Fungus keeps growing on cage bottom

[~Drini~]

I've been having this issue ever since I brought Diell home almost a year ago. Fungus just LOVES to grow out of this birdy's poop. I just don't understand it. She's a perfectly healthy bird, but the fungus always comes back. I've never had this issue in all of my 7 years of owning birds. When Eris was alone in the cage, there was no fungus. Diell comes along and the fungus suddenly shows up. There's nothing on the cage bottom but poop and pellet crumbs (which all pile directly under the feeder, so I put a tiny saucer under the cage grate under the feeder that catches the wasted crumbs so I can put them back in the feeder). Fruits/veggies aren't ever left on the cage bottom.

I clean the cage bottom about once a week, but the fungus grows back within a matter of 2-3 days. Last week I took the entire tray and pressure-hosed it with soap and all. Put several layers of towel roll in it and popped it back in the cage.

3 days later, fungus!! It grows directly on top of the poop and spreads from there.

I do not mind having to frequently keep up with cleaning the fungus, but I am leaving for Albania in less than 2 weeks and I will be gone for 2 months. I am leaving my birds in my family's care. A couple weeks ago I shifted my birds to those glass water bottles that hang on the cage's side and rabbit gravity feeders so that they won't suffer if my parents forget to feed them for a day. As a result, Eris no longer has the ability to splash water everywhere and make the cage bottom moist and humid. I thought this would solve the fungus problem, but even with a dry cage bottom, the fungus keeps coming back. I don't want to force my parents to clean poopy fungus every day for 2 months straight. I'm at a loss of what to do.

Is there any material that I can use temporarily over those 2 months that would prevent the fungus?

 

[WendyN]

I pick up their messes in the morning and evening (if there is a lot). So I don't know if it is a common thing.
But I am probably obsessive..
Have you had her poop checked?

 

[theocnoob]

You're doing it wrong, dude.

You're supposed to put a fairly thick layer of newspaper on the bottom of the cage and change it daily for newspaper that has no poop on it, thus keeping the cage relatively poop free. I never let George sleep in his cage with poop present, in case it fouls the air he breathes. I told my vet what my process is and she said I was doing it right.

Once a week I take George's cage out of the room and power wash it and use some soap to get all the dried poop off the perches (there isn't much) and to make everything clean, then I power wash it again to get the soap off. Poop should be removed daily, though.

The amount of poo that would pile up in a week especially with two birds (I think I understood right that there are two birds in this cage) must be massive and can't be healthy for the air.

JM2C.

If you follow this method you won't get fungus, which, no doubt, lets off spores that are harmful to your bird's respiratory system, as well as yours and any other humans or pets in the home. Not good.

You might want to consider giving some poo to your vet to run whatever tests they can on it and tell you why fungus grows on it because that's just not normal.

 

[Begone]

I agree with both above. Change the papers at least twice a day. And get the poop checked.
It will just take some minute to change the papers and if you mention to your parents that it is important perhaps they understand it better.
And enjoy your vacation!

 

[webchirp]

Yes, Chya and Happy have to have their papers changed more often than the cheeks. Well more often than a pair of cheeks versus them as a pair. The foster cheeks get their flooring cleaned daily with no paper because some pineapple girlie keeps laying eggs!

 

[~Drini~]

You're doing it wrong, dude.

You're supposed to put a fairly thick layer of newspaper on the bottom of the cage and change it daily for newspaper that has no poop on it, thus keeping the cage relatively poop free. I never let George sleep in his cage with poop present, in case it fouls the air he breathes. I told my vet what my process is and she said I was doing it right.

Once a week I take George's cage out of the room and power wash it and use some soap to get all the dried poop off the perches (there isn't much) and to make everything clean, then I power wash it again to get the soap off. Poop should be removed daily, though.

The amount of poo that would pile up in a week especially with two birds (I think I understood right that there are two birds in this cage) must be massive and can't be healthy for the air.

JM2C.

If you follow this method you won't get fungus, which, no doubt, lets off spores that are harmful to your bird's respiratory system, as well as yours and any other humans or pets in the home. Not good.

You might want to consider giving some poo to your vet to run whatever tests they can on it and tell you why fungus grows on it because that's just not normal.

I agree with both above. Change the papers at least twice a day. And get the poop checked.
It will just take some minute to change the papers and if you mention to your parents that it is important perhaps they understand it better.
And enjoy your vacation!

Yes, Chya and Happy have to have their papers changed more often than the cheeks. Well more often than a pair of cheeks versus them as a pair. The foster cheeks get their flooring cleaned daily with no paper because some pineapple girlie keeps laying eggs!

It's not that my parents won't do it for me, I just didn't want them to have to do it, lol, but I guess if it's the only way. The mess they make isn't THAT much, and I think the problem would be solved if my birds didn't like pooping in the same exact same place every time. The rest of the cage tray is almost clean save for those darn pooping stations.

Thanks for the help!

 

[karen256]

I'd try putting some extra paper towel over the main poop spot to hopefully wick up some of the moisture and make it less mold friendly.
Are you sure your newer bird is the cause of the fungus problem? Or did it just happen to start when you got him?
It could just be coincidence, there are lots of things that can cause fungus. Hot, humid conditions or lack of air circulation are the main causes. I know some people like to keep their birds in heated rooms, I don't know if you do that, but it's unnecessary, they are quite comfortable at room temperature. And of course when the weather is nice, open windows and let fresh air in, drafts are only harmful when it's cold outside.
Also, some newspaper can start to mold after being stored for awhile. It's possible that the newspaper you are using has mold starting, then adding water and spilled food makes it take off. You might want to try fresh newspaper or waxed paper liners sold for cages to see if that helps.

