bird life hacks to make things easier?

[Darci]

I took my neighbors old yoga mat and cut it to make a mat for under Shadow's cage. It's easy to cut and much easier to clean than the carpet and hardwood. I was using newspaper but the cats get into it.

What life hacks do you guys use to make life and cleaning with a parrot easier?

 

[Kiwibird]

What a fun thread topic and a great idea w/ the yoga mat! I just use a cheap rug from Ross under Kiwi's cage. I bet the yoga-mat surface is easier to clean

One of my favorite "life hacks" is organizing Kiwi's stuff in plastic drawers and little containers so it's easy to locate what I need (I have one for already made toys, foraging toys, supplies/medical, toy parts, old toys that have salvageable parts...):

 

[thekarens]

I use shower curtain liners under the cage. They are cheap and I can cut one up to use under 3 cages.

My partner uses a breakfast tray so she can carry multiple dishes at once. She can take away all the dirty ones at once and then bring back the full clean ones at once.

 

[RavensGryf]

Under cages I use the clear plastic carpet protectors. The kind sold on a big roll by the foot at home improvement stores.

I collect water dishes on a serving tray and bring them all to the kitchen at once.

 

[Darci]

I only have the one for now. I have her toy stuff in a sterilite unit too. And I keep her spianch and veggies and stuff in a big Tupperware so it's easy to make her dinners.

 

[Kiwibird]

I only have the one for now. I have her toy stuff in a sterilite unit too. And I keep her spianch and veggies and stuff in a big Tupperware so it's easy to make her dinners.

For single parrot homes, toaster-oven sized bakeware is AWESOME! It allows you to bake your bird goodies, but not in batches so large it could last a single bird the next 2 years like with regular sized bakeware lol:52:. I have has my eye on those mini-muffin pans for a while now to make appropriate portioned size bird muffins... Just waiting to find one that doesn't have a non-stick coating:20: Also waiting on finding a cake-pop pan (one that isn't non-stick) for cheap. I have a good feeling a parrot would love a treat on a stick!

 

[Kalidasa]

Kumar's latest fetish is paper napkins, he loves playing with them when in cage, and even when out. So I put a bunch of paper napkins at the bottom of his cage before bedtime. When morning comes and I pop off his cover, he poops on one of his napkins, which I remove and throw away, then he comes out. I change his cage at bedtime, so in the morning All's I have to do is throw out a napkin. So much easier. And when we go outside, his napkins collect any poop or food....he won't play with soiled napkins, so it's a win-win for both of us.

 

[PanZon]

I shared this in the toys section, its not a hack but it has made my life so much easier, and happier birds. I buy a flat of wheatgrass and put it in the bottom of my scratchers and foragers cage, I sprinkle treats and nuts down in the soil and he goes down there and digs and scratches and roots, eat the grass, licks the dew. and if he poops on it, i take it out and spray it off. its now clean, watered so it will renew itself, and moist for him.

 

[jasper19]

I shared this in the toys section, its not a hack but it has made my life so much easier, and happier birds. I buy a flat of wheatgrass and put it in the bottom of my scratchers and foragers cage, I sprinkle treats and nuts down in the soil and he goes down there and digs and scratches and roots, eat the grass, licks the dew. and if he poops on it, i take it out and spray it off. its now clean, watered so it will renew itself, and moist for him.

I did see this in the other thread and it is very interesting. Does it cover the whole bottom of the cage? or you just put it in one corner of the cage?

 

[ruffledfeathers]

My weird bird thing is that I bought a large multi pack of microfiber towels (the little ones, like a large wash cloth size) and I use binder clips to attach them to my clothing as claw/poop/chew protection during shoulder time. I am kind of known for my stupid towels around town. It actually not only protects my shoulder but Gilbert seems to now see it as 'home base' and he goes to his spot.


Gil's cage is on a wood floor so I basically just vacuum and wipe it up and it's fine.


I bought an antique 'ice box' at a yard sale (my house is a 20s house so it looks cute in the kitchen) and I keep non refrigerated pet items in there.

 

[Terry57]

I also bought a couple of huge packs of microfibre towels and use them for drying the bird dishes. They dry amazingly well, and saved me over 30 minutes a day when drying the dishes. We don't have many extra dishes, so most need to be washed and dried at least twice a day
We also use the carpet runners under the cages, so easy to clean.
Also, we removed some of the grates from the cages - several of our guys never go to the bottom of the cage, and it saves so much time on cage day, with having 21 cages to clean. It doesn't work for all of them, but sure helps with the 5 cages we can skip cleaning grates

 

[veimar]

My hubby makes cage skirts out of cardboard boxes - they work great and don't cost anything. I finally bought a gallon of Poop Off on sale, and it made my life much easier as well (I have my birds cage free most of the day).

 

[MrsKay]

I met someone in the store that has a quaker and she was telling me that she puts a roll of toilet paperj(unscented) on a short perch and her bird loves it. I haven't tried it.

I have tile floors where my birds are and it really makes cleaning a snap.
The metal cage skirts on Larry's cage work pretty well for containing most of the debris, unless I let him eat outside the cage (which is nearly every day).
Oddly enough, Norman's flight cage has no skirt and there is never much debris on the floor at all. I think the bigger the cage, the less mess.
My cordless Electrolux vacuum is a godsend

 

[NiRD]

If your birds are at a higher risk of worms (work with a lot of birds , in a kennel, with imports, or keep your bird's outside), feeding food grade diatomaceous earth is a great preventative.

 

[PanZon]

I did see this in the other thread and it is very interesting. Does it cover the whole bottom of the cage? or you just put it in one corner of the cage?

oh no, it only covers one corver. a flat is about 14 inches by 24 inches. i got mine at Whole Foods, and i was able to make one last 67 days but my average is 45

 

[Birdman666]

Under cages I use the clear plastic carpet protectors. The kind sold on a big roll by the foot at home improvement stores.

I Used to use those. Now I use sheet linoleum.

I use a steam cleaner on cages. No chemicals required. Just zap and wipe.

And a good shop vac is worth it's weight in gold.