2birds Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 (edited) I just bought this cage used for the my baby CAG that will be coming home in a couple of months. I was thinking that instead of leaving the grate in and using papers on the tray I would take the grate out and have some kind of litter on the bottom that it could scratch around in. What would be the best thing to use? Shavings, corn cob, or something else? The cage is a pretty good size. The tallest part is six feet and it's 30" in depth and 48" wide. Any thoughts on the cage? Edited June 7, 2014 by 2birds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Personally, I would not do that. You will find that most greys never go to the bottom of their cage. They prefer to be up high. And if you happen to have one of the few that would go to the bottom, you don't want him walking around his own poop, or inhaling any type of dust that may arise from the litter or shavings or whatever you use. I have found that the grate is very nice as it catches the dropped toys and they don't land in piles of poop that I would have to dig out. It is very easy to fold up the newspaper under the grate and replace quite quickly. My 3 birds can drop their favorite food and still won't go to the bottom to retrieve it. They never use the bottom half of their cages even tho there are perches and or toys lower down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 My parrots do not go to the bottom of their cages. They do drop oodles of poop and unwanted food there and it is a mess. I do not have their grates there as I do not like to clean those things and like I said my parrots do not go to the floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffNOK Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 I agree with Talon and Luvparrots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Timber does putz around on the bottom grate of his cage quite a bit. He chases a ball around down there etc. I wouldn't want to be without a grate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray P Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Corky my CAG lives at the top of her cage. Cricket used every inch of her cage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quirky Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 (edited) When Jake joined us his former parront gave us a bag of Eco brand corn cobb pieces. I debated on whether or not to continue with this as I wanted to use some thing natural... Ultimately for me after learning how easily the corn cobb mix can grow mold I opted to go to newspaper for Jake's safety. Edit: I've also read the cedar oil used in a lot of the shavings mixes is not good for parrots in general. Edited June 7, 2014 by Quirky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talon Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Yes cedar is toxic. Good reminder! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2birds Posted June 8, 2014 Author Share Posted June 8, 2014 Yes, cedar is toxic. When I said shavings I was thinking in the terms of pine. I thought greys liked to scratch around on the floor. I guess not. It seems that most of your birds like to stay high and dry. Mildew was also a consideration that I had but any kind of litter would be dumped every day. Anyway, it was just a thought and wanted to know what other peoples birds liked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inara Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 (edited) Inara will play on the bottom of her cage with pieces of toys. She also has a carousel foraging toy that sits low so that she can stand and also walk around it to mimic ground foraging. I use newspapers only, and for convenience I put several days worth of layers down. Makes it easy every morning when I swap out food and water dishes to just wipe down the grate with hot vinegar water, roll up the top layer of paper and done . Also with shavings or other types of litter it makes it harder to do a good poop check. It's easy to glance at the paper and see what has gone on for the day. Edited June 8, 2014 by Inara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murfchck Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 I have to use the grates for my greys, they all play there since when they drop their toys, they go there to get them and just stay there and play. I started off not using them but the toys got so messy from the poop and we caught Gabby down there to get a peanut as she was holding it in her beak to eat and it had poo on it, that's the day the grates went back in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timbersmom Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 Good point about the poop check Inara. That is another reason to use newspaper. A quick glance tells you if droppings are looking OK and that is important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdhouse Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 (edited) I think I may have tried everything (I've been doing this for a while ). I like paper under the grate best. My guys use their whole cage most of the time. I don't want them mucking about in poop. I also like that any fallen perishable food is out of reach immediately. It is good to be able to keep tabs on what & how much they're actually eating (vs throwing around) as well as the quality of poop. It's economical. Also, cob & shavings can get blown all over the floor pretty easily & makes clean up a little worse. The vacuum cleaner does not appreciate much of what comes out of a cage & it chokes on shavings. btw If I had one helpful hint it would be to get a simple, old fashioned carpet sweeper. Save yourself a bunch of time unclogging the vac & depending on your model, a small fortune in bags. Edited June 8, 2014 by birdhouse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2birds Posted June 8, 2014 Author Share Posted June 8, 2014 Well, newpapers it is for a lot of good reasons. I use papers in the cages of my other two birds that I have. Somehow I got it in my head that greys likes to scratch around on the floor. I really don't want it to be mucking around in poop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muse Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 We use grates and paper but I don't like the feel of newspaper or the inky mess it makes when putting it in and taking it out. When we were preparing to move to NC, we found "packing paper" which is newspaper that hasn't been printed on! I was so happy! We use this exclusively! Less messy, no gross smudges of ink all over, and it makes doing 'poop checks' simple! I remember having a heart stopping moment when it looked like a large poop in Marden's cage was just full of bright red blood. Turns out there was a colored ad on the back side of the page that bled through when wet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2birds Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 Great idea with the packing paper. I'm going to look for that. Inara, I read somewhere (I can't remember where) that when vinegar is heated it changes the chemistry and the fumes are toxic to birds. Like I said, I can't remember where I read it, but it's worth looking into. I remember that it was warning about cleaning your coffee maker and pot by running vinegar water through it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inara Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 (edited) Thanks 2 birds. I don't boil the vinegar. I soak a paper towel with boiling water, then spritz that with vinegar and use it as a wipe. I keep a spray bottle of a vinegar/water solution and use that for thorough cage cleaning (wiping down every nook and cranny and every bar) at least once a week. I didn't word it very well Yes, as far as I know, boiling vinegar, especially white vinegar, and/or putting it into your dishwasher or other appliances where it will be at high heat for extended periods of time will cause it to emit toxic fumes. Using it (diluted) for a safe and efficient disinfectant, however is excellent, and is what both of my avian vets use and recommend. Edited June 20, 2014 by Inara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2birds Posted June 20, 2014 Author Share Posted June 20, 2014 I use vinegar and grapefruit seed extract to clean just about everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabelltech Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 I buy a package of paper from an online pet store. It comes in several sizes to fit the bottom of your cage. It is white and similar to wax paper so the urine and wet areas don't go thru. I really like it for its convenience. You can place several sheets in place at once and just remove the top sheet daily. It's rather inexpensive. Only about $65 for enough to last a year. Well worth the price for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvparrots Posted June 20, 2014 Share Posted June 20, 2014 (edited) I use newspaper. It fits perfectly in their cages and is easy to roll up and toss out. Edited June 21, 2014 by luvparrots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acappella Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Dorian never goes to the bottom of his cage. I use newspaper under the grate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kins2321@yahoo.com Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Sophie will NEVER go to the bottom of her cage! YUCK! ( per sophie). When she wants to dig, or forage, its usually on the carpet Nancy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 We use newspapers at the bottom under the grate and it so easy to go in in the morning and fold it up, dispose and replace with new papers. I also clean the bars with baby wipes, unfragranced ones, and then we plan on once a week giving it a deep clean with warm water etc. We have only had our baby for 6 days though, so we will see how this goes. I know my mother-in-law uses cat litter, but when we have her to stay it is more difficult for cleaning and causes extra dust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytness Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I thought greys liked to scratch around on the floor. . When Maalik was a baby, he loved to scratch around on the floor. We put a little cardboard box there with some crinkle paper that he'd dig through. He lost interest in hanging out at the bottom of his cage when he was around 6 months old, and his scratching need stopped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greytness Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 We use blank newsprint sheets that we purchase from a local packaging company. It comes in 50 pound bulk size, so it lasts forever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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