do you use a grate?

[steptoe91(tozie)]

ya'll know i read everything i can get my hands on. many of my books recommend against grates at the bottom of the cage. as a matter of fact i think i saw it in birdtalk one month but i'm missing a few issues. (in my room somewhere. dont ask) anyway, i dont have one for ollie's cage. it was skittles old cage that he came with and they didnt have the grate. the cage twiggy is in is re-painted (it used to be marley's old cage) and difficult to clean as it is. so i took the grate out of it. marley's new cage has wider bar spacing than the old flight cage and i think his little feet were falling through. so i took it out. skittles is the only one with the grate in. and it was in there cause he never pooped in there anyway, so it was easy to clean. well, since i've started locking him up these past few months, the grate gets icky.
now, in theory, the reason for the grate is twofold: #1 cause many older cages had a gap that wasnt escapeproof between the grate and the tray. #2 to keep the parrot away from the poop and other icky debris. well, newer cages dont have that gap. (tho, i just noticed, twiggy's does have that gap) and if you change the paper daily, they wont encounter anymore poop than they would if you had a grate. as a matter of fact, if you dont clean the grate daily, they encounter poop in that grate until you clean it. aaaaannnnddd, being a basically lazy person, i am not gonna clean anymore than i have to. so! i'm thinking of taking the grate out of skittles' cage so there is one less thing to scrub. i layer the paper and take it out daily. even put waxpaper between layers so the juicy fruit pulp and poops dont contaminate the lower layers. works especially well for marley.


Do you use a grate? why or why not? do you have any tricks for easier cleanup?

[patti3birds]

Charlie's cage has the grate and I cant imagine him without one.
If he didnt, he would chew, tear and disrupt ANYTHING that fell to the floor!!!

Omg, that would be a mess, he is a messy eater anyway...whew...and between the 4 Chihuahua's I have taking Nut shells in every place imaginable as it is...that would be a mess!!

Plus I would'nt want him to eat any poop....

Um, I clean his cage & Grate every 3 days, because If you dont....the Ammonia hits you in the face as soon as you walk in the door and I've noticed that if you dont thoroughly wipe down the BOTTOM of the grate (where most of the urine is) the stench ( The bog of Eternal Stench- Smells Bad) will linger.

Keeping the grate and cleaning it often, would be my advise.

Sorry- bugs me too, but It also feeds into my (tiny-OCD issues) so when Im done- Im a Happy camper too)
uuggg. Speaking of which- I have cage duty TODAY

[BPMar]

I think as long as there are no gaps etc.  there is no right or wrong way here.  Some of ours have them some don't, probably only because of a gap.  For me it is easier to clean without the grate.  The cages that have the grates in I put paper over too.  The conures will make a terrible mess either way but they have fun ripping up the paper and making tents out of it.  Kito gets extra paper at his food area and poop area.  He loves to slide down onto his back right in the worst places so I change this when messy.  Just my personal preference though.  If I can go without the grate I do.

[Ditty]

I took out the grates  they really don't play down there so it is easier to clean that way.

[Sondra]

On the bigger cages I take the pan out and turn it upside down on the cross bars underneath the cage & put newspaper or a shower curtain on top of it,this makes the pan easier to clean & this keeps the mess out of reach of the birds. On the small cages I take the grate out.

[wishforabird]

I put paper on top of the grate, I change the paper early and often so there is no poopie play.. he is happier with it like that, I can't take the grate out because he will be able to get out, he loves to hide under the top layer of paper, then stick his head out a la "peek a boo", or he will tunnel under it to the other side, like bugs bunny, this little hump moving across the floor, I LOVE THAT.  he is still only 4 1/2 mos old, so the dexterity is a work in progress, he drops his food alot, then goes down there to get it.  

[lorek]

I have all the grates in my cages. When andi was in the brown cage (now t and darts cage) I had it out bc it gave her an extra six inches of cage space.  All my little guys enjoy running around and rolling on the cage bottom (grate or tray) and I don't like seeig them covered in poo if no grate in. If they didn't go down and tear things up I wouldn't mind. I have andi's in her new one just because I see no reason not to. If the cage is powder coated I don't have any problem cleaning up after them.  

[steptoe91(tozie)]

thanks ya'll.i appreciate it. i find it interesting to hear your why's and why not's. i'm thinking i'll keep skittles grate out. it will give him another 5 or 6 inches of cage space. i now have enough grates along with the divider for skittles cage to make another cage! lol! anyway, thanks for your thoughts.

[Bird_Lover]

Nearly all of my cages have grates, but I put the cage papers on top of them.  I greatly dislike scrubbing cage grates, and I've found that I change the cage papers more often when I know that there isn't anything between my fids and their poo.  This works well for me, and has cut the cage cleaning time down significantly, which helps when you have several cages.  happyjack

[patti3birds]

Nearly all of my cages have grates, but I put the cage papers on top of them.  I greatly dislike scrubbing cage grates, and I've found that I change the cage papers more often when I know that there isn't anything between my fids and their poo.  This works well for me, and has cut the cage cleaning time down significantly, which helps when you have several cages.  happyjack

Amen!..My Charlie's (Macaw) cage went from an Hr and 1/2 a week to 15-20 min...TOPS