What cage accommodations for a bird that can't fly?

[BirdCatLady]

So I was thinking about this... I've recently been in the process of renovating Brodie's cage, but I'm wondering how much of the renovations I need to rethink due to him being unable to fly. I'm not talking having clipped wings -- his left wing was broken when he was a juvenile and wasn't set properly. The most flying he can do now is a very clumsy, very loud glide. The most he uses his wings outside his cage is to flap them. Inside his cage, he has fairly poor balance on perches that aren't solid (i.e., rope perches are things for him to chew, rather than perch or play on).

I did take the long horizontal dowel bar out of his cage, and I have some natural wooden perches and platforms coming from T4W. Currently he has a bendy rope in his cage but he's only chewing that, not walking/perching/climbing on it. I would love to build his sense of trust (in himself and also in me) as well as whatever else (strength, agility?) he may need to increase to compensate as much as possible for not being able to really use his wings to balance himself as well as a non-disabled bird.

Here is his current cage set-up (still in the process of being finished -- waiting for natural wood perches/platforms -- and I did add toys in it now -- this pic was from the very first day that I changed things around, so I wasn't done with adding everything I had to add):


Here is his former cage set up:


And here is his handsome self, so y'all can see the way his wings look.

From the front.


From his right side (you can see how low his wing drapes on the left side).

 

[slinky-kitty]

What you have done looks great Lots of things to climb on and the cage bars arent obstructed (I assume he uses these a lot too).

 

[slinky-kitty]

Btw Brodie is stunning!!!

 

[BirdCatLady]

Thanks, I agree that he's stunning (and he knows it!)!! Yes, he does use the cage bars a lot for navigation. He did used to just spend most of his cage time on the dowel perch (which went the entire horizontal direction of the cage) and then spend nights on the blue perch (which I moved -- it used to be where the purple perch is now). Now he's spending a lot of time on the blue perch, some on the cage floor (mostly just walking around), and hasn't touched the brown/woven abaca rope or the purple perch yet. The new wooden perches/platforms I ordered are still on their way. (I ended up getting a cork perch/platform, a grape wood perch, a birch perch, a basswood platform, and a foraging flat perch, so that selection should last for awhile and can be rotated in and out of his cage with his applewood perch and the purple pumice perch.)

He currently hasn't used the zig-zag rope at all (except for chewing) -- granted, I did anticipate that, and am okay with it, but I do want to increase his confidence in his balance. Maybe I'm wrong, but I do think that if he got used to walking/perching on perches that were softer/more pliable than wood, he'd see that he could do it and even if he had to use his wings differently to balance, he'd be able to do it. But like I said -- I might be wrong. I don't know the physics of how birds balance, and I know their wings play a big part... my guess is that due to the way his left wing sets against his body, he is a bit off-kilter because it's not "even" in terms of weight and sway...? I don't know, I might just be making this all up.

 

[metalstitcher]

He is stunningly beautiful.

Does he walk around on the floor at all? I would watch and see how he move on the floor and make adjustments to the movements of his body you see from his walking on the ground to his cage. Seeing how he shifts his weight and stuff since his wing doesn't sit the same way as the other he is going to distribute his weight in a different way. I know it's odd but I did the same thing for years till I had knee surgery.

 

[BirdCatLady]

He hardly walks on the floor at all. He generally uses the bars of his cage to maneuver around. And actually, the day before yesterday, my husband told me that he had been perching on his zig-zag rope!!! Proud mommy right now.

In terms of watching him walk, though, he rocks back and forth, but I don't think it's that different from other Greys when they're walking. It's somewhat a waddle, and looks funny to me, but I don't think that that's because it's odd, just that I'm not used to watching parrots walk. If he's walking towards me, it reminds of me an English bulldog's walk.

 

[metalstitcher]

Lol so he waddles when he walks in a cute "look at me now" fashion . The only thing I could think of is something that is going to be a little wider but not to wide too allow him to get good grip with his feet and beak for balance since they do use their beak like a thumb. And maybe a play stand for him later on that he can really get a good wing stretch on and flap around like crazy.

 

[Lodah]

God bless you for everything you do! I'm sure that Brodie knows that in his heart as well!

 

[DQTimnehs]

I have Tiki, a rescued female Blue-headed pionus who has no tail or flight feathers and therefore, can't fly at all. I have a thick blanket in the bottom of her cage (and others) under several layers of newspaper for a softer landing if she falls. Also lots of rope perch "highways" for her to get around on and hopefully she can catch herself on them if she falls too.

I have adapted the way I hold her because she sometimes gets fearful and flaps and falls off if I'm not holding her toes. I found holding the toes of one foot wasn't enough as she would spin around and instead of potentially breaking her leg I would let go of her. So now I hold her, usually in my left hand as she is more used to it, with my fingers straight out. She perches on my index finger, my thumb holds the front toes of her right foot and my middle finger hold her back toes of her left foot. This is more secure than just holding the front toes on one foot and I can't reach to hold the front ones of both feet with my thumb.
Here's a pic so you can see what I mean:

Sorry for it being sideways! Having trouble with work computer.

 

[macawpower58]

The zig zag rope may feel too unsturdy for him.
Can you wrap it around a perch, then attach the sides to the cage?
That way it has more support for him. As it is now, it most likely sways when he walks on it.
Any perch this is 'bumpy' will probably be liked, grapevines come into mind as they have lots to wrap the feet around.
Smooth perches such as manzinita might be too slippery.

A smallish orbit might be loved if you have the room for it.

The cage looks pretty good for him, my suggestions are just extra things to try.

 

[DQTimnehs]

Here's another pic of my grip on Tiki's feet, right side up!

