Do you use grates in your cages?? <<POLL>>

[MorningGloria]

So the only people that aren't using grates are the ones that have birds that don't go to the bottom? My bird doesn't go to the bottom, but he is ALWAYS dropping his foot toys. I've considered removing the grate to make it easier for him to get down to pick them up, but the poop contact makes me nervous

I agree with atvchick about the ease of cleaning grates, though. I simply spray them down with vinegar and wipe it off with one of those scrub sponges they make for birds. If I do it's recent poop or I let the vinegar soak, I can wipe it up with a paper towel. Definitely a 2 to 3 minute job even if done only weekly (usually I do it twice a week).

 

[Sharpie]

One of the reason I don't use grates in my cages is because budgies are ground foragers. Yes there's poop there, but going to the ground to eat is also natural behavior and one of the best ways to get them to eat veggies. Thats why I change the papers once or twice daily, so it doesn't get too gross.

What's the big deal about poop? I mean, if there's something IN the poop, it means they already have it, because that's where the poop came from to begin with. It's not like they'll catch anything new from being in proximity or touching it. Luckily I don't have any dedicated poop-eaters, because that's not pleasant to watch, but also not unusual in animals and really is much more of a problem for us easily-offended humans than it is for the animals. In fact, many species deliberately eat feces to inoculate their guts with normal bacterial flora (horses spring to mind).

I don't used a grate in Jasper's cage because he'd never learn to forage if I did. He gets things out by destruction which of course means everything falls to the ground, then he goes down and retrieves his rewards. Ditto for toys. No reward, no foraging.

 

[birdlady]

I agree with atvchick about the ease of cleaning grates, though. I simply spray them down with vinegar and wipe it off with one of those scrub sponges they make for birds. If I do it's recent poop or I let the vinegar soak, I can wipe it up with a paper towel. Definitely a 2 to 3 minute job even if done only weekly (usually I do it twice a week).

It is definitely not an easy job when you have 10 cages to clean every week! lol And some of my cages, like Nani's double are huge!!!

Oh, Kristen, I dont' think I can do what you suggested as I use my seed guards....

 

[Parrotlove]

I could just see it if I didnt have a grate in there and the paper under it where she couldnt get to it Isis would probably pick up the paper with pooh on it and throw it out of her cage...

 

[hsmoscout]

Most Austalians that I have talked to cover or remove the grates which I find interesting...

 

[atvchick95]

It is definitely not an easy job when you have 10 cages to clean every week! lol And some of my cages, like Nani's double are huge!!!

Oh, Kristen, I dont' think I can do what you suggested as I use my seed guards....

I have around 30 cages to clean, but my big ones the bottoms aren't really grates But we have them made so the tray goes Under it instead of inside it like its intended so i guess in way they are grates lol they take me a bit longer when I'm on the tiels and budgies cages - budgies decide its the perfect time to be escapee's , tiels decide its play time and time to steal all my stuff so they make my job harder at times

 

[birdlady]

I have around 30 cages to clean,

 

[atvchick95]

ya i wouldn't have so many if certain birds would just get along with each other but that's never going to happen So I have a lot of Lovebird cages with one or 2 birds in them because They can't get along with any one. Or in Roxy and Pugsleys case She only gets along with him when she feels like it and these days its not much and he runs to the top of the cage to hide from her So it was just better while they're not getting along to have each in their own cage

 

[Alex]

I use them, but while I was feeding everyone today I started looking. I could take out three of them without anyone getting out! So I just might give it a shot, would make cleaning a breeze!

 

[Hay Kay]

Okay gotta pipe in. I pulled the grates out after reading so much about foraging - for the comment on poop do your birds ever get poo on a toy or perch that doesn't get cleaned up right away?

Kristen - i started using the organic crushed corn husk bedding and the birds forage like crazy now. When i had paper on the bottom none of them would go to it unless they got spooked and ended up there.. now with the corn husk they LOVE to forage off the bottom

 

[Angelicarboreals]

In the cages in which my birds don't play on the bottom, I don't use grates. I hate the things, and think that they just trap dirt underneath the grooves where they slide in. Right now the only birds I have that can go without grates are the 'zons, so I use them for the rest of the birds. If my other guys didn't shred the paper then I would just cover them.

