What's at the bottom of YOUR cage?

[Eurycerus]

From what I'm reading, no one has a grill at the bottom of their cage? Why's that?

I have newspaper down but there're bars so she can't step in her foulness.

[Polarn]

actually In the cage Gila is in atm has a grill at the bottom and newspaper under, but thats mostly because i wanna be able to monitor her as close as possible, while with the other brds, im sory but im satisfied checking 3-4 droppings /day so im not really requiring having to see every single dropping, might be me slacking i dunno, but to me a grill seems less satisfying to walk on if you feel like taking a walk on the cage floor, and for the playgym, I dot have a grill and I kind of has packed a part of it with toyes they get to go fetch to carry up top if they wanna play with it. unless they want to play with it on the "ground". sometimes wish I had enough place to plant a forest inside for them, but that would then ofc mean I could only check dropping done at nightime etc. sometimes when their cheap I also buy the ppercloth thingie made for tables, or more often the brown paper you cover floors wih when painting etc. I kind of vary quite often.

[marie83]

I did have a grill to start with but most of the time the poop hit the bars and then Ollie would go down and pick it off.
Harlie has never had a grill but the only time she has ever been on the floor is when she laid her eggs.
It is much easier for me to change the newspaper several times a day than wash the entire grill as the poop tends to cover the entire bar rather than just sitting on the top to be spot cleaned off.

[laducockatiel]

I have a grill at the bottom of Ladus cage. Basically because I don't like the idea of Ladu walking around in his own poop

[Eric&Rebecca]

We use Kitchen towel, the plain stuff with no coloured patterns. We used to use sandpaper but this was bad for our tiel's feet. It's also easier to see differences in the droppings, to monitor for any signs of sickness.

[Pritnear]

I buy 2 ft X 1000 sq. ft. rolls of brown paper and have them shipped to me. Under that, I have those rubber 16" X 16" rubber mats that fit together, just in case one of my acrobats falls, because under the rubber mat, is a tiled floor.

[Nokota]

I take my cage lining from our local pet store. Their whole bird room is filled with almond shell litter, which is not dusty, smells nice, quickly dehydrates droppings so nothing can develop, and can easily be cleaned with a bark scooper the same way you would clean cat litter. It's extremely easy to clean and because of the aforementioned qualities I don't even have to do it all that often, and Vivi loves foraging for dropped seeds in the litter. I bought a 30 pound bag on the internet for 45 dollars and it has lasted me ever since.

[Pajarita]

Be careful with that stuff, birds confuse that type of litter with food and have gotten crop impaction from it.

[Nokota]

Be careful with that stuff, birds confuse that type of litter with food and have gotten crop impaction from it.

I don't know where you got your information on that, but my local pet store chain (3 stores) have been using it for over 20 years and I've never heard of a single case of that, and I visit them regularly. Nor do either of my two ever try to eat it.

[Pajarita]

Be careful with that stuff, birds confuse that type of litter with food and have gotten crop impaction from it.

I don't know where you got your information on that, but my local pet store chain (3 stores) have been using it for over 20 years and I've never heard of a single case of that, and I visit them regularly. Nor do either of my two ever try to eat it.

See this: http://www.amazon.com/Kaytee-Walnut-Bed ... B00BUFRZU2 (even the manufacturer acknowledges the danger)

And this: http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww12eiii.htm

And this: (read advise on top) http://www.mysafebirdstore.com/Products-BEDDING.html

And this: http://www.quakerparrots.com/forum/inde ... topic=2420

The danger of organic bedding has been known for years now but I seriously doubt you will get a store to admit they sell something that might be potentially dangerous to animals.

Also, I can find it now but I remember reading once that it could take up to a year for a symptom to appear so, most likely, no animal died in the store because they don't keep them that long but, even if some did die, I also seriously doubt they would pay $200 to have a necropsy done on the dead animal.

But the important question is: Why risk it? Newspaper is free and a much better liner for the bottom of the cage, not only because it's perfectly healthy even if they do eat it but because it allows you to judge poop 'quality' while bedding does not.