Cleaning perches

[theresa92841]

As you may remember, I have a new canary. One of the things that I read was that the easiest way to clean the perches, were to take out the old perch and put in a new perch. That way you easily can clean the old perch. You do this swap each week.

So I have my new perches. And am ready to go.

I am thinking though, since it takes a while to unscrew the old perches and screw in the new perches, and since Le Beau tends to be fluttering around the whole time when I am doing that, and since I have 3 perches to replace . . . would it be better for me to remove Le Beau to another cage?

I am not adept at doing that. But maybe it is a good idea to get him use to my doing that once a week. So that maybe it would be no big deal.

Or should I just do my best to do it, with him still in the cage.

I want to do this in a little bit. I am waiting because he is enjoying sitting in the sun and singing. So once the angle of the sun gets to the point where he can't be in it anymore, I want to go ahead and do this.

I am choosing Sunday as my weekly cleaning the cage day.

ETA: I also am thinking that I would get a flight cage (30" long x 18 x 18) that I could put him each week. It would give him a chance to stretch his wings while I clean the cage. What do you think?

[Macawpower58]

I'm supposed to be swapping perches every week??? :eek:

Only kidding, my perches get to 48" long, and cost 40.00+ a perch. I can't reasonably do this, I just don't have spares.

It's nice to see your getting off to such a good start.

I use a warm, wet cloth after I scour with a wire brush on my perches. For very bad ones, I'll remove and allow them to soak in a weak bleach water solution in my tub. Then I rinse very, very well. I dry thoroughly before replacing in the cage. I usually do only 1 or 2 perches at a time, I always leave at least one in the cage for birdie to scold me from, while the others are drying.

Is your canary easy to handle? or does it become terrified of your hand? If it is young, and easily handled, I'd go ahead and allow it out while cleaning, it makes it much easier, and is good for your bird to keep him tame.

A lot depends on how your canary takes being picked up by you. Cleaning perches while in the cage is not difficult. To traumatize your bird weekly (if he is fearful) doesn't seem necessary to me. If it is easily frightened, perhaps removing them once a month for a good cleaning would be better, while giving them a spot cleaning weakly.

I also doubt he'd take advantage of a flight cage, if just put in it for cleaning. He'd most likely sit frightened in a corner. My birds hate new cages. It takes forever for them to feel safe in one.

I am not a canary owner, and am just using my common sense, if any canary owners out there can say better, please do.

[theresa92841]

So far he is not easy to handle and is scared of my hand. So that is why I wondered if it would be less scary to just take him out of the cage (since he is subjected to my hand for a shorter time) or less scary to have him on the perch and fluttering around . . . upset that I am in the cage for so long.

I have read that canaries hate to be handled. But it seems that it is the stress of being handled. So trying to figure out which would be more stressful.

It certainly will be way easier for me to access the perches without the bird in the cage.

I hope that over time he will be less scared of my hands. I try to move slowly, but I am not real good at it.

Well, I guess I'll go give it a shot. Wish me luck!!!

ETA: I have to put my hand in his cage every day anyway. To put in treats or bath water. And I am sure over time, I won't take so long. But I am not naturally coordinated so everything is awkward when I do it.

[theresa92841]

I am just as inept at doing these things as I thought I would be. Le Beau managed to get out of the cage right away. Probably because I didn't use the towel over the door trick like I should have. So then since I had to catch him anyway, I put him in a different carrier cage. He wasn't happy.

But it took me a good half hour to get the old perches out, the new ones in and where they needed to be. Probably because I use manzanita multi branch perches and I am still trying to figure out where everything needs to go.

And then to do a general cleaning (not a deep cleaning . . . just a wipe down). And then since it was easier to clean the grate and bottom. And let them dry quickly in the hot sun.

I can't imagine how I could have done this with Le Beau still in the cage. And I thought it was easier cleaning the perches when they were out. But maybe next time, I will switch one out at a time. Since I have a general idea where each one goes now. That might not be so bad. Just do one earlier in the day. One mid day and one later in the day. So I reach in for 3x but for a shorter period of time.

And Gigi was outside the bathroom door the whole time . . . wondering why she couldn't join into this fabulous fun!

I am getting better / more confident in the actual holding of the canary. I think he would have liked being in the flight cage. He wanted to move around in the carrier cage and there wasn't room. He seems very curious to me. So maybe if I am able to put him in a flight cage for awhile, he would use it. I guess it won't hurt to give it a try next time.

I do hope to get more adept in the future.

ETA: At the pet store, they would remove the bird weekly to clean the cage. So he is use to it, even if he doesn't like it. Maybe it is best for me to keep doing it. I probably will get better over time. I also thought of seeing if I could match up the doors and see if the bird would go into the flight cage on his own. That would be easier yet.

[krazy4birds]

I admire your determination to be as good as feather mommy as you can be but, I think one fact is being over looked and it is extremely important. You have to give your bird time to get used to a new envirement, new cage, new handler etc.... that doesn't happen as fast as you would think. My opinion here and mind you that is all it is (lol) try to do as little as possible to disturb or frighten him right now. A Canary is generally not that messy that you couldn't just wipe off his perches with a damp rag everyday. In and out.....that is the key. Since he is singing then he is settleing in but if you ever hope to handle him with no upset then you need to earn his trust. The most popular way I have read about( and used with great sucess) is to sit by his cage and talk softly as often as you can. Also just lay your hand in there while you are talking and that is all. This is just "get to know you" time. So at this time no moving your hand around or anything just relaxed. How long it takes for the bird to learn he can trust you depends on each bird individual. I really would start this now before he establishes that all your hand means is chasing him or messing around in his house. The Canary I had got to the point where he would just hop from perch to perch without any stress or fear while I was cleaning.
I think you are going to be a great bird mommy but I think you should work on gaining his trust and letting him know you are his friend first and formost.
Good Luck!

[theresa92841]

Oh, I understand and I think that is good advice.

I also do want to start the way I intend to continue. So if I am going to be moving things into and out of his cage. And if I am going to be wanting to swap out his perches, I figure while he is young is the time to get him use to those things. And also the time for me to get into my habit as to what I will need to be doing.

You are right that I need to let him know that it is ok for me to just hang out with him and talk to him. I find that easier to do when the dog is out of the house, since she wants to join right in and that doesn't seem to be ideal for getting the bird to trust me. I also thought that now that he is realizing that the yummy veggies are good things, that I could also try putting my hand in and resting it there with just some veggies on it. How long each day would you recommend that I try putting my hand in and talking to him? I don't want to overdo it in my enthusiasm, but I also don't want to be trying it for too short of a time.

I am sure that over time it will be more "settled" and easy to figure out. I just like to figure out the way to approach things. And i am sure that just like with my dog, different things will work and I will figure out which one works for us.