The Best Liner To Use In Your Parrot’s Cage

Rosebreasted cockatoo and congo african grey

The lining on the bottom of your parrot's cage has a pretty straightforward job. It collects the things that land there and makes clean up simple for you. But it’s an important job, too, because it plays a part in keeping your bird healthy and safe.

We all know how important it is to keep our parrot’s environment clean and part of that is changing the cage liner frequently. So one question remains: what liner is best to use?

The answer is PAPER. Hands down, without question…paper. Newspaper, butcher paper, paper towels, paper bags – it doesn’t matter which, as long as it will sit patiently on the cage bottom waiting for your bird to put it to work.

Aside from being the most economical liner, it has one HUGE advantage: it lies flat. One of the only ways we have to monitor our bird’s health on a daily basis is by checking the quality and quantity of their droppings. It isn’t possible to do that effectively on a surface that is broken and uneven.

There are other types of cage substrate that are available to parrot owners, but they all have disadvantages or dangers:

Wood chips or shavings, such as cedar, redwood or treated pine are toxic to birds should they come into contact with them and even the scent (of the cedar or redwood chip) can be an irritant and cause allergic reactions and skin inflammations. Additionally, they create the uneven surface that makes it difficult to view the quality of the droppings.

One argument I have heard in defense of these products is that is masks odors in the cage. However, there should be no odors in the cage of a healthy bird. If your bird’s droppings have odor, your bird is sick. If the cedar chips are covering the smell, how are you to know that your bird needs help?

Untreated pine shavings, while safe unless ingested, has to be changed or sifted through for debris frequently, making it impractical. Aside from making it difficult to observe droppings, wood chips allow small particulates, like powder down and dander, to drop through the cracks to the tray below. Flight or wing flapping within the cage will cause it to rise up and out into the air space. You can’t sweep or vacuum bedding to remove dander (even with netting over the nozzle, it’s been tried and doesn’t work.)

Other beddings are crushed walnut shells and corncob. While they are natural, they both provide a breeding ground for the growth of molds, fungi and bacteria. Corncob bedding is particularly concerning in damp or humid climates where the aspergillus mold might grow (aspergillus causes respiratory disease and can be fatal). If swallowed it can cause serious impactions in the digestive system because the pieces will swell when moisture is introduced.

Kitty litter is also a poor choice. Kitty litter has two types: clay, which produces dust and has the risk of causing problems to your birds delicate respiratory system, and clumping litter whose recipe includes a substance that grows enormously in size and clots together when moisture is introduced. If damp food or toys are dropped into the litter and retrieved, either type of litter will adhere to it. I don’t think I need to tell you how bad that would be in a bird’s digestive system, especially the clumping variety. Further, they are often scented.

Sand is also not recommended. While its main concern is in ingestion, especially if wet foods are dropped into it, it has other down sides. It is dense, weighty and abrasive making cleaning difficult and messy. Over time, it will cause problems to the cage bottom, not to mention your back.

I am not convinced this is a valid concern, but I know people who insist sand substrate has caused flea infestation their homes. True sand “fleas” are not fleas at all, but tiny crustaceans that live only at the beach. I think that actual fleas that have taken up residency in your house would prefer a more hospitable environment, such as on your dog or in your carpet.

Paper pellet and pulp bedding are also not recommended. They are safe to use, but I know of two people who are SURE their pellet loving birds have eaten them. They are not known to cause problems in the digestive system because the paper is broken down and passed through the system, but aside from not wanting your bird to fill up on paper products, you have to wonder if anything was stuck to it. Pulp flies everywhere as soon as the bird becomes active in the cage. Neither allow for good monitoring of droppings.

If you have cockatoos, cockatiels or another ground foraging bird, bedding is a fun place to search for old food that you may have missed during clean up. Unfortunately, old food is laden with dangerous bacterias.

And, dangers aside, bedding doesn’t allow for the proper measures of cleanliness needed in your bird’s cage and changing it frequently prevents it from being cost effective.

Newspaper is non-toxic and safe, almost all newspaper inks throughout the world are no longer petroleum based. It’s the best choice for a cage liner and very inexpensive. In fact, it can be free! If you notice the local paper being delivered to your neighbor, go to them and explain that you have a parrot (chances are they already know) and ask them to save the daily papers for you to pick up periodically.

The local library (yes, they still exist) usually subscribe, as do department stores or other establishments that do advertising. If you ask nicely, I am sure they will be happy to let you have their copies once they are done with them. That makes newspaper the most economical, ecological, safe and smart choice as a cage liner for your bird!

Author Patty Jourgensen specializes in avian health, behavior and nutrition and has been working with and caring for rescue birds since 1987. 

68 comments

Renee garcia

Liner for the bottom of my cage I do use newspaper but you said if there’s an odor my bird is sick I change the paper three times a day and although it’s not a strong odor there is a small odor of almost smells like dirty socks but it’s been that way since I bought the bird what do you think that means?

Renee garcia
Israel Adames Hernandez

Can I use Artificial Grass inside my cockatiel cage instead of the newspaper?

