CL Cage: Tips on cleaning it.

[Sylvi_]

So I recently brought home my lovebird, Kumo, and I've been browsing CL for cages. If I didn't find one, I was just going to order another A&E Flight, but as luck had it; I found one!
It looks to be an HQ Flight, and in good condition compared to a lot of CL cages I see. And at a great price too! I've emailed the poster for info, so should be have a reply tomorrow or so.
My question: Do you all have any tips on how to clean it? I was just going to spray it down with a hose, rub it down well with some diluted bleach and leave it in the sun for a day. But I want to be safe, so any tips would help tons.
Here's the cage. (The poster has what looks to be a 'zon in the cage, so I'm thinking they're upgrading the bird, and that why it's being sold)

 

[Yoshi&Reza]

Bleach or F10 should be fine. I would wash at least once with hot water and soap to get most of the stuff off, then follow with the bleach or F10.

Hope this cage works out for you!

 

[Sylvi_]

Thank you! @Yoshi&Reza
The initial cleaning is going to be soap/hot water, but I'm wondering about the sanitizing.
Should I dilute the bleach, or will that affect the cleaning? Also, will leaving it in the sun for 12-24 hours do the job, or a bit longer?

 

[MzAnneThrope]

Wow, Kumo's going to be a lucky boy - it would be great if all fids had that much real estate relative to their size!

 

[Yoshi&Reza]

This isn't very precise but I would take a spray bottle and dilute the bleach then spray over the cage... let it sit, rinse, then repeat.

 

[Sylvi_]

Wow, Kumo's going to be a lucky boy - it would be great if all fids had that much real estate relative to their size!

I agree, in my opinion the smaller the bird, the more space. The larger birds need large cages obviously, but the smaller guys need a cage they can actually achieve flight. So I never get when people think the smaller the bird, the smaller the cage. Bar spacing maybe, but not cage . I love the A&E/HQ flights, they're just all around great cages.

 

[Sylvi_]

This isn't very precise but I would take a spray bottle and dilute the bleach then spray over the cage... let it sit, rinse, then repeat.

Okay, so I'll be diluting the bleach. Thank you for the tip, the spraying sounds much easier and quicker then taking a cloth with bleach over the entire cage, especially considering I'll be doing it multiple times

 

[zoo mom]

Hospitals use a 1:10 bleach solution for disinfection. This means 1 part bleach to 10 parts water. So if you use 1 ounce bleach you use 10 ounces of water. It needs to be in contact with the surface for 60 seconds (longer is ok) to kill bacteria and viruses.

 

[Sylvi_]

@zoo mom
That helps quite a bit, thank you!
It's nice to know the time to let it set, to make sure anything is killed off.
Cannot wait to get the little one into a bigger cage, his temporary 18Hx18Wx30L isn't keeping up enough with his active lovie self, so I'm sure he'll love the upgrade