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How often do you clean?

Merlin da

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Just wondering how often people clean their bird's area? Do you change the cage liner daily, and what about play stands? Do you/how often do you deep clean, vacuum/mop? This is just for curiosity's sake; I know that it will depend on how many and how big your birds are.
 

Wardy

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My bird hasnt come out of her cage yet as she is not ready so cant comment on playstand, i clean her cage daily and deep clean every other day.

her daily clean is changing the cage liner removing the grate brushing anything in the seed catcher into the cage so it is caught in the bottom tray and emptying the bottom tray and brushing any food from the rails of the grate.
I change her water 3 times a day as it ends up full of feathers of bits of food and she bathes in it daily as well.
i also swap out any perches that are dirty daily.

I deep clean every other day at the moment this is a cloth with boiling water and a really good scrub as she is not coming out of the cage i cant use F10

I have got a baby conure not the largest of birds but she does make such a mess, i mop the floor around her cage daily.
 

Sparkles!

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I’m a bit of a neat freak, not conducive to birds; it is what it is.
I clean constantly. However, I feel that quality is one reason why I have the good health of all the living organisms in our home. We have a dedicated array of bird cleaning implements on each floor of the house. If you walk by a cage, take two seconds and use the dust buster or a minute to swap a water dish. We have all dishwasher safe dishes (and a plethora of them) to make this easy. But yes, constantly. I’d rather spend money on going through an extra roll of paper towels each week than have to scrape poo on the weekends. The air filters get monthly maintenance and we do a monthly super deep clean as well, getting the items that may get missed daily… like the walls and curtains and baseboards etc.
 

flyzipper

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Just wondering how often people clean their bird's area? ...I know that it will depend on how many and how big your birds are.
That's definitely true for me.

The other variables I've observed are the size of the "bird's area", and how they interact with it, and whether they're flighted or stationary.

My birds have access to my entire house in one way or another, and it's a fairly large space, so mess can spread fairly... dynamically.
  • Cages - I have two birds who are only in their cages to sleep, both usually hold their poop until the morning, and only one eats in the cage (so my cages don't get very dirty).
  • Play stands - My biggest bird has an open stand that he spends the majority of his time on, and the variable there is how quickly he chips-up his wooden toys (sometimes takes a day). It's also a multi-function space for him, so he eats here much of the time (see below).
  • Eating areas - The places, for me, that get the messiest are those where they eat, and they need immediate attention after they do.
  • Spot cleaning - happens instantly if they mess on a hard surface, or it's left to dry before cleaning up if not (I find it's easier that way).
I'm not a neat freak, but I am fairly myopic, so... it balances out. :)
 
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JewellBird

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Miranda
I change cage liners daily, wipe off cage grates, perches etc. daily too. I usually spot clean play areas daily, and use my handheld vacuum to clean up around the cages daily also. Their bowls get hand washed daily, and then get run through the dishwasher at least once a week. Every other Saturday is usually my day to really deep clean cages and I take all the perches, toys etc. out of the cages and wash and disinfect the perches and grates really well either outside if it's nice enough, or in the bathtub and that's usually when playgrounds get deep cleaned too. So that's kind of what I try to stick to for a cleaning schedule, but sometimes it just also depends on the week, if things get done on that exact time line.
 

kayosa

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Katy
One large cage with two budgies, I clean the papers every two to three days. If I’m rushed I toss a paper overtop, that way at least the birds are clean. I vacuum once a week, and I have a rag towel that I shake out. I wipe down perches and bars once a week or more. I wash the cage out completely once a month or so.
The birds have free range of the room all day, but since the cage is a good size with comfy perches they spend at least half their time inside.
 

scrape

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Just wondering how often people clean their bird's area? Do you change the cage liner daily, and what about play stands? Do you/how often do you deep clean, vacuum/mop? This is just for curiosity's sake; I know that it will depend on how many and how big your birds are.
I change paper at least once a week. Full clean whenever cage gets noticeably dirty. I will admit with my current play stands I scrape off the poop when it gets too dirty. When the birds can't walk on the base, more cleaning is less important. Vacuum probably three times a week, depends on how dirty the room is. Mop/swiffer when I'm feeling motivated.
I have three little birds and I'm not a neat freak. :ashamed1:
 

KhanKrazy

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Every day I clean out food and water dishes and refill fresh. I sift through the walnut litter at the bottom of the cage and remove any toy pieces and poop. I wipe down the grates and any large poop piles I see on the bars/floor.

And once a week/every two weeks I completely take everything out of the cages and I wash all toys/perches with poop and I power wash the cages outside and let them dry in the sun.

It’s a lot of work. But they’re worth it.
 

The_Mayor

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My birds are relatively tidy, so it's a pretty light lift.

Every morning I empty and refill their water containers (used to wash those every day, but since they're in the aviary now they don't make a mess in them the way they used to. I wash them every couple of days or right away if one looks/feels less than clean) take out their food dishes and replace them with fresh food.

My birds have a dining/social area that spans most of the width of their cage, made of one pine board over 2 2x4s. I cover the board with a sheet of paper and replace that every morning before I put their fresh food in.

My floor set up is: under-layer of chair mats completely covering the floor under their space, mid-layer of builder's paper, and then a top layer of large sheets of newsprint. Probably every 2-3 days I replace the papers that are under where they usually perch. About once a week I pull up all the top layer and sweep up any stuff that's migrated under the papers. I haven't needed to replace the builder's paper yet. I suspect that'll be something I need to do if I drop a full water dish or something like that.

I also have a table that has some odds and ends (mostly their trove of eucalyptus leaves). I usually replace the paper on that once a week when I replace the floor papers.

They don't mostly poop on their perches so I can't remember the last time I've had to take down a perch to clean it although I do periodically have to flick little deposits off their big manila rope. In fairness to them, the rope is bigger than they are, so they'd have to climb down the side in order to not poop on it. One of their favorite perches is over one of the 2x4s that supports their loft. Since I can't really conveniently take it out to clean, once I noticed that, I scraped it off and then wrapped paper around that end. If something does need to be spot cleaned, if I can do it in place I use their dedicated sponge, a bird safe cleaner sprayed onto the sponge and a lot of water to take care of that.

I don't need to clean or wipe down their cage itself except for sometimes capturing a bit of down that has floated to one of the bars.

At night I empty and refill their water containers and sometimes top up their seed dish if it looks like they're getting low. They do eat their pellets, but somehow they always seem to have enough left to tide them over until morning. :cool:

It's probably taken longer to type it than it actually takes me to attend to their needs most days.
 

redindiaink

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Lotus Land
One of my birds poops in the same spot and never smears food on perches or flings it everywhere. Another poops everywhere and the inside of the cage looks like they had a food fight with the other birds. A third is like the second, but he likes to angle his bum so it gets everywhere including outside the cage. It's really hard to generalize. I deal with most of it as it happens.

Generally: Liners, grates and trays are done everyday. Spot cleaning depending on the bird. Fresh dishes for food and water everyday. Floors swept and a light mopping a couple times a week. Cages are deep cleaned once a week.
 
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