Shezbug
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December 2021 Feathered Estates
Highlight
I am very pleased to announce this
months showcased member
MR. Mango
1~ What kind of birds do you have and how many birds did you design your setup for?Highlight
I am very pleased to announce this
months showcased member
MR. Mango
I currently have 1 bird, Mango. He’s a sun conure and also my first pet bird. I designed this setup with 1 bird in mind.
2~ Is your setup for a handicapped bird?
No,
3~ Are there any budgeting tips you discovered while doing your setup?
Yes, I realized that toy making is something you can save a lot on, especially if you have really picky birds (*cough *cough Mango) or if they like more expensive stuff like mahogany, balsa, sola (*cough *cough Mango), but at the same time I also realized that in some things it isn’t worth my time and effort, like choosing to prepare pine wood for mango the drilling, sanding, cutting all takes too much time just to save a few bucks, but if you find that it works for you then totally go for it this is just my personal experience. I prefer to buy my toy parts, @calibird has great parts at good pricing and quantities. I’ve also realized that for some things you need to pay the extra for the quality product you receive, like with perches or certain toys/ products.
4~ Is your setup changeable or stationary and do you add or make changes continually or do things stay primarily as is? My setup is stationary in the sense that I don’t have too much to change, but I try to make continuous changes, whether that’s by adding more toys or changing them out. I also rotate perches in and out of the setup and change up their location every few weeks just to shake things up.
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? Most of the stuff in mango’s setup are purchased items, the cage and some of the foraging toys and a few perches are from amazon. The other toys are either made by me using toy parts from california bird nerds. I also have a perch from @Macawnutz, and a beak stone from there as well. I really love getting stuff from the vendors on AA, the quality is so amazing!
6~ Do you have a favorite item that you bought for your setup? My favorite item for his setup would probably be the K&H heater snuggle panel, because even though it isn’t a substantial source of heat it gives me an extra feeling of security to know that he has that at night, plus Mango looks so stinkin cute all fluffy and sleepy next to his heater. I also really love the huge coconuts in his cage that I got, he always likes to explore them and will stones even fall asleep on them, so it makes me very happy to see that he’s actively engaging with them.
7~ If you made any DIY toys what is your bird(s) favorite and were there any failures?
I don’t think mango has had any clear cut favorites but he loves the ones with lots of balsa and sola that I make for him. Out of the diy toys i’ve made mango he hasn’t liked the ones with thick pieces of pine wood or harder materials.
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? I have quite a bit of foraging toys for mango some more natural ones like the planet pleasures and then acrylic foragers as well, currently the acrylic ones aren’t being used too much, since i rotated in more natural toys for the sake of variety, but overall mango took to foraging pretty easily. I must admit tho that he is a bit of a lazy bum, and prefers the acrylic ones over the natural ones where he would have to actually look and search.
9~ What difficulties did you encounter, if any, and how did you remedy them? Mango being the little houdini he is, found out how to unlock his cage doors and escape, so i had to find a way to keep the doors locked for safety reasons, thankfully a bunch of the people on AA helped me out, and I ended up getting these SS hook, spring locks from amazon, I think that they’re intended for bunny hutches but they work like a charm on the cage and Mango has yet to escape from them (mainly cuz it requires more brute strength rather than intellect)
10~ What do you like least about your set up (if anything)? I don’t like that it’s fairly small and a plain setup, I wish I could have a bigger or fancier bird room, or an aviary like many other people who have been featured on feathered estates.
11~ What do you like most about your setup? I like that while it is small and a little plain, that I still have space for Mango to have everything I feel he needs and that he seems to like his cage, and doesn’t associate it negatively with anything but rather enjoys being inside, but my favorite part is what I like to think of as his little bedroom, where he has his nice platform perch, heater and seagrass mat nearby. I always feel so content when I see him snoozing up there or just relaxing.
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? I got mango after he was weaned, so he was still a baby, and I slowly added more and more to the setup, but overall he never showed any problems with his setup and has adjusted very well.
13~ Any future renovations planned
I would love to have a dedicated bird room or space for mango, or an outdoor aviary, but that’s probably further in my future than now, in terms of more realistic renovation ideas I would like to make almost like an aerial play gym by hanging bird orbs, and nets for mango to climb on, and to get one of those big manzanita bird perch trees. Also, depending on future birds, I would have extra things added and more cages.