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Pictures Cage tour! Bird's eye view!

Should I add more perches into the bottom area of this cage?

  • Yes! The more the better!

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • No, its overly crowded already!

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    12

Kestrel

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So I have been working on this cage literally for weeks. I made my own natural wood perches and rope perches. I also had a bit of ordering troubles, sending back of toys that didn't quite meet up with safety standards. But now I believe I am finally about done! I may add a few more small perches in the bottom area of the cage, but I'm not sure yet. What are your thoughts?

This cage is for a cockatiel that I will be bringing home sometime in the next week or two.
afterfocus_1556767574767.jpg I haven't put the seed guard on yet. That is the weird thing sticking out behind the cage on the right side.
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Pretty natural wood perch, made of sugar maple with the bark removed and stainless steel bowls.
20190501_220226.jpg All the toys and ladder have safety clips now. Most of the hardware in the cage is stainless steel although a couple things are zinc coated.
20190501_220252.jpg 20190501_220334.jpg 20190501_220318.jpg
Cozy grape vine perch!
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Playtop with cozy rope perch and a couple extra perches on thr bottom I haven't put hardware on or decided where to use yet.
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Lastly a picture of the baby who will inhabit this home! He/she has a mussy face in this pic but still so cute!
 
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EkkieLu

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That looks wonderful! You did a great job setting it up! He is going to love living there!
 

Rain Bow

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It looks great. It's up to you w/ your rope perch, to keep it in the cage. Many birds have been found hanging upside down because their nails & toes have gotten tangled in them to the point that they can't get out of it on their own. Some have even been injured terribly because of it. You may want to check them often & keep them trimmed if you don't remove them. I'm saying often like many times a week. I use mine on the outside of the cage, so My Buddy isn't unsupervised w/ it @ night.

I love the different types of perches that you have! The grapewood looks super nifty. It looks like your fid is gonna have a great time in that cage.

Is the ladder made of plastic beads? I'm seeing shiny i n the photo & just want to be sure the beads are not wooden w/ paint or shellac. It looks like fun!

I'm gonna tag a couple of members because I believe that your zinc coatings need to be replaced asap, to avoid your fids getting metal poisoning. @Mizzely & @calibird should be able to help. I'm not feeling well tonight, & the zinc metal thing, is just not remembering in my head. Sorry. Also, I can't tell. Are your clips the proper kind of clips? Locking carabiners? If they're the squeeze type of clips they can cause injury. I'm glad that your trying so hard to make the cage safe for (Kestrel?) !

Your perch building is beautiful!
 

saroj12

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adorable!:heart:
 

Kestrel

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Many birds have been found hanging upside down because their nails & toes have gotten tangled in them to the point that they can't get out of it on their own. Some have even been injured terribly because of it. You may want to check them often & keep them trimmed if you don't remove them. I'm saying often like many times a week. I use mine on the outside of the cage, so My Buddy isn't unsupervised w/ it
The rope have in there is pretty dense but that is a good point. I may move it outside the cage. I'm home most of the time so maybe I'll watch and see how things go. If he seems to enjoy chewing at it I'll definitely move it. Is it okay to have wingnuts inside the cage though? I mean they are stainless steel but still...

Is the ladder made of plastic beads? I'm seeing shiny i n the photo & just want to be sure the beads are not wooden w/ paint or shellac. It looks like fun!
No, they are wood! :) it's supposed to be just food coloring on it. A few of the reviews said that as soon as you get it wet you loose a lot of the color so it probably wont stay as pretty as it is now.

I'm gonna tag a couple of members because I believe that your zinc coatings need to be replaced asap, to avoid your fids getting metal poisoning. @Mizzely & @calibird should be able to help.
Thank you! I have read that zinc coated are supposed to be okay, it's nickle you need to watch out for, but I definitely appreciate the double checking! Dont want to lose my baby over something like that!
Are your clips the proper kind of clips? Locking carabiners? If they're the squeeze type of clips they can cause injury. I'm glad that your trying so hard to make the cage safe for (Kestrel?) !

Your perch building is beautiful!
Yes they are all the caribener type clips. The ladder did come with the squeeze clips but I swapped them out. The caribener clips are also the only things that are zinc coated. I wanted stainless but couldn't find them. Also the metal post sticking out of the end of the sticks are zinc, but the wingnuts and washers are stainless.

Thank you for the compliment! I'm planning to make a tabletop playset soon, I'll post pics when its done!
 

