just curious

[steptoe91(tozie)]

i cleaned the cages today. deeeeeep cleaned them. i love the deeeep cleaning day, cause i love that spotless cage feeling. of course, it doesnt last long! lol! unfortunately, when i deep clean, i get soaked from head to toe!

just outta curiosity...

#1 how often do you deeeeep clean your cages. i mean scrub it down absolutely completely. not your average wipe the bars with a cloth, change paper, wipe down perches kinda cleaning.


#2 how often do you rotate toys in the cages?

#3 where do ya put your fids?

[Sondra]

I'm different from most people as our birds are out all day, so I only clean cages every week & deep clean every other week, of course I change papers daily. If the birds are molting or I forget to change out the filter on my fan I have to deep clean every week. Most people I know wash down daily and do the deep clean every week.

[wishforabird]

I am lucky I think, I have neater birds... I don't have to deep clean as often, avg. every 2-3 weeks.. I wip down the walls around weekly, change paper daily (um, EW> actually I change the paper after his first morning poo, like changing a morning diaper, I take a layer off the top of the clean stack...no one wants to look at that all day.  )

I don't rotate, I add and move stuff around. I have only had him since the end of June so he is still playing with everything, LOL. I think i will rotate after Christmas because he'll get new stuff and I wanna watch him play with it, LOL..I move stuff around on hisplaygym more cuz I get bored of it, LOL  I think I may start to do it monthly, maybe more if need be... I love new toys. I actually imagine playing with them [as a parrot] when i look at them in the store. 

he goes on the traveling circus (playgym) and only looks at me curiously once in a while to see what I am doing in there.... he has too much to do to worry about ME.
I do look forward to the warmer months when I can take the cage parts outside to clean them!!

[BPMar]

I don't think I will be much help either.  I don't have a set schedule on doing it...sometimes I have to do half the cages one day and the rest the next day because of my back and leg.  I was doing huge cleaning weekly.  Now it's more of how much I can tolerate and how messy they are.  Yep, cleaning day is very messy and wet..last thing I do is mop the floor.
Mostly I will clean with them in the cage, sometimes they will come out into another spare cage or with one of us in another room.
D, usually handles the toy part.

  How many times do I sweep a day..... , now that is crazy!  I can't keep the floors clean for 5 mins!    Sydney and Baby have taken to swimming in their breakfast bowls.....swimming in a sea of seeds...seeds everywhere!!

[BuffaloParrot]

All I can say is I hate when it is perch/toy cleaning day and don't want to talk about it 

[Ditty]

I change the paper after the am poop too Wishy.  I deep clean every week.  The small Wipe down depends on how many berries Yoshi has had that week..  

I rotate toys in Yoshi's cage weekly and perches and such about once a month.  Zuri is afraid of her shadow so I do her toys every couple weeks.  Hollywood has been destroying them all in no time so, when it is smithereens I replace it with a new one.

[Mi Amore]

well my fids have huge cages i clean cages when they are messy(once or more times a week) as for deep cleaning i do that every other week unless it needs it before then. i like to swap out toys or add toys when i clean cages or more often if they destory something. i guess it all depends on the bird and how messy they are. my gcc's and my qp are clean but the others(finch and budgies) i have to do more often. as for sweeping and mopping thats a huge task. i think they poop more on the cage door when its open or the floor then they do their cages,but i guess it makes sense because they are in their cages at night and thats really it. when i wake up i let them out and before bed i put them back... well unless i have a late late night like tonight.

[steptoe91(tozie)]

very interesting. thanks ya'll. i was just wondering. i realized, i never answered my own question. lol!
i usually deep clean every other week. with the regular wipe downs in between. of course skittles and marley's cages need wiping more often than ollie or twiggy's. skittles gets grape juice all over his landing pads and marley gets berries and oatmeal all over his corner pad, so it has to be wiped down more often.  ollie and twiggy eat over their bowls so they dont make as much of a mess.

i always change at least one or two toys on deep cleaning day put something new in, take something old (that usually needs cleaning anyway) out. marley's gets the complete overhaul cause he gets bored so easily. ollie has turned into such a toothpick maker i have to replace his "toys" (which is mostly a rope with wood) once or twice a week. twiggy's get changed the least, her being a quaker and all. she prefers to maker her nest and i need to leave it alone! lol!

they all have to leave their cages when i clean. twiggy is easy, i just let her climb on her playgym and i roll the cage out from under her! lol! skittles and marley chase the washcloth and try to play in the bucket of water so they go to the kitchen playgyms. when marley is in a particularly stubborn mood, i sometimes have to put him in a carrier cause he keeps trying to get back (like yesterday). ollie must be in the kitchen or he tries to maim me. lol!

