Zara
♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
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I have 4 cages for my 6 birds (I actually have 6 cages but two are sunbathing cages) so I thought I'd share my setups for my littles....
Adélie:
She has a closed foot so has a short cage. There is already a thread about her cage on Special needs crossing but I will go over it here,
The cage is 18x30x18 inches, no grid at the bottom. She has a good open space at the top of her cage so that she can fly in there. She has a swing that has been lowered with a shoelace and acrylic beads threaded on for safety (and to make it look nicer). The large platform is cardboard that I cut to fit and secure with bulldog clips. This creates a soft platform that I can throw away and make a new one as she still poops on the platform. When she stops I will make a wooden one. Ladders to climb up, a wooden bridge to climb over and under. She has numerous soft toys to sit on, favourite is the dragons face. She sleeps on the tiger a lot too. The turtle toy is tied to a cheapo plastic perch to create a soft perch. I use the same cheapo perches to balance the cardboard platform. She then has a two storey house to sleep in, her whale in in the bottom half, this is where she sleeps. The house is evaluated daily as she is now coming of age and I do not want to induce nesting. So far she uses it to sleep in and no more, she is not aggressive defending it so for now, she can keep it. She had the whale toy since she was a baby and her brothers left. She has seeds and pellets in the porcelain dish, the edges are rounded and easy for her to get in. The dishes that came with the cage are not suitable for her. There is a SS ring at the back there for a SS dish but I don't use it. Her veggies are served in another porcelain square dish near the swing. Her water is in the silo to avoid her falling in a dish of water.
She has a mini Hagen (Living world) pedí perch, mainly for her beak and her good foot. But I don't think she's ever used it. (Her nails get clipped by the vet). She has a wooden perch that is smooth so that she doesn't hurt her skin on her leg.
The cage is OK. It is not heavy duty at all so I try not to move it too much. It is a good size for my single special needs bird. The cage has no guillotine doors which is good. The two feeder doors are springs and I don't use them. I don't like the main door, I prefer something a bit more secure.
Wooden Bridge and the house are from the rodent section, there are some great finds there for special needs birds; ramps, ladders etc
Jaime and Aldora:
AKA Mum and dad, these two have the same size cage as Adélie but it is double the height so it is 18x30x36 inches.
The size is perfect for 2 lovebirds.
They have 3 large Y perches, two are trixie, I can't remember the brand of the third but its the same. They have a small hagen pedí perch, x-large cotton perch (which Aldora has half destroyed while trying to nest) and the same smooth wooden perch as Adélie. They have the swing unaltered. The 6 colourful rings at the back low down are baby toys. The cage is clear for the lower third to give them space to fly.
There are 4 feeder doors, I have pellets in the farthest doors and water in the middle. Veggies are given in a large dish in the floor in the middle. (no seeds in their cage as Jaime is on a strict diet-vets orders)
This cage has a grid so they have kitty balls with bells on the floor to play with.
The parents are housed next to their daughter Adélie,
They don't care for each other, so there is a good gap always between the cages.
Lapis and Nube:
First son and daughter of Jaime and Aldora (together I refer to these four as the Blue Team).
These two live in a Montana cage (aka Kings cage), it is a good size and is sturdy. It is weighty at approx 20kilos but is not as large as their parents cage.
The feeder doors have bolt locks, front door has a turn lock (the best and most secure IMO). There is a semicircle door that doubles as a platform once open for easy exit and entry. The top opens and I have a dowel to wedge it with to create a stand on top - to be honest I rarely open the top, only to clean or move toys.
The cage sits nicely in the corner and when I uncover the birds I pull the cage forward so that it is in the open doorway so that the birds can sit and look out side.
They have one large Y perch from Trixie and also a small Y perch. They have a small cotton rope perch (I think this was trixie too), they have a trixie hanging climbing frame, this is the smaller size made of natural wood and rope. The cage came with 4 SS dishes and mounts however I only have one in the cage that I use for water up high. The lower food bowls were causing Lapis to tip food to try to nest in them so they were removed. These two also have a small hagen pedí perch, this is where they like to sit here to look out the door.
They have the same swing as the other birds and kitty balls with bells. They have a little terracotta tapas dish for their seeds/pellets and their veggies are presented in a large ceramic rabbit food bowl.
Again, I kept the lower third quite clear so that there is room for flight.
I keep the covers and a feather duster on the shelf under the cage. The feather duster is strictly for bird cages only.
