Vinegar is something that most people have readily available in their homes. When combined with water, it can freshen up your microwave, tidy up your refrigerator's interior and even make your parakeet's cage a sanitary, droppings-free environment. Yes, you can clean your parakeet's cage with a water and vinegar solution.
Water and Vinegar
A vinegar-and-water solution can be effective in keeping parakeet cages spotless, hygienic and fresh, according to Susan Chamberlain of BirdChannel.com. This is because of vinegar's natural disinfectant properties -- it can do away with any bacteria that may be lingering in your bird's cage. The water component of the mixture simply serves as a solvent. If your parakeet's cage is unclean, bacterial infection is always a nasty possibility.
Household Cleaning Products
A lot of household cleaning products are aggressive and can bring upon fatal consequences in pet birds. Because of that, it is crucial to abstain from employing them -- whether inside of or surrounding your pet's living area. Just because it works in parts of your home doesn't mean it's OK for your bird. If you ever have any concerns or specific questions regarding safety in cleaning products marketed specifically for cage cleaning, consult an avian veterinarian first.
Mixture
If you're looking to conduct a basic cleaning of your parakeet's cage, a blend of a single cup of white vinegar for every gallon of tap water is beneficial. If you put this mixture into a misting container, you have an easy and practical way to spruce up your bird's cage.
Droppings
Aside from use in overall cleaning jobs, undiluted white vinegar also can be useful for removing tough and persistent remnants of bird droppings throughout your pet's cage. Simply submerge a cotton pad in some white vinegar and allow it to rest over the yucky stuff for half an hour or a little less. Pet supplies stores also sell spray products made to quickly eliminate lingering bird droppings. If you make a point to clean out all of the cage's droppings on a daily basis, however, they won't have sufficient time to harden.