There are many types of bedding on the market for cage lining. We are listing some and the related experiences.
- Pine, corn cob, and walnut beddings give the appearance of being clean. However, because of its clean appearance, these tend to be left days or longer in the cage, which can encourage fungal and bacteria growth. This in turn, along with the dust factor, has been linked to Aspergillosis and other breathing problems for your pet bird.
- We do not recommend putting gravel or gravel paper on the bottom of your cage. Quite often this product is sold with cages with no grate. This method of cage care encourages the bird to pick at the gravel which may be contaminated with it’s own droppings. The gravel paper and all other sandpaper products are made with glue, and quite often cause skin ailments, especially on the bird’s feet. In fact, gravel is not recommended for small hookbills at all.( i.e. Budgies, Cockatiels, or Lovebirds)
- The safest, easiest method of lining your cage is with untreated layers of paper, or paper towel with a proper grate separating the bird from the bottom. Layers can be peeled off once, or even several times per day to keep a cage clean and free from droppings and fungal spores. Newspaper can be safely used also, but is not recommended for birds which play with or pull their paper through the grate.
Awesome! No words. You always go one step beyond.
There is so much great, useful information here. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Read our guide if you wish.
petcareio
Thanks again 🙂
I have one bird who tears paper tray liner to shreds. It ends up all over the floor and leaves the cage without paper in several places, allowing poop to fall on the grate. She also pulls the paper from the bottom tray, up through the grate. The mess and inability to keep the cage clean is bothersome. I’m lost as to what to use. Do you have any ideas of a safe liner for my Amazon? Thank you.
I like your tip of using paper towels under a proper grate in the bottom of your bird’s cage. My daughter wants to get a bird for her birthday but I was worried that a lot of the supplies would be just too expensive. It is good to know that just plain old paper towels will be great for lining the bottom.
Instead of paper, rocks, wood, paper… I rather not buy a ton of paper towerls as we dont have a compost. We also don’t get the newspaper.
I line my birdcage with Zoomed Repticarpet.It is easy to clean and is reuseable and made of pet friendly material. However, I had to cut it to fit the cage, and my bird recently found that pulling up the cut edge is a lot of fun, resulting in the poo sticking to the tray.
I now use a silicone splashmat designed for dogs. It is food grade silicone which is safe for birds as long as you aren’t baking it. It is easy to clean and fold up and durable that my bird can’t lift the edges. There are a couple on Amazon, just make sure to get the right size, you may have to cut it smaller if needed, and make sure it is food grade silicone.
Lastly, if you have a massive aviary and a 24inch mat won’t cut it, get a Baby Splashmat. Imagine a giant reusable tarp that you can just wipe clean with soap and water and then lay back out for your bird. It is designed to endure the tussling of babies, who also chew on things, and is pet safe.
We love plain paper for our African Grey. The paper allows us to layer it and peel off one layer at a time, always making sure the cage bottom is clean. Especially since they are known to be ground foragers!