How to Clean a Bird Aviary

There are a lot of things you need to take into consideration whenever it comes to keeping your birds healthy. One of the most important things that you will need to know is how to clean your aviary. This is especially important because there is no rain or sun in your aviary - two things that would otherwise help to clean their environment. Without their presence it is up to you to do the necessary cleaning.

Materials You Will Need

There are some very basic, but essential, supplies that you are going to need to use to clean your aviary. These include newspapers or bird litter, some hot water, a mild soap, some vinegar or a bird cage cleaner in a spray bottle, soft rags and a plastic scraper.

Homemade Bird Sanitizing Solutions

Your mixture of 2 tbs. vinegar with 1 quart of water will act as a non-toxic cleaning and sanitizing solution. This is extremely important because you don't ever want to use a harsh cleaner such as bleach or ammonia. Both of these chemicals can be very harmful if your bird were to chew an area you used them on. While you can also purchase a cleaner from your local pet store, it is just as easy to make your own at home. It also works just as well.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Once you have gathered up all of your supplies it is time to head out to your bird aviary and do some cleaning. Before you head out to the aviary though, you should take a moment to make your own homemade bird cleaner, which will act as a sanitizer for your entire aviary. Use this solution along with a squeegee and a soft rag to clean any plastic surfaces within your aviary on a weekly basis. This is also a great way in which to clean plastic panels so as not to scratch their surface.

Take a plastic scraper to any surfaces that have old, dried, bird poop on them. Scrape the bird poop onto the cage floor so that it can be cleaned up. Once you have done this, spray the surface down with your homemade bird cleaning solution to clean up and sanitize the "mess".

Gather up any old newspapers that you have previously placed on the floor of your aviary to help with easy cleaning. Newspaper needs to be changed daily. Your other option is to use bird litter, but then you will need to rake it daily and change it weekly.

Make sure that you clean your birds' food and water containers everyday. This should be done with hot water and a mild soap (one that doesn't contain any fragrances or harsh additives, such as Dove). After they have been cleaned make sure to give your birds fresh food and water.

Wash all of the surfaces (i.e. walls, perches) inside of your aviary with hot water and a mild soap on a weekly basis. While this only has to be done weekly, you should wipe the droppings off of the perches everyday. It is also a good idea to follow up by using your homemade cleaning spray for sanitary purposes.

Transferring Birds Between Cages While Cleaning Your Aviary

While you may hear a lot of talk amongst aviary owners about how you will need to have another cage to keep your birds in whenever you are cleaning their aviary, this simply isn't true. One of the biggest bird aviaries cleaning tips that you should keep in mind is that moving your birds can be very stressful. Fortunately, all of the aforementioned things can be done without ever having to remove your birds from the aviary. Your birds should be used to you, their owner, handling them, so this cleaning time should not be traumatizing to them. Instead, if you need one to move out of your way, simply gently use your hands to encourage it to do so.