Must Have Cage Items

[Kimberly1985]

And it's all set up. The happy hut will be placed in the top left corner....I only put it in at night.

In Yoshi's cage are:

One wooden dowel (I know, I know)
One 21 inch small rope perch
Three 10 inch natural perches
One wooden perch of different lengths down it
Cuttlebone
4 small toy
1 large wiffle ball toy (Beary Orbiter I won with a toy naming contest: http://www.happyheartsaviary.com/toys.html Thanks Holly)
3 Stainless steel cups (food, water, treat)
1 water bottle tube (if he could figure out how to use it.)
1 Wooden ladder
Bird bath at bottom
3 foot toys (that he never touches)

Yoshi seems to like it...I know I do. http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb342/pigtoes1985/cage.jpg

Of course it still seems bare to me. I really want to get a swing in there and also a platform perch like Maya's Mika.

You can see a couple of the little homemade toys I made in there.

 

[BirdsFTW]

Nice looking cage!! It may seem bare, but it'll fill up quick. Haha!! The platform perch will be great - I don't think there's any bird that doesn't like it!!

 

[Kimberly1985]

Yep, I'm sure it will.

PS.

I know you're probably missing loving on Mika. I know he's going through a rough time but I know it's probably hard on you too. Hopefully, the vet will figure something out and Mika will get better and you can start loving on him again.

 

[BirdsFTW]

Yeah, I am, but it's what's best for right now... at least until we can figure something else out! He's got a bowl full of Nutriberries, though, so that really lessens the blow for him.

 

[Kimberly1985]

Gotta spoil him with something since you can't with physical contact right now!

 

[BirdsFTW]

Yup!! Starting tomorrow, I'll let him back out, but will be avoiding touching him and will try hard to not let him be on me. I'll just keep putting him back on his window perch or something.

 

[Kimberly1985]

Good luck! I know it's gonna be hard. Yoshi became a velcro birdy automatically and I had to put a stop to it. He's doing much better with his independence but he'd still rather be on me than anywhere else.

 

[mask]

I used to fill my cages with toys and what not, but they never used to touch them, only the ones they could destroy, and they lasted about 24 hours? lol!

I lost a bird that got caught in a rope perch. It was a typical rope perch, a tiny thread had come lose and a lovely young female got her neck caught in it, and I found her hanging, dead. 6 months later I had a young male with his leg caught in a little thread coming off the "boing" spiral rope thing in the cage .... he was lifeless and weak and took him 2-3 days before he could stand alone again. He was lucky I found him, seconds away from death it seems. Another bird got her neck caught in a ropey section of a swing, but I was in the room at the time and cut her free.

I used to read about these things happening, and though it would never happen to me, but it did, 3 times resulting in 1 death. It was heartbreaking finding the young hen hanging, I was mortified. These threads they were caught on were so small, so tiny, I couldn't even see them really, almost the size of a thick hair! After the last incident I removed every single toy/perch that was made from rope or strandy materials. Only hard wood, metal and plastic toys for my birds now. I know it rarely happens, I used all these perches and toys for a good 4-5 years without a single issue, but in the space of 7 months I lost 1 bird, and 2 had a close call. Not worth the risk imo. I got a big box full of toys and perches I won't ever use again now Keep an eye open with such things, and inspect/trim them on a regular basis. I find my birds are happier with a great big bunch of willow branches to chow down on, it's like christmas come early when I was a bunch of branches into the cages/aviaries!

 

[Kimberly1985]

Thanks for your stories. I'm sorry to hear that your little hen died and sorry that the others were injured. I will keep an eye out on the rope perch I have. It's the only rope thing I have in the cage. But you've made me seriously consider my options.

 

[lotus15]

I am very careful about rope items as well. Of all of the boings and perches I've ever tried, Grey Feather Toys makes the absolute TIGHTEST weave with their cotton rope products that I've ever seen. Theirs are the only cotton rope products I will allow in my cages, especially with my little guys (budgies). Even still, of course, I check them for loose threads daily.