Using mats under cages?

[Lullx]

Cleaning up after my flock is definitely the most difficult part of keeping birds for me. I have health issues that make it physically tricky to clean everything without getting completely wiped out. I've been developing better routines and tricks to help make cleaning up a little easier, but I could use some help!

We're going to be replacing my floor soon, but for now it is an exposed-wood mess. The carpet had to be ripped up thanks to the previous tenants, and I just have an area rug down in the middle of the room, but it doesn't reach to where the cages are. All of the stray food and mess likes to find its way into the crevices between the planks of wood, lost into the abyss, never to be vacuumed up.
It was very difficult to clean up, so I started putting down huge swaths of newspaper under the cages and covering the blast radius (Genevieve is very good at throwing her food long distances). However, it's quite ugly and a pain to change and clean up, as I'm using several different pieces of newsprint at a time and overlapping them in order to cover this large area.
I was looking into maybe getting one of these "Drymate Multi-Use Pet Mats", but want to know if anyone has used this product, or something like it.
If you've used pet mats before, how easy/difficult are they to clean? What are some better alternatives?

I also made the rookie mistake of giving the monsters some blackberries while on top of their cage, which is right next to a wall. I'd never eaten blackberries myself, so I had no idea how messy they were. Well, I have blackberry stuck on my painted wall that I absolutely cannot get off ): How do you get stuck-on stains off of walls?! Since then, they have to eat their fresh foods on a table with a towel laid down. My poor walls haha

If anyone also has any suggestions to streamline or make cleaning physically less demanding, I'd love to hear them!

 

[thekarens]

I use a clear shower curtain. I find it very easy to take outside and spray off. Julie uses those plastic runners like they put under office chairs, which also works great.

 

[Rockford]

I use a clear shower curtain. I find it very easy to take outside and spray off. Julie uses those plastic runners like they put under office chairs, which also works great.

I've been using a chair mat on carpet for years, but all the little nubs on the bottom would allow stuff to easily get under the mat if used in a hard surface.

 

[ShaunaR]

We have hardwood and have purchased "carpet-runner" type protective plastic that was sold by the foot at the hardware store. It has none of the "nubs" you get on the wrong side of chair mats. We also utilize this food box

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Tidy-Seed-No-Mess-Bird-Feeder/dp/B0037UKP9G]Amazon.com : Tidy Seed No-Mess Bird Feeder : Pet Bird Feeders : Pet Supplies[/ame]

which contains messy foods and can be soaked and cleaned quite easily.

 

[Lullx]

I've tried a clear shower curtain before the newspaper, as well as clear vinyl, similar to carpet runners. I didn't like how flimsy both were, and I think something a little stiffer would be easier for me to manage.
I live in NY, on the second floor of a two-family house, so taking things outside to hose off is only an option for a very brief window each year. I guess I need something I can easily vacuum/sweep year-round. The mats I linked to in my first post can also be thrown into a washing machine, which is something I regularly have access to.

I'm sad to say that the no-mess feeder wouldn't work for me, either. I usually feed my monsters outside of their cages, and the cages have those swing-open feeder doors, with those metal loops that hold steel bowls attached to the swinging doors.

Maybe I'll just have to try to speed up the floor replacement process ):

 

[labell]

If you go to Lowes or Home Depot they have remnant pieces of linoleum. That is what I use on top of my hard wood floor and I also custom cut it to fit my java stands. The mess wipes off so much easier than off the wood floors.

 

[RavensGryf]

I've been using the clear plastic carpet runners. Being a flexible material, it does dent in and buckle from the weight of the cage, so it doesn't look the greatest, but easy enough to sweep and wipe.

 

[Lullx]

That's a great idea, labell! Thank you!

I'll definitely take a look at the carpet runners too, then. I'm just worried that if it's too flimsy, it's going to be very frustrating for me to manage. When I was using big strips of clear vinyl, they were an absolute nightmare for me with all of the denting and bulging and rolling ):
The big cages are on wheels, but it's still exhausting to move them around every day. I'd like the option to be lazy and just sweep/wet wipe the spots under and around the cage on whatever surface I get to put under them in between big cleanings. That's not really possible with newspaper right now.

I'll have to poke around Lowes or Home Depot and see what they have available.

 

[RavensGryf]

You shouldn't have to move the big cages. As most, every now and then move them a couple inches or so, one wheel at a time, so that you can use a vacuum hose in the wheel dents .

 

[kyanite]

We used a clear plastic carpet runner for a while, but even found that a little annoying to clean. Now, we just use the face of a large cardboard box. Doesn't look all that pretty, but neither does the bird poop. When it gets gross, no cleaning, just toss it!