Protecting Floors from the Poop

Choose your Flooring

If you have hardwood floors, protecting the finish is very important.  Using an abrasive cleaner or scrubbing too hard, may damage the finish and even the wood itself.

Tile or concrete floors can be very hard to clean, especially if the poop has been left for a while and now seems to be permanently 'stuck'.

Carpeting can become stained and can be very hard to clean and brought back to it's original no stained look.  Some poops seem to have a permanent dye in them.

Although vinyl or linoleum flooring may be a little easier to clean off the dried-on poop, it is still may take a lot of scrubbing; not fun at all.

Here are a few ideas that might be helpful.

1. Place newspapers under the cage and play area and anywhere the poop might go.  For some messy birds, this might be a pretty wide area.

2.  If you don't like the look of printed newspaper, you can also go to your local newspaper's business location and ask for plain white paper.  Sometimes they will give it freely, or they might charge a small fee for this printing paper.  It may come in flat sheets, or in big rolls, and will probably last quite a while.  Just cut to the size you need, and then throw away as needed.

3.  If you do not like something that hides your nice pretty flooring, you can also purchase the large chair mats at office supply stores. They do usually have little grippies on the underside so be sure they don't damage your flooring defeating the whole purpose of using them.  They are made of tough material and are usually clear in color and much easier to spray with bird poop cleaner and wipe away, or mop with safe cleaning solutions.  They can also be cut with a little muscle, to fit the shape you need.

4.  If you need something with a smooth underside so as to not mar your floor, you can also purchase clear rubber or plastic runners in the carpet section of most big box stores.  They usually come in rolls and can be easily cut into the sizes you need.  Pretty easy to clean, and can be thrown out and replaced as needed.

5.  Check your local carpet stores for remnants that you can cut and use.  Often they will give them to you as they can't be used by the store any longer.  Sizes may vary a lot, so you may have to take what you can get, and shape to your area.  If you don't have to spend any money to get them, they are easy to throw out as needed and replaced with new squares or scrap pieces.

6.  Flat sheets can also be used to protect flooring.  Check out local thrift stores for less expensive pricing.  Lay flat, put cage or play area on top, and then when need wash sheet, or throw away and replace. With sheets you can go solid color, or liven up the area with the stylish print and color you and your bird like.

Hopefully, one or more of these ideas will help you keep the mess to an easier size job to clean, help protect your floor, and deal with the challenge of bird poop, scattered food particles, and other debris of Birdland.