Читать книгу Birds For Dummies - Gina Spadafori - Страница 88

No purchase is more important than your bird’s cage. The cage is the safe haven where your pet will spend time when you’re not home, when the family is sleeping, or when you’re doing other things and can’t pay attention to your pet. Some birds — we call them the “hands-off” varieties — almost never leave their cages. A cage is security and protection, a place to play, and a place to rest. For all these reasons and more, it pays to shop carefully. The cage is a big-ticket item — in some cases costing more than the bird himself.

If you stay alert to the possibilities offered on craigslist or eBay, you can save some serious change by buying a cage secondhand. Be sure the cage is high-quality, and then make your best deal. Plan to scrub the used cage before introducing your bird to it, though. Here’s an easy way to clean a cage: Take it to a do-it-yourself car wash and use the high-pressure hose on it. Just be sure to rinse all the soap off well when you’re done. After cleaning a secondhand cage thoroughly, play it safe by disinfecting it, too. Use diluted bleach, at about ½ cup per gallon of water, and then let the cage air-dry.

Turn to Chapter 5 for tips on how to set up your cage.