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Every week, clean budgie cages. All plastic toys and dishes should be cleaning in hot, soapy water. Also, wash the bars. Before returning the budgie to his cage, clean and dry everything.
Wet a towel to clean wooden cage accessories, including perches. If the illness is a concern, you may buy bird-safe disinfectants from pet shops. Not needed for weekly cleaning. Mixing white vinegar with water is cheaper and greener.
You may also like to read: What are the types of disinfectants?
Cleaning cage bars prevents bacteria buildup. This is easy if you’ve relocated the pet bird somewhere, but it may create stress if it’s still in the cage when you clean. In a larger cage, the birds may retreat, and they’ll become acclimated to the intrusion over time.
When Cleaning a Budgie’s Cage
Hand-trained budgies can fly free while cages are cleaned or moved to a spare cage. Untamed birds are harder to relocate. Catching them by hand or net can push your training and acclimatization efforts back many weeks, and cleaning is a weekly obligation.
In the early days, it’s better to keep your budgie in the top area of the cage rather than catching and transferring it. Move the cage to the floor and unclip the base tray. Your budgie finds a safe perch. Lift the top portion off and set it on the floor while you deal with the tray and barred floor. Put the dry, relined tray on the floor and replace the lid.
You may also like to read: What are the benefits of home cleaning?
Toys may be cleaned and replaced. In the beginning, cleaning dirty perches, mirrors, etc. may be simpler than using a cloth. The bird may flap and fear, but it’s better than being grabbed and transferred.
Cleaning Budgie Cages
In addition to the a forementioned cleaning tasks, the weekly hygiene routine is a good time to check whether any toys or perches need replacing and if the cage has any rust or stray wires. Quick health checks:
Are the bird droppings solid and healthy-looking (black, white, brown, or green, depending on diet)?
Is there more regurgitated seed than usual?
Has the budgie eaten enough?
Do a general health check if anything appears weird
A budgie won’t mind a cage floor of bars. Most of the bird’s mess will fall into the cage’s tray for simple cleaning. Put budgie sand, sawdust, or wood shavings in the pan.
Budgies shouldn’t walk in loose sand. This behavior may cause some birds to die prematurely from a clogged crop or tumors.
Sandbudgie
Standard cage kits sometimes include sandpaper perches or coverings. This guide’s Budgie Perches section explains why they’re unnecessary.
Budgie Sandpaper
Sandpaper sheets for budgie cage bases are also available. No pet store would discourage you from buying sand sheets because they’ve been selling them for 100 years. Note, however:
- There are cheaper alternatives to cage sheets.
- Sand options include plain paper or an unprinted kitchen towel.
- Providing a toenail manicure with sand is a fallacy if your bird has natural wood perches in his cage.
- Sand sheets are difficult to install (and remove) in non-standard cages due to their rectangular shape.
- Budgies ingest sand, causing intestinal issues.
- Sandpaper may irritate your budgie’s feet if he walks on it often.
How Do You Put a Wild Budgie in Its Cage?
Some experts advocate waiting until your budgie or parakeet is tamed before releasing it, but you may wish to let it fly and explore from day one.
You may attract your budgie back inside the cage by following this path.
Examples:
- Light the cage at night. Darken the room. This teaches your budgie to regard the cage as home and signals bedtime.
- Put your budgie’s favorite goodie in the cage while it watches. Budgies like fruit, and veggies.
- Leave your budgie’s feeding bowl within the cage and eliminate any other food sources. Your budgie will become hungry and return to its cage.
- When presented properly, some budgies will naturally perch on sticks or twigs, allowing you to easily return them to their cage.
- The best approach to give a perch is to softly press the stick against its belly, just on top of the feet, so that your budgie steps up onto the stick. Use a treat to persuade a budgie onto a perch within the cage.
If none of these tactics work, you can catch your budgie. This might stress out your budgie and erode trust, so use it as a last option. If you must capture your budgie, throw a towel over it, pick it up, and place it in its cage-like they are wild birds.
