Marlene Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 Gus has a cage that does not have a grate at the bottom. I place news paper at the bottom and this has worked out fine. He does not often poop in his cage but sometimes he just cant help it. Here's the problem...He does eat in his cage and he prefers wet food so even his pellets are soaked in juice. He gets fruit, veg and egg food mix (includes shrimps, corn, peas, wheat etc etc.) in his cage. One of Gus' faveorite games is to find something on the bottom and play with it. There is no lack of toys higher up but sometime the floor is the place to play. When he's playing he rolls over and chews on whatever he's got. This is evidently heaps of fun. However, he is likely to get real grubby sometime real soon. I do not fancy the idea of washing poop off his back (and I don't think he will enjoy the experience any more than I) but unless I'm running up and down changing his cage every 2 hours this seems inevitable. How do I stop the rolly poly game inside the cage? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MommaFawkes Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 My only suggestion is to put the grat back in the bottom. It wont stop the play, and this play is very good for them, but it will keep him out of the poop and stuff down there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblhelix Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 Kip plays at the bottom of the cage all the time. She likes to drop her fresh food down and then go pick through it off the bottom later. Its normal foraging behaviour. She also rolls and will tear/shred the paper at the bottom sometimes, making a nice mess. We have a grate but putting that in would take away the fun she has foraging. She poops in her cage as much as any. I change the paper daily and have not had a problem with her getting dirty... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronda477 Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 I agree with Mark aka Dblhelix. They love to forage at the bottom of the cage and after reading a link on here as well as doing research for our baby cockatoo we are getting I have learned that the foraging is natural and they love to do it and there are tons of people that encourage it for them, so they have some kind of natural habitat going in their own cage. Cleaning it daily would work well and there are more things you can put at the bottom of the cage as well to help keep the mess of of him. Here is a link posted on another thread we had just a little bit ago. You need to have Adobe reader for it though. http://www.indonesian-parrot-project.org/pdf_files/foraging_tray.PDF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlene Posted March 10, 2008 Author Share Posted March 10, 2008 Thanx guys. Fortunately he does not poop much in his cage so thats a real plus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 I don't see much of a problem if you change the paper several times a day so it stays clean so he can roll and play at his leisure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nychsa Posted March 10, 2008 Share Posted March 10, 2008 It sounds like he's really having a grand time Marlene! Good for him!! They do love to forage - in fact, that was one of the first things my avian vet told me to ensure they get - lots of foraging time. Our foraging area is on their playtops. I put straw up there, and I toss food around on the top along with nuts they can open and toys to hide goodies in. When I'm home, they forage all day long! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlene Posted March 11, 2008 Author Share Posted March 11, 2008 It is generally not a problem changing the paper many times but some days I am either in the workshop all day or out working and simply am not home to change the paper. I really like the idea of a play pen where I can scatter "stuff". I'm sure if constructed properly he will be able to come into the workshop with me and be safe in it. Mmmmm...needs some thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nychsa Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Marlene wrote: It is generally not a problem changing the paper many times but some days I am either in the workshop all day or out working and simply am not home to change the paper. I really like the idea of a play pen where I can scatter "stuff". I'm sure if constructed properly he will be able to come into the workshop with me and be safe in it. Mmmmm...needs some thought. Now that's a great idea! A portable playpen! That would solve a good deal. I could have used one of those yesterday - I was in my office working and I thought Jiggy and Bella wold enjoy sitting on their travel cage and play with some toys there. But, instead they jumped on me - one on each shoulder, Bella promptly dropped a bomb on me, and Jiggy started nibbling on my ear. When I tried to talk to my banker on the phone, Bella grabbed my glasses and ripped them off my face :blink: I put her back on the cage and she flew back over and started climbing my table lamp toppling it over and landing on my computer :unsure: Of course papers were flying all over the place :blink: Geezum, I do need to make a sitcom out of these two around here!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marlene Posted March 11, 2008 Author Share Posted March 11, 2008 Now that's a picture to ponder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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