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Want to build a custom "cage" for senior military macaw -need help!

Bonnetbird

Meeting neighbors
Joined
9/5/18
Messages
25
Location
Brooklyn, NY
Hi everybody,

I have come to the realization that there is no good cage out there for Bonnet. Her arthritis has gotten worse and she has been hanging on the top of her cage (not moving for long periods of time) which, leads to blisters. She really likes climbing up and over things and enjoys pulling herself up on rope perches, climbing the hamper, climbing baby gates and the horizontally barred side of her current cage. She is blind in one eye as well - with all of these issues, I find her to be unsafe in her current cage ( she falls when she reaches the vertically barred side.

I want to create a design that is ~ 4 feet off the ground, has that square pattern that is safe for macaws and that is flat on top so that I can put rope perches on it and in it as well as give her easy access to multiple areas for food and water.

If anyone has any ideas I would try and hire someone off of those handyman websites (I'm in NYC so there has to be someone).
 

Fuzzy

Rollerblading along the road
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Jersey, Channel Islands
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Roz
I have a senior Panama Amazon with what sounds like very similar problems. Bad arthritis, almost blind, had a stroke etc. Chico also kept falling when he first came to live with me. So I decided to raise the bottom of his cage. This is the second edition. First attempt was terrible! I threaded about 10 slats of pine through the bars. Tied each end to the bars through a drilled hole so they don't move. Then covered them with a firm sheet of upholstery foam (cut into three for ease of removal). Covered that with a towel, then papers.

At night I put a covered shoe box under his roosting platform (top pic) as he tends to slip off the perch backwards since his feet no longer lock. The perches are close enough together for him to find his way around. The rope perches across are parallel so he travels on one and holds onto the other with his beak.



 

webchirp

Joyriding the Neighborhood
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Location
Ohio
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Chandra
I have a senior Panama Amazon with what sounds like very similar problems. Bad arthritis, almost blind, had a stroke etc. Chico also kept falling when he first came to live with me. So I decided to raise the bottom of his cage. This is the second edition. First attempt was terrible! I threaded about 10 slats of pine through the bars. Tied each end to the bars through a drilled hole so they don't move. Then covered them with a firm sheet of upholstery foam (cut into three for ease of removal). Covered that with a towel, then papers.

At night I put a covered shoe box under his roosting platform (top pic) as he tends to slip off the perch backwards since his feet no longer lock. The perches are close enough together for him to find his way around. The rope perches across are parallel so he travels on one and holds onto the other with his beak.



I need to do this for Lola. He's been having night frights when he falls. Scared the ever loving stuffing out me the first night at 3am.
 

Bonnetbird

Meeting neighbors
Joined
9/5/18
Messages
25
Location
Brooklyn, NY
I have a senior Panama Amazon with what sounds like very similar problems. Bad arthritis, almost blind, had a stroke etc. Chico also kept falling when he first came to live with me. So I decided to raise the bottom of his cage. This is the second edition. First attempt was terrible! I threaded about 10 slats of pine through the bars. Tied each end to the bars through a drilled hole so they don't move. Then covered them with a firm sheet of upholstery foam (cut into three for ease of removal). Covered that with a towel, then papers.

At night I put a covered shoe box under his roosting platform (top pic) as he tends to slip off the perch backwards since his feet no longer lock. The perches are close enough together for him to find his way around. The rope perches across are parallel so he travels on one and holds onto the other with his beak.




those are all great ideas! Bonnet has currently decided that an Ikea tiered cart is where she will sleep at night ( I cover it with a towel) this also allows her to get out of bed when she feels like it in the morning. I have to leave for work around 7:30 and she sleeps late! I put water and food on the floor and on top of her hamper. She is able to climb the hamper and climb up her cage. I have rope perches on top of her cage ( but it is curved, so she loves hanging on the side... and this leads to blisters and laziness).
 
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