Shezbug
ASK ME FOR PICTURES OF MY MACAW!
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December 2022 Feathered Estates
Highlight
I am very pleased to announce this
months showcased member
Pixiebeak
Highlight
I am very pleased to announce this
months showcased member
Pixiebeak
1~ What kind of birds do you have and how many birds did you design your setup for?
I have a green cheek conure named Ta-dah , so named because from her very first day she has been like Ta-dah here i am! Petstore getting supplies for my first GCC who was 10 at the time. She was marked half off which concerned me , when I asked why? I was told she was drab and ugly and had not sold!!!!! I was so angry that I decided on the spot she was coming home with me!
Personally I find her soft colors to be stunning!! Thanks for the discount! ( sneak peek of Cloudy)
I have 3 quakers
Penny my greenie an older rescue.
I found her at a mom and pop petstore.. in a tiny finch cage maybe 12 inch cube. So small could not stand up straight , and every horror filth ,mold , poop pile halfway up her cage walls . So much poop that she was covered in poop ..bloody feet from self mutilation, plucked ring around neck. Screaming her head off and lunging to bite. She wasn't marked for sale, and they do board parrots as well. Inquiring, was owned by cleaner. Obviously substance abuse suffer, who was willing to let her go to , but for more than I had. Came back next morning with friends and family having chipped in and took that girl home! Sadly the original owner passed from overdose about 3 months later. While everything was a messed up horror with Penny and she was in terrible circumstances when I found her, as I came to know her it was also clear she had been very loved at one point. Life is complicated. With love , time, patience and work . She showed her true sweet self and what a hilarious parrot! Cursed me out the first day, but these days I only hear sweet words. Endless screaming now a very rare thing.
Gorgeous Pikachu was offered up as a re home. From a wonderful college kid , who was overwhelmed with college life and room mates who didn't appreciate loud parrots.
She is a true sweetheart, kisses for everyone!
Phoebe i consider a rescue tho I bought her from a petstore on the same day they were going to return her to corporate. Had visited the store for months and she screaming non stop sun up to sun down. That's why I bought her. And trying to help her past that non stop sun up to sun down screaming was the closest I've come to breaking .....it took months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a pay off tho!
My budgies, unwanted like so many and given to me . Cloudy loves everyone, wins over everyone with love.
Clear prefers no humans but loves his flock . Will sometimes sit on me with Cloudy .
2~ Is your setup for a handicapped bird?
No
3~ Are there any budgeting tips you discovered while doing your setup?
Definitely! All but one Cage are second hand . Used some crepe myrtle branches from my property.
Second hand rolling play stand. Gotten at flea market type shop, a real score as was mostly used furniture there.
And I cut up nearly every toy to make many toys spread around. Below were all cut up and you will likely see them in my pictures but chewed up. It's the only way I can stretch my dollars, and provide each flock member with something. Zip tie bought in bulk!
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 in constant state of changes. I observe how they use the things I provide. Anything not getting used much is modified or moved. Sometimes just having something in a new location increases the use by flock. The ladder wasn't getting enough use, till moved here. Tho since been moved again.
My suspension perches see a lot of adjustments tho remain above cages . To me one of the most important, as provides the whole flock a place to be!! Enough perch space to eliminate 99% squabbles. Allows them to all be out of cages at the same time.
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?
Cages, from Craigslist, Facebook market place, gently used section of pet stores . My yard for natural pesticides free stuff. Etsy. Amazon, my safe bird store. And thank you Avian Avenue shops you will be heavily shopped by me in future!!!!!
6~ Do you have a favorite item that you bought for your setup?
Yes! One of the most versatile and cheap! And so easy to move around. Its a stand for holding bird cages or swings. Was $25 at pet store . It has had so many incarnations! I've attached swings, rope bundgies, cut branches, to hold sweeter heater near cage are in cold snaps.. as a training station , past with ropes
Currently as additional birdie furniture and place to put things for them to discover and foraging
The orange ball inside cargo net that Penny is inside of has yet to be discovered millet!! Those cups the orange and yellow and hidden blue ones get things like popcorn or pumpkin seeds or even a pellet to be found.
