Cage Versus Door (The Cleaning Conundrum)

[Puck]

Because the two enormous bird cages I already own weren't large enough, I went and bought *another* cage for the RB2 baby girl that is coming home to me on the 1st of October. The cage should be here on Tuesday, but looking at my door and considering the measurements, I will definitely have to put it together in the room she'll be living in because it ain't making it through door frames anytime soon! I am sure plenty of y'all have ginormous cages as well, and I was wondering: how often do you do a full, thorough clean? The cage my sun conure lived in was large, but not so large I couldn't force it through a doorway and onto the back porch where I could give it a very thorough cleaning when I wanted. Do those of you with cages larger than your doors ever take them apart to hardcore clean them, or do you simply do what you can in the room that they're in? I work from home off my couch and my birds live in my living room so that we can spend all day together (because what better place to put a cage so tall and wide that people walk in and immediately think you're into something really kinky), so I can do a fairly thorough cleaning, it not being far from the kitchen, but not as well as I could do for a cage I can roll outside. Just wondering how the average large cage owner/bird's personal butler/human slave to the feathered ones makes this work!

 

[plumsmum2005]

Re your new baby's cage. It has been recommended by breeders over here of RB2's not to have bare grate bars on the bottom of their cages. They can/do spend some time rooting about on the bottom also. My recommendation is to cover those bars with some cardboard and then newspapers. This give them something to do as they love ripping paper and easy to clean the cage bottom couple of times a day, just scoop it all up. I bottom feed Plum chop and he loves to share so it makes sense this way. Cleaning is a breeze as you don't have to chip and scrub the bars to get them clean of poop etc. I only have to vac his Montana cage and then give it a jolly good wipe down, even though he uses the bars to clean his beak after chop.

*** Remember to give the new cage a good going/wash over before you assemble, as it is easier to clean parts before it is all put together, as doing this after from experience necessitates being a contortionist.

**** You are going to need an air purifier for sure! Open up any computers you have in a few months time! Looks like snow!

 

[OOwl]

Steam cleaner used regularly and I've never had to take my birds' cages outside for deep cleaning. They look almost brand new, even after 15 years. Good luck on your new RB2. They are special.

 

[Terry57]

Steam cleaners work wonders and that is next on my list! Right now we have to disassemble the cages to get a deep clean

 

[Allee]

Mitch, you must be so excited! I'm happy for you! I agree with the good advice. Air purifier, steam cleaner, paper over the grates. Looking forward to homecoming photos.

 

[riddick07]

I don't use grates for any of my birds. To me they are just unnecessary extras that I would have to clean. As long as the gap isn't huge without it I don't see the need.

I steam clean my cages too but I take them outside once a year to hose them off.

 

[Puck]

Thanks guys, these are great tips! I have an air purifier, but I will have to look into getting a steam cleaner. I am a fan of covering grates as well, mostly 'cause I hate scrubbing them, LOL.

Allee, yes, I am super excited! I was supposed to get her today, but the payment didn't process before the weekend, meaning the breeder's bank won't receive it 'til Monday, so she is going to ship next Saturday. On the bright side, the flight next week is a little shorter than the one this week would have been, which is always good! Now all I have to do is come up with a name for her!

 

[plumsmum2005]

Thanks guys, these are great tips! I have an air purifier, but I will have to look into getting a steam cleaner. I am a fan of covering grates as well, mostly 'cause I hate scrubbing them, LOL.

Allee, yes, I am super excited! I was supposed to get her today, but the payment didn't process before the weekend, meaning the breeder's bank won't receive it 'til Monday, so she is going to ship next Saturday. On the bright side, the flight next week is a little shorter than the one this week would have been, which is always good! Now all I have to do is come up with a name for her!

Just a little bit of a nudge on names ie we have a Plum, Rhubarb, Razberry in the pink fruit line so how about Logan short for Loganberry

The loganberry is a hexaploid hybrid produced from pollination of a plant of the octaploid blackberry cultivar 'Aughinbaugh' by a diploid red raspberry

WDYT?

Hoping for pics of your girl very soon.