How often do you clean your parrot's cage?

[Michael]

Newspapers are quick, cheap, and readily available. The wood chips, I don't know. I've once heard of a parrot losing all its feathers because of some toxin in the wood chips. Gotta look into that cause I forget the details.

[SirHubi]

Ok Thanks ill research that too.

[Harleys_Dad]

Honestly I don't clean frequently enough. I do manage once a week to wipe down and remove all things soiled but if I did it more often then it wouldn't be a chore.

[entrancedbymyGCC]

We're trying the walnut shell bedding and I scoop that every day so far. I also clean up any obvious droppings on perches and bars and clean the fresh food and water dishes. I'm trying to understand what I should do about deep cleaning. I was thinking of getting some of those poop-remover wipes for quick cleanups more often. Do you guys disinfect the whole cage and everything in it regularly as some books suggest? Do you take the cage in the shower and scrub it? So far, scooterbirds looks more like it needs dusting than a shower and that's mostly the seed skirt.

[Michael]

First off don't get the wipes. They are the overpriced version of the poop spray + paper towels. It is a much better deal to buy the spray and paper towels and probably more effective than the wipes.

I usually change the newspaper and paper towel wipe down the cage 1-2 times per week. I wash the grate out in the kitchen sink every other week. Spot clean daily if anything is particularly messy. About once a month or two I take out all perches and clean them with a soap/clorox solution in the bathtub and then wipe the cage down with the same solution and then wipe with water. Then about once a year I'll put the entire cage in the shower and use the solution and shower out the cage.

Some more info about that major overhaul cleaning here:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=335&p=3303

[oknuma]

with batman now and with past birds I have always done a daily cage clean.
fresh water, change out food, new paper and spot steam clean any droppings mess on perches etc.

to me it makes the weekly clean much easier.

I am guilty however of only vacuuming up feathers etc from my carpet twice a week LOL

[skthurley]

I full clean cages once a month. Meaning, I take everything out, soak it and wipe it all down with hot water and vinegar.

Twice a week I change the newspaper and wipe off any toys or perches that might have gotten pooped on. I also do an inspection of toys for loose threads or other potentially harmful things on these days. I also wash the grate and tray in the bathtub.

I have an old piece of carpet under the bird cages to catch any loose depris, and this I vaccum every other day.

Daily, I wash food and water dishes with hot water and a light dish soap. They get soaked in hot water and vinegar once a month.

Playstand newspaper is changed once a week, and wiped down at that time as well, unless I notice a lot of poop building up, or I offered fresh food on the playstand. Then I do it twice a week.

[Michael]

I changed my vote from several times a week to once a week. It's not that I got lazier actually. Although I've been busy, that's not the main reason I clean the cage less now. I used to change the newspaper twice a week on garbage days but now I went to once a week. This is because Kili barely ever poops in her cage any more. She learned on her own to hold it in and take a big one when I let her out in the morning and again in the evening. So her cage has just been staying cleaner. I let her out and she flies to one of her training stands which has a newspaper underneath and does her business there. Saves me work on changing the newspaper in the cage as often cause it takes much longer for it to get dirty. Also I give her just enough food so much less of it ends up wasted and falling down cause she eats neater since food is limited.

[Pola]

i clean the cage around 3 times a week

[issy]

Food and water bowls- daily

newspaper and grate- daily

whole cage scrub down- every week

Almost after every meal there is food everywhere, he seems to love flinging the food around the cage more than eating it XD