7~ If you made any DIY toys what is your bird(s) favorite and were there any failures?
The favorite is willow balls I stuff anything and everything into. It was very largely sold for rabbit's, o stuffed in paper straps, crinkle paper, finger traps you name it. Always a big hit! But I'm out and haven't found them again. Darn can't find pictures. Im only doing simple stuff. Nothing is a failure, maybe needs tweaks or helping them learn to use it .
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?
Anything and everything is a foraging opportunity! If I can stuff in veggies, bits n pieces , treats . I want them always hunting for treasures
Below is an example of how I hide veggies all over! This is cooked carrots or sweet potatoes. She is so excited to find and ate all
These are the newer smaller more tightly packed willow balls, don't like them as much harder to stuff. But I will poke in stuff for them to find. I really want them looking at all their play and perch stuff for things I have hidden. The seagrass mats are so perfect for veggie wedges.
I mostly just stuff seeds in the bamboo holes pictures below , seeds all gone lol
I feel like an under achiever with foraging! I just keep it so simple! Stuff food all over, in anything. Im out of most veggies gotta go shopping . But this it the kind of stuff I do
Penny check the cups, seeds, pellet Cheerio, popcorn, nuts they never know till they check!
The quaker gang always mobs everything first! Later my gcc and budgies get a chance. But I also spread things around
Apples are a rare treat, so of course my sweet tooth driven gcc goes for first .
9~ What difficulties did you encounter, if any, and how did you remedy them?
I originally had mix matched cages..some designs I found less user or parrots friendly. Once I discovered the white box like cages, i was determined to sell off mine and change them all to that. The white let's in light and the parrots responded to and choose the white ones over their black, green , blue ones. White makes me feel the window light isn't blocked for myself too and dissappear into the white blinds. The flat square tops are wonderful, as can add the acrylic, put out bowls fir bath and plates of veggies..wipe up..easier for perchs to be added .
It took me a year or two to find all the cheap in excellent condition used cages to match.
10~ What do you like least about your set up (if anything)?
How messy a bunch of parrots are!
11~ What do you like most about your setup?
Putting acrylic on top of all the cages such a blessing with mess, and saves toes
Using fishing line attached to ceiling hooks for hanging perches. Provides many areas for them to fly to , to chill, or find all my hidden goodies, and chomp on stuff. Really increases activity level. Provides them more self directed choices. The love to look down on me and keep tabs
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?
All of my flock are pretty bomb proof at this point.
Penny my rescue, was not! Not at first anyway . Even the slightest change to her cage set up led to screaming rage! To her increasing plucking behavior..to guarding food bowl camping and sleeping there .
She needed a ton of confidence building. Encouragement to interact with things. Learning to make choices for herself
She needed help learning to move around . She had never learned to fly in her first 10 plus years of life. She was to fearful to even hop to another perch ! ( man I nearly forgot about all of this!) I had to make sure her path around the cage was all connected with perches. And a rope perch by door to climb out and get to top of cage. She took 2 years to learn to fly. I helped some by taking her to the bedroom and encouraged to hop a few inches from hand to soft bed. And so slowly from a little higher. Same with furniture, she need a large safe sturdy and soft spot to getting her to learn to hop, hop with a little wing action. I did some mild wing stretch therapy with her. She had wing stricture from a life if never flapping. Veterinarian thought was going to permanently so, and that she would never fly....but I believed she could improve mobility and at least flutter and not fall like a rock. But I never thought she would get to wher she is now!!! She can fly! She can land! She can hop! She isn't an expert flyer and likely never will be . But she gets anyplace she wants tho mostly straight lines. She can fly to me and land perfect on shoulder.
I have never ever broken her trust in me. I have never let her fear , rages, screaming or early bites , get anything from me except love, understanding, and more patience.
At some point her truth became absolute in me. I can do just about anything with her, I can now put her on scary or weird new stuff and she knows nothing to worry about moms here. I can change her cage move her cage, add stuff nothing upsets her anymore.
13~ Any future renovations planned
There is always a dream of an outdoor aviary
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