new need help with disinfecting

[melsrhenry]

Hi I am new and I will be getting a new English budgie baby in about two weeks.
I have a cage and have bought a few things .

I was also given some stuff like nice wooden perches and some ceramic covered food and water containers and lots of other stuff like plastic chain etc etc. So what I need help with is how do I disinfect this stuff so that it is safe to use with my new little guy?

I am not sure what happened to the birds that had these things so I want to make sure it is safe.

The perches will fit perfect in my cage so I would really like to use some of this stuff if I can.

I was thinking about soaking it all really good in some GSE and water and then putting it through the dishwasher with some more GSE only and using the heated dry cycle and then maybe running it through again with or with out the GSE again.
But I am not sure if this is good enough so I wanted some opinions on this from you all.
Any suggestions for a really good safe disinfectant to use would be appreciated.
And I'd also like to know if you all think what I am planning to do will be enough or not ?
Thanks again I will introduce myself a little later on.
Good nite.
melissa

[AmandaB]

You can use a 10% bleach/water solution for disinfecting. I first scrub everything with hot soapy water and then use the bleach solution to disinfect. I do put stuff in the dishwasher, but not for the initial cleaning. That's not to say it's not safe, I just don't know.

Hopefully some others will pop in with some help.

[kensbuns]

GSE is wonderful stuff and I believe the heat of the dishwasher would do the trick. I put my guys in the dishwasher about 2x a month. No soap although.

[AmandaB]

Originally Posted by kensbuns

I put my guys in the dishwasher about 2x a month.

:icon_lol: oh man I'm rolling with laughter!!! Sorry I know that's not what you meant!!

[CACPioneer]

Those suggestions are all good ones! For quick rinses of my birds' stuff, I usually use antibacterial dish soap and nice hot water. I make triple sure to get all the soap off the stuff before I give it back to them. For big, disinfecting cleanings, I will use the 10% bleach in hot water forumula.

I've also heard of bird owners using steam cleaners. It not only sanitizes, but also loosens up old poop, food, juice, etc. which makes for super easy cleaning. I don't have one myself, but I've heard that you can get one pretty cheap on ebay.

[melsrhenry]

I also know what you meant but got a laugh out of it.
I want to say Thanks to you all. I couldn't decide if I should try disinfecting them or just get rid of them.
I hated to get rid of them cause several would fit perfect in the cage so I really hated to get new but I wasn't sure esp since I didn't know what the other birds could of had or what have you.
Thanks again.melissa

Originally Posted by kensbuns

GSE is wonderful stuff and I believe the heat of the dishwasher would do the trick. I put my guys in the dishwasher about 2x a month. No soap although.

[alesia9]

I just purchased a steam cleaner off ebay to clean my cages. I have a bad back so moving the large cages, even though they have wheels is very diffucult. I have to have help getting it off the porch and down 5 stairs. I used it the other day and now I'm hooked! Not the little conair hand steamers, but the larger one's that have multiple attachments. Obviously, (it should go with out saying...) but I did remove the birds before cleaning!!! Duh. I use water with GSE in it to clean the daily messes. IE: food they fling, poop on the grate, etc. Anyone else use steamers? If so, what do you think?
afj


I've also heard of bird owners using steam cleaners. It not only sanitizes, but also loosens up old poop, food, juice, etc. which makes for super easy cleaning. I don't have one myself, but I've heard that you can get one pretty cheap on ebay.[/quote]

[The Outlaw]

As a rule all surviving germs become resistant to any chemical that didn't kill them the first go round.

Here's what I do on a regular basis:

Daily, I use a spray bottle filled with 25 drops GSE and hot water. I spritz everything, let it sit for 10 minutes, wipe and rinse.

Once a week I get out the GSE, spritz everything including toys and playgyms and fire up my steamer. It takes 3 water refills to do 10 cages and 3 playstands.

Once a month I use a 10 percent bleach and hot water mix and wipe everything down.

If I have boarded any birds, I mix up Virkon S and hot water, wipe everything down and allow things to dry. Then I go back and rinse very well.

I alternately use Avicine once a week instead of the GSE.

I run all perches and boings through my dishwasher with normal dishwasher detergent about once every 2 weeks and allow them to hang and dry. I also inspect the boings and rope perches for wear at this time.

All water and food dishes get washed in the dishwasher at least once a day and just handwashed when I'm doing food changes and water changes throughout the day. I have two sets of feeding bowls and water bowls for every bird here.

[basketbagley]

so its ok to put wood perches in the dishwasher? and the boings too? I would have never of thought of that! how about the rope perches too? and the .... ok, is there anything that can't go into the dishwasher???

do you guys disinefect the toys too? dishwasher?

Maybe I'm not cleaning enough!!!

[alesia9]

Hi.

What is Avicine and where do you get it? I thought Avicine is a vaccine to help treat certain types of cancer??

afj99

Originally Posted by The Outlaw

As a rule all surviving germs become resistant to any chemical that didn't kill them the first go round.

Here's what I do on a regular basis:

Daily, I use a spray bottle filled with 25 drops GSE and hot water. I spritz everything, let it sit for 10 minutes, wipe and rinse.

Once a week I get out the GSE, spritz everything including toys and playgyms and fire up my steamer. It takes 3 water refills to do 10 cages and 3 playstands.

Once a month I use a 10 percent bleach and hot water mix and wipe everything down.

If I have boarded any birds, I mix up Virkon S and hot water, wipe everything down and allow things to dry. Then I go back and rinse very well.

I alternately use Avicine once a week instead of the GSE.

I run all perches and boings through my dishwasher with normal dishwasher detergent about once every 2 weeks and allow them to hang and dry. I also inspect the boings and rope perches for wear at this time.

All water and food dishes get washed in the dishwasher at least once a day and just handwashed when I'm doing food changes and water changes throughout the day. I have two sets of feeding bowls and water bowls for every bird here.