 

[trout]

the paper would be a toy, I couldn't cover them if I wanted to.

I'm lucky with Fenway, she only poops in two spots in her cage so I only have to clean the grate in those two.

 

[Babybreau]

Ok so regardless of whether one uses grates or not - for those if us with birds who love to play/forage/eat off the bottom of the cage - how the heck do some of you profess to keep the cages so clean that NO ONE walks or plays in poo? I change my papers often, but within minutes there is poo. I have caught my birds picking at dried poo. There is sometimes poo on perches that doesn't get cleaned as soon as it happens.
I mean, not to sound rude, but I have a picture in my head of some of you either changing papers with one hand while removing poo papers with the other every few minutes or sitting beside your cages catching poo before it hits the papers. I know none of these are possible as no one can monitor multiple cages 24/7. So whether there are grates or not, there is going to be poo. It cannot be helped.
I forget who mentioned sprinkling the bottom with the corn cob bedding - PLEASE be VERY careful with that! Corn cob bedding (even brand new) can develop mold with airborne spores that are hazardous to animals (especially birds) and us. I've also bought a bag (for mice) before that already had bugs in it!! Brand new bag, but once opened I couldn't prove the bugs were already there.

ALSO... for those that have grates just laying around... I know of several people who have hung them flat several feet from the ceiling in bird rooms and in aviaries and that give the birds a whole other level to play on and hang toys from Puts them grates to use!

 

[Stevo]

ALSO... for those that have grates just laying around... I know of several people who have hung them flat several feet from the ceiling in bird rooms and in aviaries and that give the birds a whole other level to play on and hang toys from Puts them grates to use!

That's my plan for the patio when I set up the new house next year, together with a playtop off an unused AA Mediana cage!

 

[Brigidt36]

I used to use corn cob bedding until my vet told me to. My friends give me their newspapers so I use them and it saves me money.

 

[Hay Kay]

Thanks for that insight on the corn cob - On the poop issue perhaps because my birds live in mini mansions (literally) they don't seem to leave a whole lot of poop and they do poop in 2 main areas, easy to keep clean.

 

[Jacob]

Ok so regardless of whether one uses grates or not - for those if us with birds who love to play/forage/eat off the bottom of the cage - how the heck do some of you profess to keep the cages so clean that NO ONE walks or plays in poo? I change my papers often, but within minutes there is poo. I have caught my birds picking at dried poo. There is sometimes poo on perches that doesn't get cleaned as soon as it happens.
I mean, not to sound rude, but I have a picture in my head of some of you either changing papers with one hand while removing poo papers with the other every few minutes or sitting beside your cages catching poo before it hits the papers. I know none of these are possible as no one can monitor multiple cages 24/7. So whether there are grates or not, there is going to be poo. It cannot be helped.

My thoughts exactly! I removed the grate because I couldn't be bothered to clean it. I have newspaper in the bottom. Jacob seldom ventures down to the bottom. Sometimes he does if he notices a nut or dried fruit he has dropped. If it has poop on it he doesn't really care, and since he doesn't care, well then I don't either

ALSO... for those that have grates just laying around... I know of several people who have hung them flat several feet from the ceiling in bird rooms and in aviaries and that give the birds a whole other level to play on and hang toys from Puts them grates to use!

I have thought about this but don't have the space right now but I wished I had.

 

[oddbird]

I take grates out but slide them in when I clean the pan. This way I don't have to worry about Macho the Masher escaping

this sounds like a great idea i think ill try that!

 

[jim]

my guys would forage threw their poop during the day if I didn't leave the grates up.

 

[Brigidt36]

I guess I'm not seeing how using grates creates more mess or time cleaning, maybe because I've always used grates and am just used to it. In the mornings, after the fids have eaten and thrown their birdie mash, I just wipe down the grates with a damp paper towel or unscented baby wipes. During my once a week deep clean of cages, I pull out the grates and clean out areas that the grates slide into.