit papers,
* Never leave soiled paper in the cage more than one day,
* Never use an aerosol spray around your Parrot.
Contrary to product recommendations by the manufacturer’s of corncob bedding, that depict a picture of a Parrot on their packaging, it should never be used for birds. Most birds love corn and there is a chance they may eat the soiled pellets. The compressed pellets expand with moisture and will swell inside your bird’s crop. Worst case is that if ingested it can over expand the crop resulting in your Parrot not being able to pass it through the gastro intestinal track. This is very harmful to your Parrot’s health and could result in death.(1)
Although the gravel or sand paper may look better then newspaper, the reality is that birds (and more specifically Parrots) love to chew and forage in paper. If ingested, the little gravel and sand granules can get stuck in the lining of their crop and can cause massive infections and impaction of the crop.(1)