Sydney:
Sydney is my first bird but unfortunately lives in the worst cage. He is my only bird not in a flight cage. He was about to get an upgrade however now that Adélie is interested in pairing with him I want to wait before buying a new cage.
I bought this cage many years ago as an upgrade from his baby cage which was 18x18x18 (I still have the smaller cage and I use it for sunbathing and recently for a vet visit).
The cage is 21x18x40 inches and I hate it. A nightmare to clean and quite frankly not worth it. The parents cage is larger and takes less time to clean and it is a flight cage.
Anyway, he has a small Y perch, a small hagen pedí perch, a swing like everyone else (he did have a small trixie climbing frame like Lapis and Nube but I recently swapped it), and kitty balls with bells. He has a large boing that he is in a commited relationship with. He likes to regurgitate in the wooden bead toy and "play" with his boing. Sydney sleeps in a box, I do not know his sex, I just refer to him as he, but the box has caused no issues whatsoever and so it has stayed. Last but not least, his duck down on the floor who he feeds and licks.
His seeds/pellets are in a porcelain dish, this is because I clipped his lower guillotine doors shut for safety, the dish won't fit in the middle right feeder door because of the Y perch and I use the top feeder door to put my hand in to get Sydney out. Water is in the middle left feeder door in a bowl. Veggies are presented in another porcelain dish (I remove the dry food dish when veggies are presented or he won't eat them).
I can open my door and pull this cage forward and Sydney will be in the sun which is nice so he doesn't have to go outside if he's not happy about it.
I don't recommend this cage or any of this similar style. I bought it when I didn't know better and I'm sure a lot of us have bought cages that we dislike or wish we hadn't.
*None of these 4 cages were purchased in Spain. All are from Germany*
Toys:
I like to DIY a lot of toys, others are from local pet stores, online EU pet stores and a few from amazon (I don't recommend amazon for bird toys unless it is a brand like trixie or another known brand as a lot of toys are Chinese junk and not safe - I have had to toss many so not worth the risk of wasting money)
Covering cages :
I have always covered Lapis and Nube, they sleep well. I was debating Jaime and Aldora but I decided to keep covering them. I recently started covering Adélie because she will wake everyone up. Sydney was never covered because when he's sleepy he goes in his box for some darkness but because I cover Adélie, I cover him a little with her so they can still see each other and if Sydney climbs down, he can still look out and see me.
Adélie:
She has a closed foot so has a short cage. There is already a thread about her cage on Special needs crossing but I will go over it here,
The cage is 18x30x18 inches, no grid at the bottom. She has a good open space at the top of her cage so that she can fly in there. She has a swing that has been lowered with a shoelace and acrylic beads threaded on for safety (and to make it look nicer). The large platform is cardboard that I cut to fit and secure with bulldog clips. This creates a soft platform that I can throw away and make a new one as she still poops on the platform. When she stops I will make a wooden one. Ladders to climb up, a wooden bridge to climb over and under. She has numerous soft toys to sit on, favourite is the dragons face. She sleeps on the tiger a lot too. The turtle toy is tied to a cheapo plastic perch to create a soft perch. I use the same cheapo perches to balance the cardboard platform. She then has a two storey house to sleep in, her whale in in the bottom half, this is where she sleeps. The house is evaluated daily as she is now coming of age and I do not want to induce nesting. So far she uses it to sleep in and no more, she is not aggressive defending it so for now, she can keep it. She had the whale toy since she was a baby and her brothers left. She has seeds and pellets in the porcelain dish, the edges are rounded and easy for her to get in. The dishes that came with the cage are not suitable for her. There is a SS ring at the back there for a SS dish but I don't use it. Her veggies are served in another porcelain square dish near the swing. Her water is in the silo to avoid her falling in a dish of water.
She has a mini Hagen (Living world) pedí perch, mainly for her beak and her good foot. But I don't think she's ever used it. (Her nails get clipped by the vet). She has a wooden perch that is smooth so that she doesn't hurt her skin on her leg.
The cage is OK. It is not heavy duty at all so I try not to move it too much. It is a good size for my single special needs bird. The cage has no guillotine doors which is good. The two feeder doors are springs and I don't use them. I don't like the main door, I prefer something a bit more secure.
Wooden Bridge and the house are from the rodent section, there are some great finds there for special needs birds; ramps, ladders etc
Jaime and Aldora:
AKA Mum and dad, these two have the same size cage as Adélie but it is double the height so it is 18x30x36 inches.
The size is perfect for 2 lovebirds.