[patti3birds]

 :slaph:Make me feel like a terrible Parront!!!!

I clean LOTS..deep clean- twice a Month, now that I put paper on their grates...saves alot!!

I wipe and sweep and change Paper daily.

My hint...when My Husband lights one of the soy candles on the hearth-My sign that I cant smell em and He can

I usually dont rotate their TOYS- Was never suggested to ME!!!! No wonder the are board!!!.

Guess I should make a New habit...Geez Stupid, stupid,stupid!!!! :bruce:

[steptoe91(tozie)]

not stupid at all. some dont like their toys rotated. like your axel, who's afraid of new things, ya gotta be real careful. and like yesteday i put a new cozy hut in ollie's cage and when i went to put him back in he almost had a heart attack! so i took it back out.  bought the stupid thing and no one likes it! now marley gets bored so easily, i have to rotate his toys. i must have 20 toys as back up for him. some slightly worn, but still lots of life left in them! lol!
dont worry patti, you are a great parront! you clean much more often than i do. your wipe downs are alot more thorough than mine. i know that from us talking in the past.

[BPMar]

You are sooooo NOT stupid!   :bruce:  Even though D usually does the toy thing we can't easily go in and up and change things or introduce new things just like that.  It freaks them out.  They are better lets say, if the toy falls and is then put up in a different spot....that is after they get over the initial of it falling in the first place.  The Lovies are the worst with that.  They are forever knocking down toys or perches.  Mahal the other day got a very large piece of wood to fall off one of their toys, They were pretty good though when it fell.  I don't recall Taj doing her scream of death.... :twirl:

[patti3birds]

Thanks Ladies,

I guess Im gun shy, a Lady at the bird show was making me all paranoid- Because I heard her giving someone advise in a scarey tone, that if they arent chewing on things like the should- that it will cause harm to their beaks..."They really need these finds of toys to chomp on".

Which is true but My Rose doesnt do much......What can Ya do?
(I did however catch her chewing on Axels Leather strap yesterday)

I dont have the monies to run out an buy a nanny cam.....so, I worry. :twirl: :cstars:

[wishforabird]

you are not stupid. geez woman!  the fact that you are worried about it shows how much you care about their well-being. some birds do not really need their toys raoted that much, just new ones when they destroy..they have toys that they play with all the time, some they ignore.  every bird is different... I put a toy in Julians cage and he didn't freak, but he made an effort to go the long way around to avoid it... some he will run right up to some he wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole..some he just ignores..  whatevah, I wish I could take him to the store and let him pick!  he is not a chewer, he got one of theose destrucabells and he LOVES it, sends it to swinging, bobs and weaves and attacks like a good boxer.. LOL.. they get in the mood for chewing..  I put one of every kind of toy in there and he picks...
-foraging
-hanging
-foot toy
-chewing
-noise (bells.chimes)
and they have different textures...so he gets more stimulation.. plastic/wood/rope/cloth/metal..

you are doing a GOOD JOB. 

[Sondra]

I don't change out the toys in cages either, their cages are strictly for sleeping but do have a couple of toys in them. On a couple of occasions we were going to be away for an overnight I put their playgym toys in their cages.

AR&C, try toys that are for a smaller sized bird. When we tried to get our CAG to play with toys and chew wood to trim his beak we bought Tiel sized toys made with softer wood & it worked. Try a wiffle ball stuffed with popsicle sticks and hung on a choke collar for a dog. Birds need to chew things to keep their beaks in good condition & so they don't over grow. If you need popsicle sticks let me know, I have over 10,000   & would be happy to send you some.

I AGREE WITH WISHY!! YOU ARE DOING A GOOD JOB!

[patti3birds]

Wow,

Thank You Ladies... ...warms the Soul......

I always think about new change and happiness for my Fids, Just as y'all do...I just left the show feeling Blaaaaa about My Axel and Rose...They seen Very happy Though- I must say.

Y'all have a Blessed Day!