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August 2016 Feathered Estates Highlight - Solayan & Heather F

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Macawnutz

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August 2016 Feathered Estates Highlight
:starshower1::starshower1::starshower1:

I am very pleased to announce this month's showcased members Solayan & Heather F!​

setup for apartments/renters


1~ What kind of birds do you have and how many birds did you design your setup for?
We have two small conures: Frodo who is a green cheek conure and Mango, a blue throated conure. The setup was mostly designed when we only had Frodo, but we have made some tweaks to it since we brought Mango home last October.

2~ Is your setup for a handicapped bird?
No

3~ Are there any budgeting tips you discovered while doing your setup?
We made a few excellent and inexpensive finds at Ikea, and have benefited greatly from a few sidewalk sales here on AA. We have a bad habit of buying far more toys than two birds can actually go through. :p We've managed to buy all of our cages within Canada, which has saved us the awful exchange rate for the Canadian dollar. Buying locally also saved us on shipping costs since the place we bought from was willing to deliver for free. In fact, when we got Mango's cage the store owner actually asked if she could deliver it since she'd never met a blue throated conure before and wanted to meet our princess.

4~ Is your setup changeable or stationary and do you add or make changes continually or do things stay primarily as is?

Our setup is mostly stationary, other than regular toy rotation.

5~ Where did you find your materials if you made it yourself or where did you purchase the setup and do you have favorite places to purchase safe toys and/or supplies that you find reliable?
Our favorite places to shop include: Things for Wings, Avian Stainless and Oliver's Garden. :D We can't resist the Sidewalk Sales, Red Light Specials and other amazing offers from the best bird vendors in Canada. Their toys are not only better quality than we could find at the pet store, but often also more affordable and the birds just love them. Our tabletop playstand came from a local bird show, and is fantastic because it's easy to wipe off.

6~ Do you have a favorite item that you bought for your setup?
Probably Mango's cage. We've often sung the praises of the A&E Elegant Flight Cage, and it really is fantastic as a budget priced cage for smaller birds. If it had been on the market when we got Frodo we'd probably have two of them, and if/when he needs a new cage it may be what we go with. The combination of lots of room, good bar spacing, good doors (and feeder doors!) and ease of setup make it a real winner.

7~ If you made any DIY toys what is your bird(s) favorite and were there any failures?
We're not particularly good with toy making, but they both love their skewers. We usually put a mix of wood slices and vine bits on, with beads as spacers. Frodo will go through a skewer in a week or two, whereas Mango can polish one off in a couple of days.

Our playstand setup was a little bit DIY. We picked up a room divider and tie rack at Ikea and set them up with toys. Neither was very expensive and they make a great jungle gym. The tie stand in particular is fantastic for small birds (but wouldn't be safe for any much bigger than ours).

When we first setup the room divider stand and the Oddball it did take a while to get them positioned in the room where the birds would play with them. Once we figured out that they really just wanted to hop from one to the other they've stayed in more or less the same place since.

8~ Did you incorporate into your setup any foraging toys and how did your bird(s) take to them and was age or inactivity a factor?
Not really. Our birds are very lazy foragers. If the foraging toy is too simple Frodo will figure it out in a few seconds and then get bored. If it's more complicated though he just ignores it. He does like to forage on the floor for his own crumbs though. :confused: We have yet to find a foraging toy of any kind that interests Mango.

9~ What difficulties did you encounter, if any, and how did you remedy them?
One of the big challenges we've faced is that we rent, so we can't do anything that would make large holes in the walls or ceiling or add permanent fixtures. As a result most of our setup is freestanding. It took a while for us to figure out how to get the Oddball set up, but we ended up getting what's actually supposed to be a cage hanger, and it fits it beautifully (and keeps our landlord happy).

Mango's cage setup has also been a challenge since she really doesn't like to use perches and prefers to climb around on her cage bars instead. She has one perch over her door that she'll use, but she ignores most others. We've had to be extra careful about the proximity of toys to her food and water dishes as well since she has a tendency to poo wherever she happens to be in her cage. Frodo on the other hand loves his perches and has a preferred poo spot, so he's much easier to arrange for.

10~ What do you like least about your set up (if anything)?
We'd love to have more space, and the ability to hang stuff from the ceilings. We'd also like to get a slightly bigger cage for Frodo one day.

11~ What do you like most about your setup?
That our birds seem to enjoy the stuff we have for them, and they're both happy and healthy. We've been able to learn what each of them likes. Being able to hang toys on the playstands also lets us use toys we might not feel are safe enough for unsupervised use and therefore can't go in their cages. There are a few that they just love but we wouldn't want them playing with where we couldn't step in if they got tangled or snagged.

12~ Did your bird(s) take to the setup right away or did they approach it tentatively needing time to adjust and do you feel their age was a factor?
Both of our birds tend to take quickly to new toys and playthings. Frodo usually ignores new toys for a while and then enjoys them, whereas Mango will dive straight in. She loves to play on the Oddball, while Frodo prefers the playstand or the window swing. Both of them are coming up on 3 years old and neither is particularly shy or skittish.

13~ Any future renovations planned?
Probably not in the near future. There's not much more room in the apartment for anything big, but we're always on the lookout for fun new toys.


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The birdie corner of our living room. One wall backs onto the stairwell and the other onto our bathroom, which means less noise for our neighbors.

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Frodo's man cave (complete with non-pilling sleep hut and plenty of bells)

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Mango's princess palace (note the shortage of perches and all the toys hanging from the top - that's how she likes it)

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I do not need your foolish perches!

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DIkeaY Jungle Gym. It shares a space with our bird-safe pots and pans because of small apartment. The birds ignore the pots in favor of more interesting things.

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Bird's eye view

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Princess Mango loves the Oddball. She also loves the yogurt that she got all over her head.

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Awesome playstand with linoleum bottom and open side for easy wiping. Frodo not included.

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Can I see Big Brother Milty's house from here? Snowflake decals started as Christmas decorations, but stay up all year since Mango is still finding her wings.​
 

expressmailtome

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I enjoyed reading about your setup. You have done an amazing job!
 

Clueless

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Congrats!
 

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rocky'smom

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KimKim

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Tiel Feathers

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Heather F

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Thank you! @Solayan and I were very flattered by the nomination since we don't think our setup is anywhere near as grand as some of the others that have been featured, but we try to make sure our birds are happy and healthy in our limited space.
 

Percy&Ivan

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Wait, I'm missing something? Two people won?
 

iamwhoiam

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Congratulations. Nice setup.
 

ncGreyBirdLady

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VictoriaVague

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webchirp

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Congrats! Lovely babies and space :heart:
 

Loppy

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Woo hoo!!! :bounce7:

Having spent a great deal of time with @Heather F and @Solayan, and Frodo and Mango, I can vouch when they say they've got a great pair of happy birds. And the setup is awesome given the limited space in the apartment. (I can also vouch for the toys to birds ratio going on... they have A LOT of toys!)

Congrats, you too! Very deserving of it!
 
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