 

[Hankmacaw]

I highly recommend that you use F10 on the papers.

 

[theocnoob]

I highly recommend that you use F10 on the papers.

^This is a disinfectant (just wanted to clarify)

 

[Mizzely]

When my son was born I only changed papers once a week for a couple months. The mess wasn't really as bad as you guys might think, I promise, but they also are out all the time so poop isn't just in their cage. Anyways, I never found fungus or mold in the poop doing this.

 

[rockybird]

I wouldnt put any pellets from the cage bottom, even a saucer, back in their dish, with fungus growing so close.

Are you in a humid climate? Do you have any pics of the fungus? Are the parrots healthy? How old are the pellets? Have you switched bags and still had it happen?

 

[Hankmacaw]

I wouldnt put any pellets from the cage bottom, even a saucer, back in their dish, with fungus growing so close.

Are you in a humid climate? Do you have any pics of the fungus? Are the parrots healthy? How old are the pellets? Have you switched bags and still had it happen?

Excellent questions @rockybird. I didn't know she was picking up food off the grate and refeeding it. That's a no no. Additionally, I can't say what's going on with her birds, but once when Hank had severe Asper, I left his bird bread in his cage overnight and in the morning the bread had aspergillus fungus growing on it. If it were my birds I would take them to the vet immediately and have throat and fecal gram stains performed.

 

[Rolanda]

I started to feel like a dirt monger. I do the cages on the weekends. There really isn't that much poop. I take out birds and clean grates and pans and cages. I disinfect everything every time. I do use the grates in the cages so nothing sits where my boys are. I have NEVER seen fungus or anything growing. My cages are in the living room. Open with good ventilation.
I would never put any food that has fallen near poop back into a food bowl or feed to the birds. You are asking for trouble with that. IMHO

 

[iamwhoiam]

Do the droppings have any odor?

 

[Sarahmoluccan]

I've had fungus grow in cages before cause by humidity. I'm lucky it only has happen a handful of times. But because it happening regularly checking with your vet wouldn't be a bad idea. Best of luck with it

 

[~Drini~]

Here's some background:

This is a long-term thing. I got Diell a year ago. When she was alone in a cage (I didn't put her and Eris together for a couple months), only her cage had fungus. I put her in Eris' cage, then Eris' cage also has fungus. I have another cage (canaries) and it doesn't happen with them. They live in the same environment. It's too weird to be coincidental. I live in MD, and we do not really use AC/heating all that much. It gets hot in the summer (85ish) and cold in the winter (50ish), but the birds are in the basement living room so its usually a nice cool temp. They're right in front of this huge glass sliding door (that leads to the yard) that we keep open when the weather is nice. Lots of light and air coming through. Humidity only comes around in the summer (and isn't that bad even during then), but the fungus doesn't stop in the winter so it isn't that.

Like I said, this has been going on ever since I got Diell a year ago. I feed them medium Zupreem Natural pellets (Natural with Added Vitamins, Minerals, Amino Acids | ZuPreem). I have gone through a million bags of pellets since then. I fed the same brand pellets to Eris since before I got Diell and it caused no fungus, so I can't imagine the pellets are the problem. I also don't notice any odor coming from the droppings.

As for the food recycling - the corner that their feeder is in is spotless besides the pellets (I keep it far away from perches/waterbowls), so I really didn't think it was an issue, but I'll figure out another way to reduce waste. I've only been doing it for the past 2 weeks anyways (since I got the gravity feeders), so I don't think that's my fungus cause either.

Also - I've been using white paper towels to line their cage. The kind you use in the kitchen (called Bounty?). They're individually wrapped in plastic when we buy them. They're thickish and I put down a few layers every time, but I'll try the F10 and waxed liners.

Diell has appeared perfectly healthy (besides this) for the entire past year, but the vet suggestion is a good idea.

 

[Rolanda]

I was only commenting on the 'putting the food back to reduce waste thing because mine tend to spend some time sitting where their food it... where they sit, they poop... hence the Icky food thing.

I can only imagine Paper Towels must be an expensive cage liner. I get my newspaper (under grate) free at my neighborhood Starbucks first thing in the morning.

 

[~Drini~]

@Rolanda They usually like to grab a pellet and climb to a perch and eat it, so I've never seen poop near their feeder. But, they also like to sit in the feeder and kick all the food out with their feet, which is such a waste, but birds will be birds.

We don't have newspaper delivered to our doorstep, so paper towels is really my only option. I'll look into checking my local starbucks though. I found a huge stash of left over puppy pee pads from when our dog was a puppy. I loved them!! Too bad they ran out or else I would go back to those.

 

[rocky'smom]

JMHO, take bird to the vet for fecal culture. one question: paper towels you are using is there any color designs in them? if there is use all white paper towels.

 

[Mizzely]

I use the packing paper newsprint from uhaul. $10 for 200 sheets that almost fit my cage bottoms perfectly! I'd also do a checkup since it seems to be unique to her