"Before"

I love aviaries because you don't have to clean them as often as indoor cages, and because it's SO easy to create ways for birds to forage in them by just using the grass at the bottom (unless you have cement).

Cleaning our aviaries is no big deal and it's fun to do it with more than one person, but it's also fun for me to do it by myself with the company of the birds inside yelling at the rake as I go along. I was raking one day after a few days of heavy rain, and Bondi was accompanying me and she was throwing a fit over this rake being in there! But only when it would rake directly under her, hahaha...

It cracked me up and she looked spooked but like she was having fun, too. She refused to take her eye off that crazy rake, though...

"After" 

Because she was SO spooked during the first aviary, I decided to move her from aviary to aviary as I was raking them to get her used to it. By the third aviary, she was sitting on the perch watching but not caring so much. She eventually began chewing... 

Photo by Jamieleigh Location: Orlando, FL Chewing: Galah "Bondi" 

We don't have cement in our aviaries because if we did, we'd want a drain to push everything into and since that is financially out of the question... we leave the floors natural. So when we rake, we rake the sand, dirt, grass, chewed up toys, leftover food and poop all at once since it all gets mixed together.

My galahs especially LOVE to forage within the grass, dirt and sand so instead of putting pellets in a dish for them or even a foraging toy, I push them into the ground at the bottom of the aviary so they can really forage like true galahs would!

More before and after aviary clean up pics here!

Article by Jamieleigh Womach. She has been working with parrots and toucans since the age of 17. She isn’t homeless but is home less than she prefers to be. She travels the world with her husband, daughter, and a flockful of parrots whom she shares the stage with.