How do I set up the lorikeet cage?

[Sunshinelemonade]

Specifically, what goes on the bottom to absorb all the messy droppings. What's the routine for cleaning and sanitizing cage and toys? Any certain products? Toys? Clean first and then how often? Diet (besides the dry white powder nectar and water)? Step-by-step. Could you let me know or direct me to a website? Thanks!

[thejoie]

Lories and Lorikeets - Loriinae.com

lorikeets.com



You'll find a TON of great information there!!

[thejoie]

Lory Link

Here's another good site!!

I hope this helps!

[WhiteRaven]

Originally Posted by Sunshinelemonade

Specifically, what goes on the bottom to absorb all the messy droppings.

I just used newspaper and changed it daily.

Originally Posted by Sunshinelemonade

What's the routine for cleaning and sanitizing cage and toys? Any certain products?

At absolute minimum, the cage should have a thorough clean once a week. I found myself cleaning here and there (especially the bottom tray and any messy perches or toys) a couple of times during the week then a big clean once a week (scrub all the cage bars, toys, perches). It depends how messy your bird is and how you've positioned the perches and toys.

As for cleaning products, I use a safe product sold by my parents. You can buy cleaning products especially made for bird cages, they are sold in pet stores and online. Some just use hot water and a scrubbing brush.

Originally Posted by Sunshinelemonade

Toys? Clean first and then how often?

Are you asking for types of toys? It is important to have a variety of toys (not just all acrylic toys, for example). My lorikeet particularly loved noisy toys, foot toys (a bucket full of foot toys was the best!) and swings and boings. There are also destructable toys, non-destructable toys, puzzle toys (my lorikeet showed no interest in a lot of puzzlers) and probably the most important: foraging toys (toys that you put food in that requires some work to get to). They are other types too. Your bird doesn't need -every- type of toy, just a variety and especially take note of what they like.

Avoid toys that are going to be really difficult to clean, otherwise place them near the top of the cage so they won't be covered in lori poo. I scrubbed messy toys once a week and some required cleaning more often if they got dirty quicker.

Also rotate toys (take some out temporarily and replace with different ones) weekly or fortnightly to keep them interesting.

Originally Posted by Sunshinelemonade

Diet (besides the dry white powder nectar and water)?

I'll half-paste what I wrote in another thread.
If you are going to feed dry, place it next to the water so your lory can make its own wet mix. I prefer to provide dry at all times with mine (the dry food I used is a dry/wet mix, meaning that it can be used in both forms and is healthier than lorikeet food just labeled as 'dry'). You can also make up a wet mix to feed but it needs to be taken out of the cage again after a while to prevent spoiling. Feed only high quality brands.

Fruit and veges are an absolute must (especially fruit), a lorikeet can't be fed only lorikeet powder food. :) You mentioned in another thread that there is an odor to the droppings... this *may* be because you're not feeding enough fruit and veges.
Don't feed too many foods high in iron because lories and lorikeets have a problem with storing too much iron.

[Ashling]

I clean with diluted white vinegar because it's non toxic and actually good for birds in small amounts :)

[Totalsweety]

Yeah I just use paper on the bottom of Diz cage. Changed regularly of course. i also have heaps of toy (even though she never plays with them) You'll have to get to know your bird to know what toys to buy.

I brought Diz this ladder thing with bells and lots of colour. I thought if I was a bird I would like that lol. She hardly touches it. My mum brought a lttle plastic ball, worth about $1, nothing special about it at all, and she loves it to death. Kicks it around, launches on top of it lol.

[DeguMom]

I know many who use vinegar to do the daily cleaning. Even setting things out in bright sunlight can help to kill germs on the surface.

For our weekly deep clean/disinfecting, I use a very gentle cleaner called Pet Focus. The avian formulation kills just about everything - viruses, fungi, bacteria, etc. It comes concentrated and once diluted has no smell or color.

[LoryLady]

I line the bottom with paper - both bottom of cage and the tray underpart, as fruit and mess still make it through the grates. The paper in the cage gets changed daily and the paper underneath as needed.

I throw away the branches as they get dirtied, rather than wash them. New branches replace the old ones as needed. I get rather excited when I find perfect perching sticks!

Once a week the cage is completely emptied and hosed down with a power hose, scrubbed with hot water and power hosed again. Believe it or not some poo and food can remain (!) and I use unscented baby wipes to clean anything else off.

All toys, playperches, night snuggle hut and bowls are soaked in hot water and washed/scrubbed with a stainless steel pot scourer, then hung in the sun to dry. Then I change the toys and stuff around a bit. She shows little/no interest in toys that don't make a jingly sound.....except those rope rings with the knots at the end, which she loves.

Her sleeping snuggly always goes in the same spot though - at the back corner so she feels safe and warm at night.

Water stays up high/in a place where she won't squirt poo in it. Dry mix next to water so she can beak mix it to wet herself.

Wet food/mash I like to serve down lower the cage or it literally gets flicked EVERYWHERE up top and solidifies to the cage bars. If it's lower then the flickings end up mostly on the paper, which can easily be changed. Take it away after a time though, if left out all day then food goes rancid.

Cut up fruit & veg - stick bits on the branches in her cage for foraging food to find! Monty likes hers slices with cross-sectioned cuts and plated. If she gets plated food on the cage floor it's taken away very soon (cause of poo reason above)

I have to give the fruit & or veg given first thing in the morning so she fills up on that. Then after that she gets her dry mix/mash and then the wet mix for her daily training. Also have to hide some veg and fruits she won't eat and disguise them so she will eat them. This can be challenging, but fun when you fool them into eating something!

Not sure what kind of flowers are in your area, but red grevillia and bottle brush are the big winners here. If I can't find flowers/blossoms, cut branches still go in the cage for a tree type feel :)

Re: White vinegar - it's great to use to mop floors! No chemicals and cuts through grease so well. Have not used it for the cage, but use it on the floor now, so she can be inside and not have to worry about chemicals in the air, or if she lands on the floor.

[Rahni]

Originally Posted by LoryLady

Once a week the cage is completely emptied and hosed down with a power hose, scrubbed with hot water and power hosed again. Believe it or not some poo and food can remain (!) and I use unscented baby wipes to clean anything else off.

Thank god for the baby wipes.... they are what keeps my household from becoming one big lory squirt! Seriously, they are an absolute necessity if you own a lory!

[LoryLady]

Not to mention the collection of Lory Squirt Shirts! Or S***t Shirts.

Hahahaa