Bird Poop and Cleaning Tips

Health: Bird Poop and Cleaning Tips

Learn to read your bird’s droppings to help track potential health problems. The three parts of a bird's droppings are urine, feces, and urates. Watch the videos on this page for more information about monitoring bird poop.
Avoid using bedding materials like corncob or wood shavings in the cage, which can be sources of harmful bacteria or fungi. The best thing to have at the bottom of a bird's cage is paper. This can be newspaper, unprinted newspaper, or kraft paper. Pulp paper beddings aren't hazardous in themselves, but it is not easy to see a bird's droppings on them, so you may miss a sign of illness that could be helped if caught early on. Also, bedding can collect a greater amount of bird dander, so can actually be harmful to our lungs.

Video: "What you need to know about bird poop, and the best bird cage liner ever." Phoenix Landing Foundation.

Before changing the paper, spritz the paper with water so dust, bird dander, which can be harmful to our lungs, and down feathers are less likely to float into the air when you fold and remove the paper. This helps protect your lungs while you care for birds! You may also wish to wear a mask.
Change papers daily.
Spot clean cage daily.
Wash food and water bowls at least daily. When using a water bowl, you may need to change the water more than once a day if a bird has pooped in it or added food to it.
If using water bottles, check the tip at least three times throughout the day to make sure water is coming out of it. Water bottles should be washed and changed daily to ensure bacteria doesn't build up in them.
Wipe down all perches, cage bars, etc. in the cage weekly.
Disinfect cages and perches monthly. Follow the instructions for the specific disinfectant you are using.
Some cleaners and disinfectants should not be used around birds, so remove the bird from the room before you use something that could cause respiratory distress (or death), like bleach.
Different types of disinfectants are effective against different kinds of bacteria, viruses, or fungi. For more information, see this chart at https://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Disinfection/Assets/AntimicrobialSpectrumDisinfectants.pdf.

Video: "Bird Poop: The Down and Dirty with Beth Rhyne, DVM," Recorded webinar from February 27, 2021.