Perch and cage disinfecting question?

I was wondering my bird cage for my cockatiel is roughly 3x4x3. It has wood with chicken wire inserts home-made. She also has 2 store bought perches and 3 natural stick perches. I recently bought her she is around 2 yrs old I was also wondering if her bedding was sufficient or if I should rather go with newspaper at the moment it is some kind of pellet grain type bedding not really sure :| . I'd appreciate it if you could tell me the best way to clean her bedding and disinfect her perches/cage.

(also they feed her just a cockatiel mix that is mainly seed and has egg and fruit and whatnot mixed in is this ok for the bird? She also goes crazy for crackers are club crackers ok or is the salt bad for her.)

Thanks, J.D.

 

I'm interested in this info as well! What's the best way to clean perches? I had someone tell me to use something like "Bird Poop Off" or something like that, and I saw that PetsMart sells it - but is it really safe to use?

If you use real branches for perches, do you clean them or just toss them and put new ones in? And is there something you have to do before you put them in the cage to make sure they aren't infested with bugs or something? We have some suitable trees in our yard that I can get branches from and we never spray or anything. Are these okay to use?

 

I use natural branches as perches... and before I put them in the cage I boiled them in a big pot of water... seemed to work good.. as for cleaning them I just through them away and hunt for new ones as they like to strip the bark off of hte new branches as well...

 

I find newspaper is best as it absorbs moisture and dries out quicker thus reducing bacteria growth.

Plastic perches i use diluted antiseptic liquid here its called dettol not sure if its the same in your area this is great because it kills all bacteria and germs.
I used the same in the cages and the bars of the cages but you must give atleast 30 minutes before returning the birds to there cage.

Natural perches should be boiled and scrubbed clean or you can place them in a hot over for 20minutes to kill any germs that maybe on them.
I scrubbed them with some salt water and then put them in the oven.
Allow to cool and place in the cage Or if you prefer since cockatiels strip the bark off the branches you could replace them with new ones.

Water dishes should be washed out thoroughly daily twice a day if you have the time as bacteria soon builds up.
Food dishes need to be kept clean also so a wash out and dried thoroughly before using this should also be done with new dishes and perches.

A good quality cockatiel mix is fine also millet is great for them too they love it, Crackers are fine aslong as they are given in small amounts and not full of salf, sugar or contain too much fat.

Cockatiels need alot of excersise as they get bored very easily so should be allowed out of the cage daily and when in the cage it should be wide enough so when there wings are stretched out the do not touch the sides of the cage.
There cage needs to be place somewhere they can get natural light but not in direct sunlight or near a draught as they get vitamin D from the sunlight.

Cockatiels are very hardy birds and can withstand the cold but a sudden chill from a draught can kill them literally instantly so this should be kept in mind when placing the cage somewhere in a room.

Mike

 

thanks mike, also is there any favorite fruit or veggies of cockatiels and any ways to get them to eat it?

 

HI they love almost all fruiet and vegtables they prefer leafy greens like caggabe but most birds will not touch them.

What you can do is either can a few pieces of fruit and veg from the cage bars near perches and usually they start to peck at it, If the does not work you can chop some small pieces up remove there seed dish and place in another dish with the verggis in for a couple of hours see how they get on it does take some birds awhile to learn this is food aswell but aslong as the breeder your go her from gave them fruit and veg then you will have no problems.

Cabbage
Carrots,
Spinach
Broccoli
Peas
Peppers (red and green)
Sweet potatoes
Watercress
Apples
Banana
Cherries
Grapes
Peaches
Pears Pineapple

These are just some of the things most tiels like.

Mike

 

My tiel won't touch any fruit or veggies she pecks them a little bit then just ignores them. She also only eats the seed in her mix and none of the dried fruit or anything else in it.

 

you can try millet spray but do not give too much as they have a tendancy to over indulge and end up fat also if you have a pair of tiels it will promote them to breed.

Also you can get treats which you hang in the cage there is alot of different ones in the petstores these days they all have seed in them which intices the birds to try them they have fruit and vegtables mixed in which the birds do not realise they are eating.

Mike