Mizzely

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Zinc is toxic to birds and causes heavy metal poisoning. Nickel plated is safe and can be found in many things that cannot be found in stainless steel. I would remove anything zinc until you have a replacement.
 

Kestrel

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I'm seeing shiny i n the photo & just want to be sure the beads are not wooden w/ paint or shellac.
So I just took a closer look and you know what! The round ones do appear to be painted!!! I can't believe I missed that. The long bars are food coloring dyed but the round beads are definitely painted. So I guess I'll have to remove the ladder! Bummer! I love that ladder!
Thank you so much for catching that!
 

Kestrel

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@Mizzely seriously?!? I feel really stupid now but i did get that backwards! Just seems like nickle would be the toxic one since it's not something we eat in our food regularly and zinc is.
Thanks for the heads up! Guess I'm not so done with my cage after all!
 

Mizzely

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Kestrel

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@Mizzely Wow! I had no idea nickel was in so many foods! So I learned something new. Thanks for sharing!
 

Farlie

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Leave the bottom empty no matter what anybody else says. Why? Cuz it'll give him a small place to flap and exercise his wings in safety without any interference to any other objects.
 

Davi

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So I just took a closer look and you know what! The round ones do appear to be painted!!! I can't believe I missed that. The long bars are food coloring dyed but the round beads are definitely painted. So I guess I'll have to remove the ladder! Bummer! I love that ladder!
Thank you so much for catching that!
This was also my only concern (aside from the zinc parts) that I was going to mention. These painted wood parts are not good for birds, but you could try to still use the rungs and replace the wooden beads with plastic ones. But other than those two things, this looks like an amazing cage for a happy cockatiel! Congratulations on your new baby!!!
 

Kestrel

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you could try to still use the rungs and replace the wooden beads with plastic ones. But other than those two things, this looks like an amazing cage for a happy cockatiel! Congratulations on your new baby!!!
Thank you! :heart:
This was my exact thought also! I ordered some uncolored, natural wood beads straight away last night to re-string the ladder. Also I noticed the ladder has a little metal wire sticking out at the ends I hadn't considered before either. So since I don't know what kind of metal that is I think I'll replace it with cotton string while I'm at it.
20190502_084314.jpg

Also I'm going to go to Lowes later to get the nickle plated safety clips.

Thank you everyone for pointing that stuff out. I have been doing so much research I can't believe I missed something that bad. I'm very grateful for this group! I am still learning so much! :heart:

Leave the bottom empty no matter what anybody else says. Why? Cuz it'll give him a small place to flap and exercise his wings in safety without any interference to any other objects.
Excellent point! I will leave the rest open.
 

Mizzely

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Make sure you are only using quicklinks or pear links.

images (1).jpeg

quick-link-_maillon-rapide_-no.12-_pear-shaped_-1.jpg

The reason being that any of the ones that have a push to release mechanism like these can get stuck on the beak, or the swivel can get caught on a toe, etc

31qlsof3Q4L._SX425_.jpg

61e5dNBeyfL._SX425_.jpg
 

Davi

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Thank you! :heart:
This was my exact thought also! I ordered some uncolored, natural wood beads straight away last night to re-string the ladder. Also I noticed the ladder has a little metal wire sticking out at the ends I hadn't considered before either. So since I don't know what kind of metal that is I think I'll replace it with cotton string while I'm at it.
View attachment 303014

Also I'm going to go to Lowes later to get the nickle plated safety clips.

Thank you everyone for pointing that stuff out. I have been doing so much research I can't believe I missed something that bad. I'm very grateful for this group! I am still learning so much! :heart:



Excellent point! I will leave the rest open.
The learning never ends and that's a good thing! I think it's truly commendable that you're doing so much research and putting so much effort into making sure your new friend will be safe, happy, and healthy! We're here to help one another as much as we can. :hug8:
 

Farlie

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Thank you! :heart:
This was my exact thought also! I ordered some uncolored, natural wood beads straight away last night to re-string the ladder. Also I noticed the ladder has a little metal wire sticking out at the ends I hadn't considered before either. So since I don't know what kind of metal that is I think I'll replace it with cotton string while I'm at it.
View attachment 303014

Also I'm going to go to Lowes later to get the nickle plated safety clips.

Thank you everyone for pointing that stuff out. I have been doing so much research I can't believe I missed something that bad. I'm very grateful for this group! I am still learning so much! :heart:

I hate to be a party pooper here but that little loop in the wire is a 'toe catcher' and very dangerous. Once your bird gets his toe caught he could break his leg trying to get free.
I rebuilt all my ladders with leather strips. I guess Sissel rope would do to.
 
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