How often do you clean your parrot's cage?

[Chicklet]

Briar and Rista's cage: Daily newspaper change
Cage Bars and Grate: 2-3 times a month
Full Clean: once a month

Budgies: Every second or third day change newspaper
Full Clean: usually monthly but they aren't half as messy as the other birds

I used to change the paper every 3-4 days but they throw food around a lot and I was reading up on a certain type of mold, Aspergillus, that grows readily in the cage grate if not cleaned often. It also grows well in wood chips, shavings and corn cob beddings, which is why I don't like using them.

[bmsweb]

I change the bottom sheet, vacuum and use clean dishes from the Dishwasher every day, but I do the full blown clean once a week. This involves cleaning every part of the cage so it looks like NEW . . . well for around 5 min before they make a mess again.

[TheNzJessie]

my budgie i spot clean every day as we doesn't eat all his fresh greens and that includes blowing the husks out of his food dish, i change the newspaper about every 1-3 days a as he doesn't spend much of his time in his cage. i do a proper clean like Michael every month that is using water and disinfectant

but when i had my rainbow lorikeet (as lori owners will know they are VERY messy) i had to change the newspaper daily also change his food food every 3-4 hours as it was mostly natural nectar flowers fruit and wetmix which is sorta like porridge it goes off in a couple of hours, i would do a proper clean every 10 days with water disinfectant (the works)

and ill add if you dont remove the newpaper even if its a little soiled it stinks (because of the lorikeets diet the end result is quite different......) so its better to do it every few days then weekly

[TheNzJessie]

and LOL at izzy i can completely relate to the food flinging haha my lori used to cover his beak in wetmix and then shake it all off going everywhere

[Titanius]

I clean where I see it needed... Some days when I let Jasper out the cage for a certain amount of time I give him a small sprig of millet when he gets back into the cage.(Since I haven't started clicker training seriously yet)And then a couple hours later you'll see a mound of empty shells in the cage and on that side. So on those days I replace the newspaper at the bottom that day. With spring here you never really know what kind of bugs are marching through your house.

*When I had the grill at the bottom I used thicker magazine paper but then I realized that this stuff could be toxic so I decided to remove it a couple minutes later. I also noticed Jasper trying to jab at the people on the magazine. so it was a better safe than sorry kind of thing

[TheNzJessie]

now i have my rainbow lorikeet i change mine to daily. newspaper, grate and wipe down everyday.

[demifasulo]

I only have one parrot, a Sun Conure. He has a medium sized cage.

I change his food and water daily, I rinse out the bowls with hot water and dry them. When I first got him, I changed his newspaper at the bottom of the cage daily. After a few months, I got lazy and only changed it once a week. This is followed by a thorough cleaning with Mango Pet Focus disinfectant. (I highly recommend this cleaner, I bought the concentrate which lasts much longer and is ultimately cheaper than the ready to spray one). I clean everything in his cage with the disinfectant and then run most of his perches and spiral perch through the dishwasher with a safe soap. I let the perches and spiral perches dry outside to avoid molding. I don't mind cleaning the cage expect for cleaning the grate at the bottom of the cage. I began to research a bit about a litter or wood chip that I could keep at the bottom and change or scoop whenever needed. I decided to just stick with the crate and newspaper because of safety concerns. I am going to start changing the newspaper 2 or 3 times a week from now for safety reasons. I think I am going to completely clean the cage and grate at least once every two weeks. From reading these forum, I have also decided to keep a few pieces of newspaper at the bottom of the cage and just remove a layer or two daily. A very simple and clever idea .

One thing I suggest is to try potty training your bird. My conure is potty trained somewhat. If I tell him to "go potty" he will do so if he needs to. However, he still goes anywhere if I don't get the chance to catch his signs that he has to go. I am still working on training him in that sense.

-Demi.

[Polarn]

I clean the bowls atleast once a day
I change the newspapers at the bottom daily, (I get my hot water and heat through a furnace so I use the newspapers from the cage to start the fire each day)
I also try and get all the bars properly wiped off once a week so I try todo 1side each day. I have 5 sides on the cage so it gives me 2 days a week where I don't polish bars.
Every time the newspapers has for some reason not covered properly so that there is poo on the trays I take em out and wash em thoroughly, and atleast every 3rd day.
I clean toys etc twice a week running whatever I can through the autoclave once a week including the bowls. If I still worked as a tattoo artist full time so that the auto clave were running daily I would most likely run everything through more often.
Any poo on perches toys or whatever I clean off as soon as I see it. But to be honest it is more common to change curtains and washing them than having to clean perches...
Also right now he has had a few days where he has been climbing ontop of the cage in the evening to sleep, but during the days he is in his cage playing more than he is out. So have had to clean the top of the cage in the morning before he climbs back In to climb the roof...

[Polarn]

Perhaps should have read all the posts. Score I posted... I clicked daily, but really I maybe should have clicked weekly, since most of the things I do daily basicly ends up as a weekly result, the newspapers at the bottom is changed daily tho even if it is only 1 dropping on them, but as I stated I might as well change it and use "used" paper to light the furnace and put fresh ones in the cage. So I might actually be a weekly person. Just that I rather spend a smaller amount each day than having a specific day todo something. One reason being I'm terrible at planning, and if I don't feel like spending Saturday cleaning bars and decide todo it the day after I feel lazy and not too good about myself. Therefor knowing I can skip 2 days a week and still have cleaned all the bars makes me feel less guilty.
Wish I could get the cage to the shower and shower it every now and then. Only done it once so far, but I have to screw the whole cage apart to get it through the doorways.

[Cage Cleaner]

Cleanliness is key to health. For me, this includes mental health as well.

Food/Water bowls: every 1-2 days. I'll be on a roll w/ it every day, and then miss a day or two.

Newspaper: every day. I put about 10 sheets in at a time, and take out 1-2 every time, depending on how soaked through they are. Clearly I am more on top of taking the poop away than giving them fresh food every day. But there are several diseases that can be transmitted to humans through dried poop, and also, birds can contract pneumonia from their own poops, so I find this essential. I also don't use grates, which makes this step even more important. That, and bird poops DO have a bit of smell, even if it isn't strong, and I am smell-sensitive.

Vacuuming floor, house around bird area: 3x/ day to 1ce/day depending on how many treats they've had when out.

Vacuuming cage to get dust/small particles: 1x/week

Whole cage rise, soap, wash, rub down outside, and air dry: 1ce/ 0.5-1 YEAR.

Spot clean (w/ enzyme based, non-toxic, biodegradable spray): As needed.

I'd also like to add: Bathing/Misting THEM: 2-3x/week.