Question regarding debris trays for cages

[Fergus Mom]

Are there any cages out there that have divided, or split debris trays? I have 2 Prevue Copacabana cages with split trays, meaning you take one side out first, clean it, then replace it, then do the other side. I would love to find a larger cage for my 2 budgies, but I am worried about cleaning the debris tray, as I cannot always take it outside, and the larger trays won't fit in the sink to clean, and I'm too old to do that over the bathtub! How do you all clean your poop trays, please?

 

[Familyof12]

I was wondering how other people handle this too. My trays are huge and I toss out the trays every other day. I clean and put in new paper towels every morning after I give the their breakfast. Often the debris tray has so much seed and millet that got dropped. I feel bad just throwing it out. Is that weird of me? I've been tossing it in my back yard believe it or not. I can tell the wild birds are doing crazy eating it. I then hose it off outside then clean it with vinegar/water in the garage as I have a deep sink there.

 

[Lady Jane]

I put newspaper over the grate in several layers. The tray underneath gets vacuumed.

 

[Lizardking]

We put newspaper in the trays , roll it up and throw it away . We use a vinegar / water solution 50 / 50 in a spray bottle. Spray the tray and wipe it out , kills germs and is pet safe !

 

[Familyof12]

So you just throw out all the extra seeds and pellets they've dropped? I've literally vacuumed what literally looks like two bags of roundybush crumble!

I've taken to throwing it all in the back yard even though I have it covered with paper towels. I get rid of the paper towels and toss what is in the tray and extra seeds in the front or back yards for the wild birds. Does anyone else do this?

 

[finchly]

We put newspaper in the tray, until we get tired of cleaning grates, then on the grate. If putting it on the grate we vacuum out debris in the tray.

 

[Tiel Feathers]

So you just throw out all the extra seeds and pellets they've dropped? I've literally vacuumed what literally looks like two bags of roundybush crumble!

I've taken to throwing it all in the back yard even though I have it covered with paper towels. I get rid of the paper towels and toss what is in the tray and extra seeds in the front or back yards for the wild birds. Does anyone else do this?

I do exactly what @Lizardking does, except I give all the leftover pellets and seeds to a neighbor, who feeds all the wildlife. I think her yard has gotten a little insane, however. She has so many rodents and birds, it’s like her own little ecosystem, complete with hawks circling overhead.

 

[DQTimnehs]

I have blankets or flannel sheets on the grates then many layers of newspaper. I removed Tiki’s trays as it made it too dark in her cage (from the play top tray) and under it where she would go to be nesty. I put plexiglas on top of her cage to prevent poop going through.

Darwin’s and Itsy’s cages get very little in the trays, just a bit of dust. I wipe them out with paper towel and vinegar/water.

Quack pulls a corner of the blanket back and tons of debris and toys get into the tray at the back of her cage. I sort through and retrieve the toys and toy parts. Then there are handfuls of shredded paper, wood etc that go into the compost. I clean the trays the same way.

I couldn’t imagine cleaning poop off the grates or trays! I don’t have time or energy for that! I change dirty paper twice a day for Tiki and once a day for the other 3 as they don’t poop in their cages at night.

The Kings corner cages I have for Quack and Darwin have split trays but I think the bar spacing would be too large for budgies at 3/4”.

 

[finchly]

So you just throw out all the extra seeds and pellets they've dropped? I've literally vacuumed what literally looks like two bags of roundybush crumble!

I've taken to throwing it all in the back yard even though I have it covered with paper towels. I get rid of the paper towels and toss what is in the tray and extra seeds in the front or back yards for the wild birds. Does anyone else do this?

Yes, if it isn't poopy. We have to be careful because of rats - but we feed a family of doves.

 

[Mizzely]

If I throw it out the door, I am throwing it into someone else's yard lol. The houses are super tight over here. There is really only a few pellets and wood chips at the bottom when I clean it because they usually eat away from the cage, and we feed very little seed. So yes I just toss it.

I usually just toss the paper, vacuum the tray with the shop vac, and then wipe with a poop off wipe or spray with f10 or aviclean. Then put it back. Every summer I take it outside and hose it off. They tend to be the cleaner part of the cage because of the papers, so I don't stress about it.

 

[Lizardking]

I do exactly what @Lizardking does, except I give all the leftover pellets and seeds to a neighbor, who feeds all the wildlife. I think her yard has gotten a little insane, however. She has so many rodents and birds, it’s like her own little ecosystem, complete with hawks circling overhead.

This is why I stopped ! I sat watching a Dove and drinking my coffee one morning , when a hawk swooped down and snatched up that Dove !

