hygiene of your cage

[andreavizzuso]

What are you using to clean your cage?
Do you buy a specific product to keep cleaned your cage?
On an Italian Forum, it has been advised a product known as "Steramina H" but I was not able to find it;

Thanks in advance for your time and for your tips.

 

[Karigan]

I use a spray bottle with 1/3 vinegar and 2/3 water. Once a week I scrub it down with hot water, vinegar and a good splash of lemon in a bucket. In the summer the cages also get pressure washed out on the lawn once a month.

I've been looking around for grape seed oil as well. It's supposed to be a great anti-bacterial cleaning product.

 

[andreavizzuso]

Thanks for your kind answer
I will follow your tip;

 

[Birdlover11]

I use raw lemon juice , it gets the poop of great !

 

[triordan]

I use hot water and Poop Off~ when the weather is nice it gets hosed in the yard thank goodness I can roll it out to the porch with help from my husband~ I also use Pet Focus cleaner

 

[Aquila]

Vinegar + Water in a spray bottle for cleaning cage bars during the week (my conure loves to wipe all her foody bits on there.) Throw her cage in the shower two or three times a month, turn on the hot water full blast and let it clean itself!

Poop off for tougher poop from my Amazon, as well as a good hot water rinse.

Toys and bowls get soaked in hot water in the tub with a capful of bleach, and then rinsed twice.

 

[Aims]

I have one of those floor steamers, it has different attachments to use on pretty much anything. I use that.
Bowls go in the dishwasher.
Toys don't last long enough to need cleaning. LOL

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

We use Nolvasan diluted with water per instructions on the bottle.

 

[henpecked]

We do too.

 

[aliray]

You can get grapefruit seed extract from the health food stores

 

[MonicaMc]

There's Grapefruit Seed Extract and then there is Grape seed extract.


There's a difference. And I don't trust grapefruit seed extract for anything other than cleaning of cage, cage accessories and the birds area. In other words, I don't trust it in a birds water nor in cleaning food.

 

[henpecked]

My understanding is that GSE works great ,BUT the product found in stores has been pasteurized to extend shelf life which may decrease it's performance/effectiveness.

 

[Mikayla]

I never use a grate, I find that it cuts down on cleaning and hidden bacteria. My birds with the exception of my starling never go to the bottom of their cage. Even if they did the papers get changed daily.

 

[Kiwibird]

Personally, I think those cage cleaners sold in the stores are the biggest rip off. Every other month or so, we take our birds cage outside (branches and all) and give it a good hosing down. We have a scrubber, and use elbow grease to get anything nasty and caked on off, hose it down again and let it air dry. We do the same with his t-perch and play tree. In between, we wash toys weekly in the sink with hot water, vinegar and baking soda (soaps can be toxic, and vinegar/baking soda disinfects/cleans just as well but is safe). If there's some dried poop on a perch inbetween washings, I just use a paint scraper to get it off (a specific to cleaning the bird paint scraper, never use one you've actually used on paint). I also use the scraper to get dried poop of the base of his t-perch and play stand as well (bird poop comes right off, and you can just use a little hand broom and dust pan to sweep it up). As for his dishes, I wash all 3 every day. I change his paper every other day, and vacuum his area at the same time (we keep his cage on a large, rubber backed rug to protect the carpet). Also good to know (if your new to birds), if they have a little accident on the carpet, clothing, furniture ect... Let the poop DRY completely. If you try to clean it while wet, it will make a huge mess. If you let it dry, you can pick it right up with your fingers (use a paper towel if your squeamish about it). I find it usually doesn't stain at all, but occasionally it will, and you can use spot shot on non washable stuff like carpet or upholstery, and just a regular wash cycle gets it out of clothing. Bird poop is surprisingly easy to clean up, plus it doesn't smell and is sterile since their "urine" (the white stuff) is in it too. Personally, I feel cleaning up after my parrot is a lot easier and less disgusting than cleaning up if I had a dog or cat. Really, you don't need anything fancy to clean them, just a good routine and the realization they are naturally messy creatures and don't need an absolutely pristine environment (common sense applies). Best of luck, and hope I've helped some!

 

[Aquila]

I never thought of using a paint scraper! Genius!