Cleaning Tips!

Do you have any tricks or tips you use to keep your fid's living quarters clean? Share it with everyone!

Mine is one I JUST read about a few days ago and I'm SOOO glad I did!

My Buck-man is a super-pooper. It's not so much that he makes big poo's, but that he goes every 10 minutes... All. Day. Long. Lemme tell ya, that's a LOT of poop.

I was having a hard time keeping up with his cage cleaning because I was having to change the paper as well as scrub the bottom grate, the seed skirt, and the floor under the door to his cage every day. It was getting to be a hassle. Then I read somewhere about birds with coprophagia - birds who eat their own feces. One of the tips was to spray non-stick cooking spray on the grate in the bottom of the cage to help the droppings slip on through to the paper rather than stick to the bars.

While my birds don't have that problem (thank goodness), I thought the tip might help me with my clean-up - and LO AND BEHOLD...
I think that was the miracle I've been looking for!!!

I have very little problem with "stickage" now, and what does stick cleans off much easier. I really believe that of everything I've used to clean up after him (poop-off, vinegar, towels, water, spray bottles, etc...), this is the most helpful thing I've used.

So... What's YOUR best tip?

VickiNumbers wrote:

One of the tips was to spray non-stick cooking spray on the grate in the bottom of the cage to help the droppings slip on through to the paper rather than stick to the bars.

I have very little problem with "stickage" now, and what does stick cleans off much easier. I really believe that of everything I've used to clean up after him (poop-off, vinegar, towels, water, spray bottles, etc...), this is the most helpful thing I've used.

Hmmm, I'll have to give this a try. Merling does not poop lots, but that morning "mega-poop" always seems to stick to the bottom grate. What kind of spray did you use? Is there an issue with fumes?

Clean often.

It's easier to clean up a bunch of small messes, then wait and clean up a huge mess.

I change the paper in the bottom of my bird cage every day. Then once a week I clean all of their stuff.

I just go with the flow. Change papers everyday or every other, spot scrub every so often, hose down the grate and perches every month or so.. My tip is To put the newspaper on top of the grate.

RogerP wrote:

Hmmm, I'll have to give this a try. Merling does not poop lots, but that morning "mega-poop" always seems to stick to the bottom grate. What kind of spray did you use? Is there an issue with fumes?

I just used the can of PAM that we had in the kitchen cabinet. And though I tried to shoo her away, I had JJ on my shoulder when I sprayed. I just made sure there weren't any fans blowing the stuff back in our faces and didn't have any problem with fumes at all (that I'm aware of anyway). She didn't seem bothered by it.

I agree to clean as often as possible. everynight at bedtime, i change all the newspaper (i have 3 large sheets on the foor around his cage and one in the roof tray (and of course the main cage), as he tends to poop off the side of his cage when hes outside and makes a mess with his veggies and fruit so like this i can just take the newspaper away at night, sweep up the rest of the mess, scrub any dried poop or stains on the floor and then put fresh newspaper out again for the next day.i clean the trays once a week so they dont build up too much (even covered with newspaper they still get marks in them). the main cage....i try for once a month but its a mission as i do it in the bathroom and last time i did it...took 3 hours.

ALSO- just bought myself a steamcleaner last week...im addicted to it and it's cleaning magic:) haven't tried it yet but i think its gonna be great for the cage since it disinfects and loosens all the dirt to just wipe away without having to scrub too long and soak up the whole bathroom. plus no cleaning chemicals are required, just water

Steam cleaners are awesome for cages, as are power washers, if you have the ability to get the cages outside to pressure wash them. We do that for the rescue cages since there are so many and scrubbing each by hand would be a huge undertaking.



One cleaner that I make myself and its safe for birds and one that works well is lemon wonder. Easy to do. Get a bucket, half fill it with very hot water. Add a cup of lemon juice and half cup of baking soda. Mix thoroughly and use with a sponge. Not only does it remove poop easily but it smells great and the scent will linger.

Vikki wrote:

One cleaner that I make myself and its safe for birds and one that works well is lemon wonder. Easy to do. Get a bucket, half fill it with very hot water. Add a cup of lemon juice and half cup of baking soda. Mix thoroughly and use with a sponge. Not only does it remove poop easily but it smells great and the scent will linger.

Good tip Vikki! I'll have to try this.

You can adjust the ingredients to your liking. I will sometimes add more lemon or baking soda depending on the severity of the poop or smell

I've tried the non-stick spray. While it does seem to help the poo slide off, household dust and bird dander seems to settle and stick to it. Then when it's time to do a thorough scrub the non-stick spray's turned more into sticky goo that's grosser and harder to get off than the original crusty poo.

Watery baby poo gets musty and smelly even if cleaned daily so the baking soda and lemon sounds great.

And its natural and safe, which is important. Funny thing, this is a recipe that was passed down from my great grandmother. Its the concoction she used to use to wash her floors before the days of floor cleaners and borax.

I just don't get the combination of lemon juice and baking soda... lemon juice is acidic and baking soda is alkaline... they'll spend most of their time neutralizing each other! I would think either would be more effective on its own, especially in terms of antiseptic properties. Maybe just a splash of the lemon for it's scent? Dampened baking soda makes a good scrub and is pretty good at odor neutralizing.

I have a steam cleaner and it does work well on the cages, but it is a bit tedious. As with vinegar or baking soda or any of those types of things, it does clean and it can kill some germs, but the way it is typically used it won't truly disinfect. For that matter, regular steam cleaners only just boil the water and would have a hard time being effective at all in the germ killing department. The more expensive higher end ones produce superheated steam and can actually do a pretty good job if you linger for a long time on every spot and really heat the surface.

For those that use paper on top of the grate -- why not just remove the grate entirely? Grates are a pain to clean but they do keep the bird more isolated from the mess and allow food to drop out of reach so eating contaminated food is less likely. I think if I were making the compromise of not having that functionality, I'd take the extra inch or two of space removing it gives.

I often wondered why the lemon/soda combo worked as well....but it does, very well.

Have you ever tried using just the lemon or just the baking soda? Or plain water? I'm curious because most cleansers are basically surfactants and really just make the water more effective, the primary role is modifying the surface tension so the water can "get in" better. The rest is for smell, color, texture -- basically marketing. Water is actually the most effective part of the whole equation!

lemon on its own will work because of the acidity, and I've used soda paste before so I know that works. Perhaps the lemon is only there for the smell, who knows. I know that when you mix them it kind of fizzes so may that has some effect?

Vikki wrote:

I know that when you mix them it kind of fizzes so may that has some effect?

That's the acid and the base reacting and creating inert salts and water plus some heat. I have a sneaking suspicion that's why people think it's "strong" when it's really just basically wearing itself out.

I don't know if its strong, I just know that it works for me and I don't have to scrub hard to get stuff off the cages when I use it.

thanks to you all for the tips...i will pass them on to the birds for when they do their own clean up....ya right....lol


dusty