Keeping a bird cage clean and hygienic is an important element of keeping a bird. Before you purchase a bird cage, inspect as many bird cages as you can find and choose one that has a removable tray that can be pulled out easily to remove bird droppings. This is to ensure that the bird cage can be easily cleaned and maintained. Such a set-up is ideal as it will not disturb the bird when you are clearing away the droppings. If you are building your own cage from bird cage plans, make sure it has this feature too. Although the tray does not come into contact with the bird, keeping it clean and free from bird droppings is essential. A good and effective way to do this is to line the tray with a piece of paper for easy disposal. Lining it also enables you, the bird owner, to examine the bird droppings for clues of the bird's current state of health. Any change in color in the droppings is an indication that you should immediately send the bird to the vet. The tray lining should be changed daily so that you can monitor the change in color on a daily basis. Most people use old newspapers to line the tray as it is a common practice. For easy retrieval, cut the newspapers according to the size of the tray. You should have a ready stock of cut size newspapers so that you will always have one in handy when you need it. It is also a good idea to use several pieces together to line the tray to ensure that the tray does not get stained. When the stack of newspapers on the tray is exhausted, wash the tray with soap and warm water. A point to note when using old newspapers is that the ink may affect the color of the bird droppings, especially when you are using a multi-colored page or a page with a colorful advertisement. This usually happens with a recently purchased newspaper as the ink may not be fully dried yet. If you experience such a situation, you may want to replace it with a paper towel for a better examination of the droppings. Today's savvy bird owners are using shavings as bird liners, and different types of shavings are readily available in the market. Shavings are popular from the aesthetic point of view but if you are looking at keeping the cost of your hobby low, old newspapers work just fine. The important thing is to keep the bird cage clean by replacing the linings or shavings and keep monitoring the color and condition of the bird droppings.
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