 

[Kiwibird08]

Kiwi has likely been clipped since before he was weaned, none of his prior owners took the time to teach him to fly and he showed 0 interest in learning when we let his flight feathers grow out a few years back (he may also have underdeveloped flight muscles as he only ever flaps his wings if on our hand and falls like a rock, doesn't even glide despite having a very light clip). He wasn't a good climber either when we got him, but he got a sink or swim lesson because I did not know when we adopted him and never made any special accommodations inside his cage for him. It only took him a few days to get used to the branches he was given. His cage is set up like a 'normal' parrot cage- various materials branches, a couple swings... all at various levels/heights within the cage. Only thing he can't have is wood perches because he chews those out from under his feet and falls. I do make sure he has "bridges" to reach everything (play tree, swing, jolly ball etc...) so he doesn't have to rely on us to get around his area outside the cage since he can't fly to his nearby things. He is a very strong climber and enjoys when I give him challenges he has to climb to (a toy, a treat etc...). He is more fearless with climbing on 'precarious' things than some flighted birds at this point and even occasionally gets a tad naughty with his 'skills' (like the time he was climbing up our dresser using the knobs like a climbing wall lol)!

If your bird isn't a strong climber yet, try giving him self rewarding activities/foraging he has to climb to get to encourage him to climb so he builds those muscles and increase his confidence that he won't fall. For example, put a highly desirable treat out of reach and make the only way he can retrieve it to be climbing a short, stable perch. Once he masters that, make it a little further out of reach and a little less stable of a climb and so on... His abilities and confidence will increase over time. And remember, unless he has problems with his feet or beak that would make climbing and perching difficult, he's a bird, part of his design is to perch and climb and it is instinctual for him. I wouldnt personally be overly concerned about the inside of his cage. If you make it too easy, he may never learn or gain that sense of balance and confidence he won't fall. If there's a perch he is unsure of at first, place a non perishable treat like a nut in a location only accessible by getting on that perch and see how long it takes He WILL learn and will probably become a stronger climber than most flighted birds in time. That's how animals work- they adapt to their disabilities and exceed our expectations

 

[Kiwibird08]

His area isn't decked out and I don't have his bridge between the boing and JB set up yet since we just moved, but within 5 minutes of the boing going up, he was on it. He loves climbing across that pink chain, his plastic play tree has no grip tape as he has no issues slipping. I even converted the highest rope perch in his cage to a swinging one. This bird has never flown and seems to have no real concept of flight. If he were to fall, he'd come tumbling down like a big rock. But he doesn't fall and he is confident in his abilities. Keep encouraging your baby to climb, climb, climb and don't make things too easy on him He'll thank you for the challenges someday when he has a bit of mobility to get around to where he wants without human assistance or functional wings.

 

[parrotluv]

My grey Zoe had her eye removed and so when she tries to fly her depth perception is off. We actually took apart the bottom portion of her cage stand and replaced it with a wooden stand the the whole cage sits about 6 in. Lower than before. I have added more cotton perches in the cage so if she looses her balance or misses he step she has more options to land. Fortunately for me Zoe loves her cotton perches and has never distroyed them. She also has grapevine, a sandy perch for nails. I do like the comments suggesting having everything close enough so they go from on step to another easily to maintain balance.

 

[parrotluv]

Also the sandblasted manzinita perches work well too because those are not slippery.

 

[BirdCatLady]

I just removed the zig-zag rope perch from Brodie's cage because he chewed one of the ends so much that it actually broke. Story of how he treats anything made of rope. He had been perching on it some, but was chewing it up far more than that. I'll need to replace that with something else, at some point, but right now he seems to be doing okay. I added a flat pine wood foraging perch in his cage now, from T4W, so he's getting used to that. He is a pretty strong climber -- I've been making him work, since his dry food dish is the one by the blue perch in his cage, but I put his fruit/veggies in a smaller dish by the purple perch. He's been creatively clambering from blue perch to purple and it's quite interesting to see the different paths he takes every time!!

I do have some of the thick plastic chain, so I might use that somewhere in his cage at some point. I also have new perches that just got here from T4W, so I'll be using those as needed. And I did just finish a PVC play gym (well, finished the PVC part, still need to get it ready for use in wrapping it with vet tape/rope, adding food/water bowls, adding toys, etc).

Thanks for all the replies!!

 

[April ch]

His area isn't decked out and I don't have his bridge between the boing and JB set up yet since we just moved, but within 5 minutes of the boing going up, he was on it. He loves climbing across that pink chain, his plastic play tree has no grip tape as he has no issues slipping. I even converted the highest rope perch in his cage to a swinging one. This bird has never flown and seems to have no real concept of flight. If he were to fall, he'd come tumbling down like a big rock. But he doesn't fall and he is confident in his abilities. Keep encouraging your baby to climb, climb, climb and don't make things too easy on him He'll thank you for the challenges someday when he has a bit of mobility to get around to where he wants without human assistance or functional wings.

Hi, about your pink chain. I want to place one in my zon's cage. But hemp rope is the easiest tool I could get. If i instead place a thick hemp rope (abt 15~20mm), whats your idea? I assume that hemp rope is ok. but i concern that my blue front amazon not comfortable and not use to step on it.

 

[expressmailtome]

While it does depend on the specific bird using it, 20mm seems a little thin for a blue fronted amazon, but if it is what you have, then it is worth trying.

 

[birdnerd]

i have a lorikeet that doesnt fly after being hit by a car. he spends mot of his time on the bottom of his cage throwing toys around and laying on his back with foot toys. He doesnt like swings of any kids but is happy to climb everywhere and wont attempt larger jumps from perch to perch. i just made sure he has lots of floor space as this is what he seems to love most. he has a tent which e likes to hide in..but this also doesnt swing at all its secured to the side of the cage so it doesnt move around on him.