 

[Just-passn-thru]

I line the grates with newspaper, also line the catch tray below the grates. I no longer throw the seed/pellet droppings in the yard. It attracts rodents, and spouted seeds in my garden.

 

[Just-passn-thru]

This is why I stopped ! I sat watching a Dove and drinking my coffee one morning , when a hawk swooped down and snatched up that Dove !

Oh No! How awful

 

[Lizardking]

Oh No! How awful

It really was pretty brutal , it took long enough that I had time to get my camera and take pic's !

No I am not going to post them !

 

[nu2birds]

I roll up the tray papers and dispose.............then vacuum the tray and clean any dried poop with a bird safe sanitizer. Yes there are lots of wasted pellets, but I don't recycle, too much poop all around the wasted pellets. I do this and vacuum the floor around the cage once everyday usually just before their bedtime while they are having free time outside the cage. Also I remove the grate and clean with the disinfectant dry it off and replace. Sometimes if they are extremely messy I will vacuum around the cage twice a day........but usually just once.

 

[Fergus Mom]

Liz, that sink in the garage must be a wonderful thing! That is great that a lot of you throw the debris seeds out in the yard, but I would be worried about rodents as well! My friends keep a bird feeder by their window, and they have had problems with multiple critters crawling under their home through the years. One year it was a skunk - ewwww! It nearly ran them out of the house with that smell. I can relate to Tanya's post about rats - ugh! I don't like them! And Deanna, I sure don't need my own ecosystem!

Liz, Dianne, and all who use newspapers, I am curious if you take the newspapers just to line the cages, or does anyone read them? <wink>

Since I have such small cages that can be carried into the other room, I remove the cages before vacuuming. For those of you who vacuum the trays, are your birds scared of the vacuum, or maybe they're used to it.

Duane, what a horrible sight to witness, I realize hawks have to eat too, I just wouldn't want to see it! Poor dove.

Suzanne, ha ha - surprise flora in the garden from that sprouted seed!

Kurt and Shawna, there could be a shop vac in my future I think... ha!

Jennifer, I always ooh and ahh over those larger cages with the 3/4" bar spacing, and then think - darn it! Can't use for my budgies.

 

[Just-passn-thru]

Since I have such small cages that can be carried into the other room, I remove the cages before vacuuming. For those of you who vacuum the trays, are your birds scared of the vacuum, or maybe they're used to it.

You probably already know this but...I knew someone who accidently vacuumed-up their little bird. I would remove the birds beforehand.

 

[Fergus Mom]

Oh my gosh Suzanne, no I had never heard of that before! The person must have been beyond themselves with grief. How sad.

 

[finchly]

Liz, Dianne, and all who use newspapers, I am curious if you take the newspapers just to line the cages, or does anyone read them? <wink>

Occasionally.

You probably already know this but...I knew someone who accidently vacuumed-up their little bird. I would remove the birds beforehand.

OMG what a catastrophe! We have a small end thingie on our central vac that we use in there.... and often I just use the little hand vac.

 

[Familyof12]

They vacuumed their poor little bird?!!!! I'm going to have nightmares now. We have a routine. Every evening before they go to bed, I go in and clean the paper towels on the grate. The tray underneath is just filled with seeds. Someone (Delphine) shovels out what they don't want (Roundybush) and eats the rest. I'm going to start giving a lot less food as it seems I'm overfeeding if I have so much in my trays.

As far as rodents and other wild birds such as hawks, I live in Northern California and we have a lot of hawks. This used to be all orchards so there are a lot of mice/squirrels/rodents (possums and raccoons). It kind of can't be helped as everyone here (I'm not exaggerating) has fruit trees in their yards. Right now, all the oranges are in and the things that go bump in the night are up in the trees eating persimmons, apples, and oranges. In the summer everyone has apricot, peaches, nectarines, etc. growing in yards. We have a lot of wildlife. I've accepted it and enjoy it, even the hawks, which I find so beautiful.

I kind of feel I'm barging in on their territory so I don't mind sharing my crops such as beans, spinach, lettuces, tomatoes, etc. out of my garden. My front yard has a huge pine tree with extremely large cones and the wild birds eat those in the front yard. I've been throwing the left over seeds (sans paper towels with the poop) into my front yard or back yard. I haven't had anything grow from it yet (my yard is horrendous from the drought as we stopped watering so if something did grow, I'd be happy for it). So far my fids love sitting in the window and talking to the wild birds and the wild birds get to listen to classical music via Alexa in their room which I believe the wild birds also enjoy.