How to Keep a Parakeet Budgie's Cage Clean of Birdseed

Wild parakeets enjoy a diet of various fruits and vegetable matter, and in captivity you should try to accommodate that need with different foods. Bird seed has long been the traditional food for parakeets and other parrots, but it's messy and not always a nutritious diet. The birds hull the seeds, causing a mess on the cage's tray or even your floor. You can prevent this by gradually switching your parakeet to a more healthy pellet diet and by getting cage nets designed specifically for falling seed hulls. There is no way to prevent your bird from hulling seeds and keeping it out of the cage completely.

Things You'll Need

  • Bird pellets for parakeets
  • Cage screen
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Instructions

    • 1

      Introduce your parakeet to pellets. Do this gradually. Seeds are high in fat and many seed mixes are not nutritionally complete. Parakeets don't need to hull pellets like they do seeds, so you won't have to clean up as much food waste.

    • 2

      Purchase a cage with a removable, slide-out tray at the bottom if you're not using one already. Most cages have these trays, and they keep the bird away from its droppings and allow you a quicker cleanup. Clean the tray as needed, but at least once a week.

    • 3

      Purchase a cage screen. Cage screens fit around the bottom half (or so) of the cage. They often have an elastic band at the top. The screen protects falling seed and seed shells from bouncing out of the cage. These won't help with the seed in the cage.