• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Bedding and Perch Suggestions

Klomonx

Jogging around the block
Avenue Veteran
Joined
7/9/13
Messages
695
Location
Pennsylvania
Real Name
Anastasia/Dorian
Long time no post! Am very busy just with life, but I check in every once in awhile. :)

I still have Ian, he is as of now a 20 year old male cockatiel that I rescued some years back. He has cataracts and bad balance, as well as a very fast growing scissor beak which he goes to the vet for monthly [or maybe even sooner at this point. Covid put a lot of wrenches into things]. My problem is due to his issues with his beak, he isn't preening properly so his vent gets dirty. I am toweling him daily and squirting the water there + drying off to slowly make progress, but his environment exasperates the issue. His cage is small and not very enriching due to his health issues I cannot change his set up very much. He has a flat wooden perch, which he loves, but, because it's wood and how he sits on the perch, any droppings just get smudged everywhere. This is very hard to clean and I don't think I can get the wood clean enough even after a deep soak. Any advice on what I can use for a perch that is easy to clean?

My other question is suggestions on bedding, as I am tired of cleaning the corners of both my birds' cages, it destroys my back and takes forever, so I want to just stuff a ton of bedding there and be able to scoop+replace any issues I have. Currently they have newspaper - not my choice, but it's free.
 

expressmailtome

Ripping up the road
Administrator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
4/15/10
Messages
49,992
Real Name
Matthew

Love Birds

Meeting neighbors
Joined
8/19/17
Messages
51
Long time no post! Am very busy just with life, but I check in every once in awhile. :)

I still have Ian, he is as of now a 20 year old male cockatiel that I rescued some years back. He has cataracts and bad balance, as well as a very fast growing scissor beak which he goes to the vet for monthly [or maybe even sooner at this point. Covid put a lot of wrenches into things]. My problem is due to his issues with his beak, he isn't preening properly so his vent gets dirty. I am toweling him daily and squirting the water there + drying off to slowly make progress, but his environment exasperates the issue. His cage is small and not very enriching due to his health issues I cannot change his set up very much. He has a flat wooden perch, which he loves, but, because it's wood and how he sits on the perch, any droppings just get smudged everywhere. This is very hard to clean and I don't think I can get the wood clean enough even after a deep soak. Any advice on what I can use for a perch that is easy to clean?

My other question is suggestions on bedding, as I am tired of cleaning the corners of both my birds' cages, it destroys my back and takes forever, so I want to just stuff a ton of bedding there and be able to scoop+replace any issues I have. Currently they have newspaper - not my choice, but it's free.
My lutino cockatiel is 31 years old and 7 months. He has cataracts. I clean his cage and his food and water dishes daily. I think that is one reason he has lived so long. I have two different sized rope perches in his cage. They go across the width of the cage. I keep an eye on the rope perches, and if they look frayed, I replace them with new ones. I'm thinking his cage might be about 27" wide by 25" deep. It might be about 30" tall--not sure. I removed the grate at the bottom of the cage and cut one piece of foam to fit at the bottom. I place two hand towels over the foam (so he won't bite the foam and eat it). Then I place two rows of white paper towels over the hand towels. I change the paper towels daily. Daffy never soils the rope perches. It took me about two years to get my cockatiel used to the cage he is in now. It is very similar to the one he had before except it does not have any rust like the old one he had. I just put him in the new cage every day for about an hour. I did not want to leave him in the new cage until I was sure he could find and was drinking and eating out of the water and food dishes. I have some toys anchored on lower cage bars. He cannot hurt himself on the types of toys I have attached to his cage. The cage my bird is in is on a stand with wheels. I did have four other birds, and my cockatiel's cage was the easiest to clean. Occasionally I need to wash the hand towels. If they are being washed, I make sure other hand towels are placed on top of the foam.
 
Top