Replace nest box while in use?

[Benny]

Hi everybody

I've got 5 nest boxes that have been in use for 2-3 years that have never seen any maintenance. They're not in terrible shape but I've got a couple of new ones from NAS waiting in the wings and I'd like to swap a couple of the more haggard ones out, refurb or trash them, and repeat the cycle annually. I can't deal with ladders so I have to hire a guy and thus plan this out as opposed to just going up there.

questions:
- If the boxes I'd like to swap out are currently occupied (confirmation TBD), is it ok to swap mid day when no-one's home (fresh box would be outfitted with soft wheat straw and dried leaves) or is that going to freak them out? I wouldn't consider it if it were pinky season of course but I think we are well past that now.

- Ideally should I be cleaning or swapping these things once a year? Do squirrels die in there and make them unusable until removed? I live in a dry area (CO) so I'm not that worried about mold or ants.

- I just saw for the first time the idea of using hardware cloth alone as the floor of a box. Anyone do this? My new boxes already have wood floors and I'm not going to go about fully replacing them but I thought maybe I'd drill a bunch of extra holes in the bottom and then attach a layer of wire cloth to the outside bottom of the box. Sound reasonable?

thanks

[BigNibbler]

I just checked and cleaned out some of mine that have been up a while.
If it is the same style, and shape and design and you swap it out - with some nice updated poly-fil, I find that they are reasonably OK.
They are extremely location based and the location is more important than anything.
If you were to put a new box up that had a strong odor... from a factory for example, or a different and fragrant wood, that could worry them. ( I make all my own boxes and any box I have up, is a design I have been building for years and the ones I now make as well, so its an identical replacement ) .

Sometimes I have found skeletal remains of a squirrel. They usually are just buried over with more material. By this time they have no smell and are totally meatless. Just bones.

I had been thinking of making some out of hardware cloth. But my boxes are pretty large, and have a double predator baffle, plus two means of egress.
I find that over time, they chew away much of my hard worked safety features.
Have been thinking of adding some metal of sorts to discourage the chewing of the safety features, but fear that it might introduce other dangers.