Hi,
Please do not try to clean the nest box. It should never be cleaned while the pair has eggs or chicks. Doing so will almost always cause the pair to abandon the eggs or chicks. It does get a bit gross, but this is normal and happens in the wild, also, which is one of many reasons why the nest is abandoned after the chicks are weaned. In some cases, you can’t even clean the cage during breeding – it depends on your pair. As soon as the chicks leave the box, remove the box and do not put it back up for about 6 months. This allows the parents to rest and you can clean the box thoroughly at that time. If you don’t take it down quickly, the parents will try to nest again and sometimes will fail to wean the chicks or even attack them to get them out of the way. It’s just something captive breeders do, because in the wild it would near the end of breeding season so the pair wouldn’t nest again anyway.
Thank you for asking Lafeber,
Brenda