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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2012 14:00:05 GMT
As a few of you have seen from the photos of Munchy, my little yellow fiend has a 'play gym' made by my granddad. It's little more than a perch stuck to two thick sticks on a flat base, however, so I was thinking of trying to extend it. I thought I could make a side section that would be connected via one of Munchy's rope perches (because he doesn't use them on the cage much anymore) to the old stand and could be a little area for a small food bowl and water bowl (because I was going to use it and not bring his cage into the living room and at the moment he doesn't know his way back and we normally shut the door to the living room for his own safety due to various bits of furniture and the possibility of open windows or open doors to the rooms with the bad furniture). That way he could have food and water handy and because he likes to perch on the stand at the window he would hopefully go onto it and I could take it out to the cage (like I did this morning) and put him back in if he won't step onto my hand when it was time for bed (when he starts looking sleepy, normally the time we have to put the light on so that he doesn't get confused by the extra light). Then, because of my weirdness with finding uses for things (like having a big bowl that fits to the cage that is now the 'outside bath' for when we take Munchy into the garden whereas we have a ceramic bowl for inside), I thought 'what could I do with the cage stand?' because the cage only goes on it when it is in the living room and I don't want to put the cage on it out where it normally stays because I like being able to sit next to it, because Munchy can hop onto my shoulder from the top, something he likes doing. So, I thought about getting a gym that you have to put together and standing it on/slightly in the stand. It is a good size to be able to hang his skewer from one of the perches to offer him a slice of carrot or a thick piece of broccoli (thin pieces are put in a peg as are any leaves). The seem to be enough places to be able put pegs of leaves too, which means I wouldn't clutter up the food and water area, and my perch for those is long enough to stop the seed from going in the water. And there should be room to play with a toy in the gym if there isn't enough room to run around on the windowsill anymore. He's been on the foldable table today too, so I can provide that to play on sometimes My query was, should I connect the bought gym to the made one with a rope perch, or just leave them separate. He flies around a lot anyway, whether he can get places by walking/climbing or not. Or I could connect the old gym to a perch that can be placed on the table, but there's no point in that because he'll just fly to the windowsill rather than use a ladder to get to the perch from the table and walk to another perch. I think the feeding area will be a little lower down, for less chance of overbalancing, so the ladder could just stay where it is now, because he'll use that if he's running around on the sill. I'll get a landing platform for the cage to replace the rope perch. So many plans ^^
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Post by Hezz on May 25, 2012 0:42:43 GMT
I would leave them separate, for now anyway. The more places around the room he can see as his the better. He will get more exercise flying from station to station, rather than sitting in the on spot all day. The only thing I have found is that the landing/playing/feeding stations do have to be fairly high for the birds to make use of them. I have a home made tree on a stool in front of some louvred windows, which all up is about as tall as me, but the louvres go right to the ceiling and the birds will more often than not land on the louvres rather than one the tree. The same with the gym I made them - it lives on top of their large cage which is about head height to me again, so the gym is over my head. They like it there too, as they are looking down on what is happening in the room.
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Post by BudgiesBuddy on May 25, 2012 7:19:42 GMT
An attachable which can be detached sometimes sounds like a good idea. You can use it both ways. Can't wait to see the pictures
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May 2, 2024 22:16:13 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2012 8:00:53 GMT
Okay, Hezz. I can put the stand on the other side of the room. He spends more time on the windowsill than his cage, even though it's lower. The windowsill has been claimed. In that case I might have food on one side and water on the other so they don't contaminate each other. I can put the cage stand with his toys nearer to us then. And if it gets to the stage where he'll fly back to his by himself then the food stations can be used for veggies. But I can keep the spare pots because we might want to close the living room door in winter, so it'll be useful anyway.
Thanks BB! I shall sort out the plans and employ slave labour... I mean... I'll ask my boyfriend to help me. Photos will come as soon as possible.
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May 2, 2024 22:16:13 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2012 9:59:38 GMT
I've decided to leave the rope perches on the outside of the cage because they're a good route up and down. I noticed he'd rather play inside than outside without being in the living room, so I've put a toy outside. I only have 5 (2 of those are homemade) and only one of those is long enough to hang from the cage roof to reach the highest perch, and then only barely. So I decided to put that in the cage and only remove it for a while when he gets bored of it. Then I've put one other on the side of the cage on the inside, and one on the outside near the door but between the two ropes. I can rotate those with the other two to prevent boredom. I find a lot of the toys in the shops need to be hung up but would be too big for inside the cage, the only place I can hang them. Anyway, this means I shall need to get one or two more rope perches. I also found the spare swing which I could hang on one side to give him a bit more excitement in his life The ready-made (well, sort of) gym I want to get already has one and I don't want to overcrowd it.
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Post by Hezz on May 25, 2012 10:20:45 GMT
Sorry, Ira, I am having a problem seeing mentally what it is you are trying to do.
