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Disinfect bird cage and bird toys

Submitted by Michael Adams on January 8, 2010

Birds are not particularly tidy creatures when it comes to their eating habits. They tend to nibble on their food and drop tiny bits of it all over their cage and even in the water that they drink. Also, bird droppings can make the cage extremely messy unless it is cleaned regularly.

One of the most convenient ways of keeping the bird’s surroundings clean it to cut a piece of plastic or paper in the exact shape and size of the base of the cage and place it inside the cage. You could simply keep replacing this periodically to keep bird cage clean. You may also invest in a cage that has a detachable base or one that slides out so that the dirty plastic or paper can be easily removed and replaced.

Once every week, you should wash the bird’s cage thoroughly by putting it under a shower after you have let the bird out to play. Run a hot shower for a few minutes so that any germs on the cage are destroyed, and then wash in with running cold water using a tough scrubbing brush. Make sure that you clean the edges and corners of the perches inside the cage, as dirt tends to accumulate in these parts. Make sure that if you use bleaching agents to wash an unusually dirty cage, the cage is finally given a thorough rinse with water to wash away all traces of the chemicals present in the bleach. Scrubbing the cage becomes much easier and requires much less effort if you spray it beforehand with non-stick coat meant for utensils. After the cage has been washed, it should be put out in the sun to dry out completely. Sunlight kills microorganisms and disinfects the cage naturally. It also helps if you have a spray bottle filled with water and use it to sprinkle water inside the cage as soon as you notice that your bird has spilt some food or excreted. This prevents the dirt from hardening and becoming to remove when the cage is taken out to be washed. Once every week, the food and water trays of the bird should also be put into a dishwasher once they have been rinsed. To disinfect the bird’s toys, soak them in a solution made by mixing an ounce of hydrogen peroxide in 15 ounces of water. After 10 minutes, take the toys out and rinse them thoroughly with water. Leave them out in the sun to dry.

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