Cleaning...!

[fortfun2]

Hi all,
I have a small 2 floor wooden cage for 4 pigeons to stay... my pigeons used to love it! but after a while, since it got really dirty, I kept it outside in the balcony, and forgot about it... Now I want to use it again... But to my horror, I found out that its full of mice dropping etc!

Im assuming mice had been living in there for quite a while as it had a small opening on the side, no wonder Ive been seeing an increase of mice near my house...!

Anyway the point is that I want to use my cage for the pigeons again so that they can nest in there... and I would like to know how I could clean up the cage so that it is fit for pigeons again without them contracting any infections due to the cage's previous unwelcome guests...

What Ive done till now is remove all the mice dropping and newspaper layers which were already inside, and then Ive sprayed the entire cage with cockroach/multi insect disinfectant, both inside and outside... and now Im waiting for some ideas for any additional steps that need to be performed so that the cage is sanitized... any suggestions...?

Thanks,
DM

[pdpbison]

Hi DM,



Just Hose it out really well...set the Hose Nozzle to a hard narrow stream, so anything that can be dissolved, gets washed away...


Let it dry for a few days in the Sunshine and Breezes...and it'll be fine then.



Phil
l v

[fortfun2]

... but wont wood get spoiled if I hose it with water...? Its just made out of basic wood, no coating etc...

[spirit wings]

will the mice be able to just get back in the cage? you don't want that. will you be moving it insides someplace???

[LUCKYT]

fortfun2, wash it out with a good dish washing soap, spray it with a 10% Bleach solution wipe it down, and leave it in the sun. IMHO, Bleach is still, ONE of the best sanitary tools out there, and with good airing out, there are no residual traces. Dave

[FloridaLuv]

spray it with a 10% Bleach solution wipe it down, and leave it in the sun. IMHO, Bleach is still, ONE of the best sanitary tools out there, and with good airing out, there are no residual traces. Dave

Dave is right...Well said...

Also, and SOMEONE else can answer this because I do not know the answer, but if you sprayed it with

cockroach/multi insect disinfectant, both inside and outside

Is this good being it is wood??? I think Bleach is best and a good rinse... but???

[fortfun2]

Originally Posted by FloridaLuv

Is this good being it is wood??? I think Bleach is best and a good rinse... but???

Well, it was a very light spray, the wood was hardly wet due to it... but ya, I guess I would like a second opinion re: this as well (if required)

I certainly will do a bleach now that you mention it, and do the things suggested... I guess I could let it dry out quickly if the cage is wet, my main concerns are actually fungi (due to dampness), and rust (the cage 2 fine grilled "windows")!

spirit wings, dont worry, I will be putting the cage inside the pigeon coop itself so that no mice can get to it!

[LUCKYT]

If you wipe it down, and let it dry out all the way, you will not have a problem with Fungi or rust. One short term soaking would have little reason to encourage either problem. As far as the bug spray goes, as long as you did not over do it, and let it air out a week, and it has GOOD ventilation, there should be no problem. Dave

[fortfun2]

Thanks everyone... cleaned the cage with diluted bleach, Dettol (antiseptic), and splashed two buckets of water on it... dried up quicker than I thought! just handed the cage over to my pigeons Boo, Moose and Isabelle II, and they seem to be thrilled with it after their initial suspicions of a foreign object invading their territory... thanks again...