Litter or Paper?

[Rue]

I use newspaper on top of the grate. I just find it cuts down on overall cleaning.

We don't get a newspaper either...never have...but there's no trouble finding free newspaper. Right now hubby is bringing it home from work...but I've had offers from neighbours and friends as well...

[ptuga72]

I don't get the paper either. I bought a roll of painters paper from a hardware store and I use that, it's great for Scarlet's cage because I can have a single piece of paper covering the tray. Before that I actually used pages from the penny saver and ads that my mailbox gets flooded with. I've also been known to take my neighbors old phone books I worry abut using litter, and also prefer to keep an eye on droppings.

as for the grate, I use them. For some reason my birds think tearing up poop paper from the bottom of the cage is fun! They don't eat it, just pull it up, shred it, then laugh as I cuss trying to clean it up.

[Yorkochanie]

I use newspaper too. But, I have bought a new cage a week ago and the grates are really close to paper, so he can shred it to pieces. I'm afraid that he would get poisoned from the ink of the newspaper. Now I'm using a calendar's sheets, but I'm still worried and if he keeps on shredding the paper, I maybe start using litter.

[tacotaco]

i use paper towels. its easy for me and i always keep a huge roll of it under his cage. luckily he cant reach through the bottom of his cage to get to it otherwise i'm sure he'd have a ball shredding it up!

[entrancedbymyGCC]

Scooter likes to sometimes climb under the paper I put in the bottom of the playstand. Since I also keep millet spray tied up there often, and there is typically a good pile of millet leavings on the paper, this is, shall we say, less than ideal! Fortunately the cage itself has a grate with a large drop to the tray so that wouldn't be a problem I guess I'll probably give paper a trial in the cage when I run out of litter. I'll probably go ahead and buy precut paper sized for it as I like the idea of keeping several sheets in there and just pulling off the top one. I'm at the stage in life where my time is worth a bit of money...

[Michael]

I've been using the precut wax paper made for Truman's cage and I must admit, it's wonderful. I don't know if I can say it's worth the expense but considering how much I spent on everything else, it doesn't constitute such a major expense. I stick 4 sheets in at once and then pop the top sheet off every few days. It really does make it so much easier. He's very messy so more frequent cleanings are required than for Kili. I haven't tried newspaper in his cage but I suspect it would take more than one sheet which would be very difficult to replace without spilling.

[pchela]

I agree with Michael, the pre cut wax paper is so much easier than anything else I've tried! I'm totally sold on it. I get it from cagecatchers.com. I haven't done the math but I don't think it turns out to be too expensive in the end especially if you buy the 500 sheets.

[CheekyandMalolo]

I use woodshavings, they're special birdie ones, $10 for a huge compacted 20kg bag that lasts forever from my local feed store. Cleaned out weekly.
I also have a grate, but have never had any problems with it, they both have beautiful feathers(except for Mali who's still trying to grow her last 2-3 tail feathers at 14 months old), not ratted up from the grate, and not getting stray poos stuck in their feathers from me not getting to clean it up in time.
I love the colour of it too, I know that shouldn't have anything to do with it, and it doesn't really, but it makes the cage quite nice and bright, a nice added bonus