# What do all of you do with the cage floor?



## Charlie's Mom (Jan 16, 2013)

I am looking for an answer to what you all do with the cage floor. 

Do you let your bird walk on the wire mesh or grate and put paper in the tray undermneath or do you
put paper directly on the cage floor and let your birds walk on that.

Does the grate hurt thier feet? I keep my cage clean but one of these is the best one and I can't seem to decide which one to use..thanks


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## sunnysmom (Sep 23, 2011)

I have the paper in the tray under the grate. The grate doesn't hurt his feet but my tiel spends very little time on the bottom of his cage anyway. I also have a fairly long rope perch that I've zigzagged about 3 inches off the bottom of the cage. He'll hang out on that rather than the floor itself, usually.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

Using the grate is fine, that's what I do too and just put newspaper underneath. If you take the grate out, the birds have a tendency to chew the paper which can make them nesty sometimes. The grate prevent that.


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## Renae (Feb 9, 2008)

It depends how much time they spend on the bottom, the grate won’t hurt their feet though anyway (you will obviously want to keep it clean so poop doesn’t get stuck to their feet). When I had some of my Cockatiels inside, in cages, I had to put the newspaper on the tray, underneath the grate due to 2 females that especially enjoyed making nests with the newspaper on top of the tray, and the males got way too aggressive when the newspaper was on top of the grate, so I just ended up putting newspaper on the tray and let them walk around on the grate if they wanted to, well they did.


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## Charlie's Mom (Jan 16, 2013)

OK so far the under the grate has it. I am sure it is easier to clean it that way.
Mine does spend a lot of time on the ground but that may be because the paper is there and some iof the food sits and he can forage for it. I guess that does not make for a healthy environment though. That is why I am asking. I do have several dishes but you know how messy they are... I will try it your way tomorrow.
thank you.


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## dshiro2012 (Feb 4, 2013)

I allow them to walk on the metal floor and have those thin rock-like things on the bottom, and I pull out the tray and use the vacuum to clean it once a week, and once a month I completely change it out. It's really good at catching things and isn't harmful to them at all.


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## MildlyAnnoyedBird (Jun 10, 2011)

My guys end up with SUPER POOPY FEET if I take the grate out, so in it stays. They're cage-floor-runners.

Sunshine zips back and forth on the floor yelling at the top of his lungs. Pretty funny. 

But the grate has never appeared to harm their feet in any way. I agree that putting perches low helps!


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## hysteriauk (Jun 24, 2012)

I don't bother with a grate as zippy does not like it as he likes to run around on the floor of his cage chasing his ball ( daft bird) he only tends to do this after I have just cleaned him out every morning so not too concerned about him treading in any poop, He used to play with the newspaper but lost interest with it when I put in his ball but each bird is different so go with what you feel best


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## urbandecayno5 (Oct 24, 2012)

I use the grate with paper towels under it
Mine spends half her time hanging out on the bottom of the cage(when she's actually in it)..doesn't seem to bother her feet


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## OOwl (Dec 5, 2012)

I put white paper (in large sheets about the size of the cage bottom, which we get from a moving company, very cheaply) because newspaper print wears off on Evian's white feathers. I put a sheet of that over the grate and change out a couple of times a day. I put regular newspaper under the grate in the tray.


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## meaggiedear (Nov 20, 2011)

I use newspaper under the grate. I have four food bowls really close to the bottom of the cage and they tend to hang out on those instead of the floor, but the grate doesn't hurt their feet.


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## Charlie's Mom (Jan 16, 2013)

I tried to take the paper off and his feet kept falling throught the grate, I am afraid he will break something if I do not use the paper.
I tried just to put the paper in the middle. That might be better but don't think he likes it without paper he spends a lot of his day down there.

I am going to bird proof my bedroom and make a play gym and let him have more out of the cage time.

Thanks all for your comments...