They have 3 large Y perches, two are trixie, I can't remember the brand of the third but its the same. They have a small hagen pedí perch, x-large cotton perch (which Aldora has half destroyed while trying to nest) and the same smooth wooden perch as Adélie. They have the swing unaltered. The 6 colourful rings at the back low down are baby toys. The cage is clear for the lower third to give them space to fly.
There are 4 feeder doors, I have pellets in the farthest doors and water in the middle. Veggies are given in a large dish in the floor in the middle. (no seeds in their cage as Jaime is on a strict diet-vets orders)
This cage has a grid so they have kitty balls with bells on the floor to play with.
The parents are housed next to their daughter Adélie,
They don't care for each other, so there is a good gap always between the cages.
Lapis and Nube:
First son and daughter of Jaime and Aldora (together I refer to these four as the Blue Team).
These two live in a Montana cage (aka Kings cage), it is a good size and is sturdy. It is weighty at approx 20kilos but is not as large as their parents cage.
The feeder doors have bolt locks, front door has a turn lock (the best and most secure IMO). There is a semicircle door that doubles as a platform once open for easy exit and entry. The top opens and I have a dowel to wedge it with to create a stand on top - to be honest I rarely open the top, only to clean or move toys.
The cage sits nicely in the corner and when I uncover the birds I pull the cage forward so that it is in the open doorway so that the birds can sit and look out side.
They have one large Y perch from Trixie and also a small Y perch. They have a small cotton rope perch (I think this was trixie too), they have a trixie hanging climbing frame, this is the smaller size made of natural wood and rope. The cage came with 4 SS dishes and mounts however I only have one in the cage that I use for water up high. The lower food bowls were causing Lapis to tip food to try to nest in them so they were removed. These two also have a small hagen pedí perch, this is where they like to sit here to look out the door.
They have the same swing as the other birds and kitty balls with bells. They have a little terracotta tapas dish for their seeds/pellets and their veggies are presented in a large ceramic rabbit food bowl.
Again, I kept the lower third quite clear so that there is room for flight.
I keep the covers and a feather duster on the shelf under the cage. The feather duster is strictly for bird cages only.
Sydney:
Sydney is my first bird but unfortunately lives in the worst cage. He is my only bird not in a flight cage. He was about to get an upgrade however now that Adélie is interested in pairing with him I want to wait before buying a new cage.
I bought this cage many years ago as an upgrade from his baby cage which was 18x18x18 (I still have the smaller cage and I use it for sunbathing and recently for a vet visit).
The cage is 21x18x40 inches and I hate it. A nightmare to clean and quite frankly not worth it. The parents cage is larger and takes less time to clean and it is a flight cage.
Anyway, he has a small Y perch, a small hagen pedí perch, a swing like everyone else (he did have a small trixie climbing frame like Lapis and Nube but I recently swapped it), and kitty balls with bells. He has a large boing that he is in a commited relationship with. He likes to regurgitate in the wooden bead toy and "play" with his boing. Sydney sleeps in a box, I do not know his sex, I just refer to him as he, but the box has caused no issues whatsoever and so it has stayed. Last but not least, his duck down on the floor who he feeds and licks.
His seeds/pellets are in a porcelain dish, this is because I clipped his lower guillotine doors shut for safety, the dish won't fit in the middle right feeder door because of the Y perch and I use the top feeder door to put my hand in to get Sydney out. Water is in the middle left feeder door in a bowl. Veggies are presented in another porcelain dish (I remove the dry food dish when veggies are presented or he won't eat them).
I can open my door and pull this cage forward and Sydney will be in the sun which is nice so he doesn't have to go outside if he's not happy about it.
I don't recommend this cage or any of this similar style. I bought it when I didn't know better and I'm sure a lot of us have bought cages that we dislike or wish we hadn't.
*None of these 4 cages were purchased in Spain. All are from Germany*
Toys:
I like to DIY a lot of toys, others are from local pet stores, online EU pet stores and a few from amazon (I don't recommend amazon for bird toys unless it is a brand like trixie or another known brand as a lot of toys are Chinese junk and not safe - I have had to toss many so not worth the risk of wasting money)
Covering cages :
I have always covered Lapis and Nube, they sleep well. I was debating Jaime and Aldora but I decided to keep covering them. I recently started covering Adélie because she will wake everyone up. Sydney was never covered because when he's sleepy he goes in his box for some darkness but because I cover Adélie, I cover him a little with her so they can still see each other and if Sydney climbs down, he can still look out and see me.
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us european do have a hard time finding stores and website that have good quality bird products ! so i know how hard it must be ! "the struggle is real !"