Israel Adames Hernandez
Debby

can I use water proof fabric on the bottom of my Cockatoos cage?

Debby
Anita Swanson

I use food grade shelf liner.Comes in a roll from Amazon.Cut it to cage bottom size You can check the poop .easy to clean .brush off cage debris , spray hard parts with poop off.wipe with off with paper towel . 2 peices for each cage. Expensive at start but lasts forever. Change eery 2 days.

Anita Swanson
Kari

I have a question. Would packing paper be a viable option as well? It’s a good way to get alot of paper at once.

Kari
jackie cotton

thanks you gave me advice that I didnt know before and I am surprised to say the least I was going to use crused walnuts so thanks

jackie cotton
Simone

I actually use fake grass in my cages. I have 2 squares cut out for each cage. Every weekend I pull out the grass and wash/disinfect it etc. I hate paper as seed still goes every, the birds can’t get a grip on it, it’s less natural for birds, it’s noisy with their nails walking on it, can still spill the seed when removing it from the cage, etc. My birds love the grass, especially grass parrots (e.g. budgies, cockatiels) and finches! They spend a lot of time foraging around on the floor, similar to what they would do in the wild on the grass. I can just roll it up at the end of the week keeping all the seed and poo together and replace it with the second piece, and I go wash and dry the first ready to use the following week. Life is easier now and birds are happier :)

Simone
JILL  LANFORD

I use the adult paper pads, 2 with the plastic sides back to back. That leaves white absorbent sides up for droppings and down for the unexpected bath in his (Ferdie, a Sun Gold conure) water dish. Being disabled lets us “share” in the use. One of my “Birdie” RN’s is always amazed that he NEVER chews this product. He likes cardboard, tree branches and my “Parrot” shirts.

JILL LANFORD
Ozbloke36

Does it even matter if the bird cannot reach the liners? As I have a cage where there is a huge gap between where he has access to and the liner itself….. so there is zero risk of my parrot eating anything toxic, even if the liner was toxic.

Ozbloke36
anna nk

i used to get old newspapers in my office, now i bought mahjong paper its cheaper and just the size i needed

anna nk
Nikki

HEB Freezer Paper 150 sq feet for under 4 dollars seems to work well and its the cheapest food grade paper I’ve been abe to find. Anyone use Alfalfa pellets? Ingestion may be a problem since they expand a lot when wet other than that I’m curious if that may be a viable solution.

Nikki
Cheryl

This is not an ad, but I use cage liner paper I got in a big roll from Amazon called “Prevue Hendryx Pet Products T3 Antimicrobial Cage Liner,” — is there anything wrong with this paper? I like it a lot, but if it could cause health problems for my bird I would like to know. I love watching your videos. Thank you!

Cheryl
Melanie

Great Article. Thank you! It’s all about the content…right! ;) I actually don’t put anything at the bottom. The grill is above the plastic bottom and I find it super easy to clean. Keep up all the awesome work!

Melanie
Paul

Seriously, your article is titled the best liner to use in your parrot’s cage and all you do is go on and on about what not to use. You should have named your article "What NOT to use

Paul
Iaine

I use newspaper when I can get it for free. I was shocked when I went to buy a paper and was told how expensive they are now! I also get plain newsprint/packing paper, which you can get on Amazon for 30 bucks for like 500 sheets. My big cages take about 4 sheets to cover each floor, so I still go through it pretty fast.

Iaine
Neil

I have a Crimson Rosella. I was using the sandpaper type covering which is normally used for budgie cages, but as it was under the grate my birds talons were not getting the full benefit of it. Thanks to this article I will swap over to plain newspaper. Thanks to Dave and Jamieleigh for putting this together.

Neil
Sandy Forde

Well, I started using good clean (not dusty) horse hay. It doesn’t take much for the bottom of my Macaws cage,, he can forage through it to pick up something he’s dropped which frequently is still clean having landed on hay vs. A paper liner. It also stays fresher smelling for the week until I change it to more fresh hat

Sandy Forde
Brenda Willis

When I had my cockatoo I used newspaper. I never thought about using butcher paper. Awesome idea

Brenda Willis
Helen

What about sand for bottom of cage

Helen
vicki

I use shredded paper

vicki
Karen

Seriously, your article is titled the best liner to use in your parrot’s cage and all you do is go on and on about what not to use. You should have named your article "What NOT to use.

Karen
NuttyMommy

You can purchase “end rolls” from your local newspaper. These usually contain a fair amount of clean paper. Just call and ask – usually 2-3 dollars.

NuttyMommy
Molly

I use wrapping paper! After christmas I stock up on plain rolls of wrapping paper that is on clearance. It is super cheap and a good size so I can line the bottom in one piece. Plus, I always have some in case of any last minute present wrapping needs throughout the year!

Molly
Judy McNair

How often do you change it. I have a habit of every evening. Brushing off the food debris off the sides of the cage and the bottom. Cleaning the cage and stands every week. Too Clean? just wondering.

Judy McNair
Larissa

Is it possible to use fabric (like old sheets) cut to size? Just thinking it could be shaken off, then thrown in the washer and reused…

Larissa

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