But don't lose sight of their native enviroment. Branches are a better option to rope perches, but if that isn't an option for you, just keep a good eye on the rope as they do tend to fray. If you don't want him spending all his time inside the cage, you can always move all the essentials out of the cage and position them around the room, and close the door to the cage for a while. I am doing that for the time being for Sparky. Since Bluey (Sparky's special friend) died, Sparky has been inclined to retreat to the cage after a fly around and then stay, whereas before he was always where-ever Bluey was. I feel he was becoming a little cage-bound, so I have been closing him out of the cage for a couple of hours in the middle of the day. Hopefully he will become used to being out of the cage during the day and fly around a little more and not pine for his friend.
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May 2, 2024 22:16:13 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2012 15:37:06 GMT
Noooooooo, I just typed along message and it got wiped. I'll type it up on the computer later because it's faster.
And I'll do some drawings to try to make everything clearer.
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May 2, 2024 22:16:13 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2012 20:05:17 GMT
Here's the sketch with explanations Hezz I might shut Munchy out a few times, but I'll see how things go. He's happy to be in the living room without his cage. I'm going to try getting him used to places in other rooms, because he'll try to fly to the window or the cage if he sees them, rather than go anywhere else, so you have to shield them from view by holding him close to your body. I might make a perch for each room, even if just a small one, so that he definitely has somewhere to pitch. Luckily he doesn't seem inclined to land on top of high furniture, or any furniture, although he will land on top of the mirror above his cage when trying to avoid getting on my hand ^^ I don't spend much time in my room, but I could move the tree about occasionally and it would give him another place to play if he wanted to go into another room for any reason
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Post by Hezz on May 26, 2012 9:54:25 GMT
While I am getting your basic idea, and liking what you are trying to achieve, it is a little hard to read some of the writing, simply because the image has to be reduced to fit the proboards image. Even expanded some I can't make out, but I do get your idea. I can only say, give it a go. If you wish to change, change. But just see how Munchy is using it and then adjust bits, leave bits depending on how and if he is using things. It is also good to mix things up to keep he guessing what is he going to find today/this week. This is my bare-bones tree I made for my guys. The little branches/perches are recessed in, not the actual branches from that part of the tree. I drilled the tree "trunk" and then dowelled in the perches with different types of branches to provide different textures and bark. The budgies love being on it - but they would be even happier if it were taller.
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Oct 6, 2011 7:41:27 GMT
Marianne Marlow
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Post by Marianne Marlow on May 26, 2012 10:49:42 GMT
I enlarged it but I don't think it helped!
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May 2, 2024 22:16:13 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2012 21:00:59 GMT
Sorry! I should have just typed the writing. I zoomed in too much to write. The only note of importance was that all the perches would be natural wood. The ropes are just to connect the pieces. But they'll be removable so that I can easily move things around. That's what I'm aiming for for the tree, Hezz. I'll put paper and stuff for him to chew and play with if I get a couple more hanging toys It won't happen for a few months yet, probably late June or July, so I'll see what things Munchy likes and dislikes, and think through all the planning and how it will all fit together.
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Post by Hezz on May 28, 2012 0:57:42 GMT
Good to do it in parts. He will have something new to explore in sections instead of all at once. I am sure he will have a lot of fun, once you have got it up and running.
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May 2, 2024 22:16:13 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2012 11:20:19 GMT
Yeah, I'll substitute each part for the piece he has already until he's used to them and then give him two different parts and swap those around and then let him loose with all three. And once he's good with all forms I'll keep switching which ones I use and where I place them
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May 2, 2024 22:16:13 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2012 17:05:41 GMT
What are the things you used to attach the trunk to the base called, Hezz?
So you drilled a hole and inserted the branch, or drilled a whole in the trunk and the branch and put a small dowel partly into the branch and partly into the trunk? Do you use glue or anything to seal them?
I spotted a likely magnolia branch that was thick enough to be a trunk and provide me with plenty of small perches, and some hazel that I can use too. Not sure whether to ask my neighbour about the apple. The perches in Munchy's cage are apple, but I'll have to get a load of wood and make my plans from that because I can't draw a detailed plan because I don't know what the wood is going to be shaped like ^^
And why do all metal fittings I find seem to be made of zinc? There are some that say steel as the material but then another note on the page mentions zinc! It's so confusing ><
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Post by Hezz on May 31, 2012 3:36:13 GMT
Brackets to hold the trunk upright on the base. I used three. I drilled holes into the trunk, where it has branched out, slightly smaller than the pieces I was putting in as the perches - I had already cut these from leftovers. Then a solid surface and a hammer and knock the perches into the hole. Because my truck was still fresh, not seasoned, it had some "give" to it and allowed the perches to knocked in but still be quite steady. The tricky part is when you have perches on all planes and trying to put something solid under the trunk with your little branches sticking out at all angles. I used a saw-horse, and a spare pair of hands would be handy too - something I didn't have! Mine aren't glued in, and have stayed mostly steady. One I have had to re-hammer, but only because I didn't knock it in fully the first time. You need to go for stainless steel, Ira. But having said that, I couldn't find S/S brackets anywhere and was prepared to paint, wrap with sisal, cover with anything safe. Anything at all, that would do the job. But the birds don't go anywhere near the brackets. Even if they are on the base for a feed, they totally ignore the base of the trunk. Bluey used to get a feed on the base, the other two aren't interested and only use the higher of the perches. A couple of the lower perches are just for decoration, I am sure.
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