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## Simbah (Feb 9, 2012)

I keep the grate and have wood shavings under it. For two main reasons.
1 - My males/females have stopped laying and nesting *knock on wood* ever since I put the grate it. No matter wood shavings OR any kind of material on the bottom they would nest in it. With the grate, they were just turned off completely and I havent had that problem since!
2 - My male Benito is a floor runner. Seriously, this kid could win the Olympics. Without the grate his feet were covered in poop. When ever he would come sit on anyone, where ever his feet landed would be a poop smudge. It was horrible, especially when he decided to sit in my hair. *sighs*
With the grate, I havent had that problem. Im virtually poop free now! :blush:


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## TMz (Aug 7, 2012)

Toivo is a shredder, grates are a requirment lol, Toi will shred anything and everything he can get his beak on, so not only does he need a grate it needs to be high above the tray so he cant reach the paper at all.


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## Charlie's Mom (Jan 16, 2013)

Charlie is not a shredder at all, his paper comes out exactly the way I put it in.
He also never steps in his pooh, what I did was put half paper and half not, it is working. I change the paper every morning so he is always clean. I put a few sheets stacked and I just remove the top one unless the moisture goes through.

His cage was much cleaner today since most of the stuff drops to the tray, I like it this way....for awhile at least.


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## roxy culver (May 27, 2010)

And he'll get better at navigating the grate the more he gets used to it. Right now its a new thing for him so he's gonna be clumsy on it.


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## mamajo (Feb 15, 2013)

*On the bottom of the cage*

On the bottom of the cage we have "bird litter" it is crushed walnut shells , and it is produced by kaytee products , and say it is one of the best . The birds seem to like this better then the grate. The ones that are laying their eggs , keep moving the litter and wont go into the box , so now the eggs are on the bottom of the cage, and they are sitting on the eggs (female and male) taking their turns.


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

I have a grate, otherwise they'll chew the paper underneath. They stand on it when they want and it doesn't hurt their feet at all (they also like to hang out on top of the cage a lot).


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## moonchild (Jul 29, 2012)

mamajo said:


> On the bottom of the cage we have "bird litter" it is crushed walnut shells , and it is produced by kaytee products , and say it is one of the best . The birds seem to like this better then the grate. The ones that are laying their eggs , keep moving the litter and wont go into the box , so now the eggs are on the bottom of the cage, and they are sitting on the eggs (female and male) taking their turns.


Crushed walnut shells can harbor dangerous bacteria; they'd need to be changed daily and the whole tray cleaned for it to be sanitary. Picking out the poop is not enough. I imagine replacing walnut shells daily would get very expensive...


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## RedQueen (Feb 21, 2012)

Charlie's Mom said:


> I tried to take the paper off and his feet kept falling throught the grate, I am afraid he will break something if I do not use the paper.
> I tried just to put the paper in the middle. That might be better but don't think he likes it without paper he spends a lot of his day down there.
> 
> I am going to bird proof my bedroom and make a play gym and let him have more out of the cage time.
> ...


His feet fall through probably because he's not used to the grate. Our baby male, who is very clumsy (getting better now but he is sooo much clumsier than our female ever was) sometimes trips over/between grate wires on the bottom of the cage or on top of the cage. He used to be really bad with it, now he trips only when he's super-excited over something and running around without a care! lol I'm sure Charlie will learn eventually. It was a good idea to put in half paper and half grate so he has a choice for now, until he learns to walk on the grate.


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## Fweet (Apr 9, 2012)

Otway has the paper over the grate at the moment as she has wonky toes. If there's the slightest hint of shredding for nests then it'll go under the grate as all her predecessors have had it.
The paper gets changed daily so it's only pooey when she's done her enormous morning dump - something she's done since we got her - but as she always does it in the same corner it's easy to make sure it doesn't land on anything but the paper. When I change the paper I flick off the bits of plop on perches & ladders as the whole cage & contents get a good scrub-down once a week.
She goes on the floor of her cage in the evening, checking each corner for snakes & monsters under the sleeping perch before having a good beak of everything & kicking stuff about. I doubt it would be a problem for her to be on the grate now she's nearly a year old but it was when she was small. She's still a clumsy bum but improving all the time.


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