Environment

Environment:

Playpens & Perches:

So for every room in the house, have a play pen or a lunch tray or a plastic turkey serving tray like the one in the playpen pic in every room. You can get them at the dollar store and at thrift stores. You’ll probably want to invest in a treat seen cup and a couple of toys, just enough to keep them occupied if they want to be out of their cage and in the room with you yet not be ON you. Here is the bedroom setup.

Notice the piggies gorging themselves on treats? Then I upgraded.

I snagged a lunch tray from a thrift store and found a ladder at a pet shop while traveling. Notice the magnet holding the paper down? This is a cheap particle board book shelf so the bigger magnet is underneath and held up by the smaller magnet. This is so that the paper (which is a box of cheap recycled dot matrix printer paper so if you can find some online for a bargain, do it. I’ve still got some from this same box, it lasts forever) not only stays in place for when they shred the paper it stays in place for when they take off and land which generates quite a bit of air flow for such little creatures. But, keep the magnet in the middle but towards the edge. All animals generate a magnetic field. Birds have a rather large magnetic field surrounding their brain which is most likely how they know where to migrate. There is no documentation of magnets disrupting this and causing any adverse effects but at one time there was no documentation that smoking caused cancer either so… do as thou wilt.

Here is “The Fort” that I have hanging from my door in my studio. It has a seed dish (2 now actually, one on each side) and a place for them to chill when they’re in my studio but don’t want to be on m or if I don’t want them on me. Sometimes they’re very persistent in giving birdie kisses when I’m trying to work. You’ll notice the corner of my desk in the bottom right of the right picture. That way they can fly to the fort and decide if they want to fly to my shouder. I can also lean over to the left and peer into the living room to watch them on the playpen so they have free reign for all allowed rooms and they can come and go as they please. They know where they can and can’t go so now we have happy, fully flighted free range birdies. You’ll also notice the ladder/rope extension leading to the floor. This was back when they had their wings clipped and could only walk from room to room. This way they could climb up to The Fort by themselves to get used to doing it by themselves.

Here’s The Holly Bird bein’ silly & chillin’ in the hut hangin’ off The Fort. She still wanted to be by daddy but not on my shoulder.

Our Bat Bird. She’s so weird sometimes lol. This is part of the hanging dowels by the curtains.

Also, this way, if I’m working on something and I don’t want to be disturbed, I can shut my door and my wife can take the birds out and they can still fly to The Fort but not into my room.

I also have a little bird stand I made of of scrap wood and a dowel that sits next to the recliner/glider. That way if I’m in the chair watching TV the they want to be on a perch but by me they can be on that.

Notice the ladder/rope for when they were clipped, they could still walk to it and climb up? But now that they can fly, it gives them an extra point in the room to fly to. That way they have the playpen on the table, the curtain rod substitute hanging dowel, their cage and the table/cart it sits on and the stand near the chair. Now add The Fort and the lunch tray with the ladder on it and they have multiple spots to fly to whether we’re in the room or just want to let off energy and fly to different perches. That way they get exercise, stay healthy, don’t get bored and they do it all where they know they can be and its easy clean up for us. Every spot has paper down or can easily be swept up with a vaccuum or a Dustbuster. (I’m showing my age with that one)

Essentially what you’re aiming for is that by the time they’re about a year old and have started growing their wings back in, they’ll know where they can and can’t be. Our birds know not to go in the kitchen and to not go on the black metal curtain rods. (Because they WILL. They’re birds. It’s a long perfect diameter perch near the top of the room. They love the tops because they can see everything. It’s in their nature, don’t fight nature.) We didn’t want them on the curtain so I took a similar diameter dowel and made a drop down perch that hung from the ceiling so they would go there instead of ruining the curtain. And if they pooped on the carpet, it’s older utility carpet, plus it wasn’t anywhere we walked and we just let it dry and sweep it up every day or so. But that way they didn’t ruin the curtain. And if they jumped on the curtain rod we’d say “no curtain” and take a laser pointer and point it at the wall opposite them so they had a direct line of sight to see it. NEVER POINT IT AT THEM! Especially in the eyes as it can permanently damage them. But doing so let them know that anytime they saw that laser on the opposite wall that if they didn’t move off the curtain or wherever they weren’t supposed to be that we were about to stand up and if we stood up, next was “no curtain or I’ll put you back in your cage”. If they did it again, we caught them easily because their wings were clipped and put them back in their cage. They’ll eventually catch on to what that means. They don’t want to be in their cage so if they know where they can and can’t go, they’ll avoid getting in trouble and they’ll know where the can and can’t be in every room. Just like a child or a spouse, if you know what not to do in order to avoid wrath, you live a much happier existence.

We have our birds fully flighted after the wings grow back. Only once have we had to clip Holly’s wings because she got super hormonal and was looking for nesting areas where she shouldn’t have been. But clipping a bird wings for life is not a good idea. I know that sometimes its unavoidable but it’s like people who get these huge dogs and instead of training them to do what is necessary to keep them in the yard, they put up this huge fence because people want to have the pet but they don’t want to put in the work that goes along with it. A bird’s primary source of exercise is flying. Taking that away you get the human equivalent of couch potato ass which leads to all sorts of health issues later on. So basically we jeopardize our bird’s health because we’re too lazy to take time to train. So have a plan and provide those perching/chillin’ places for your birds and reinforce them with a treat ball a day in the seed cup and if they fly somewhere they’re not supposed to be tell them “no” and if they don’t listen, put them back in their cage. They’ll learn. Remember, they’re as smart as toddlers.

If they’re babies, especially if their beaky still has black on it, this would be a good time to start putting them in your shirt pocket to chill (preferably a flannel that you use specifically for the bird washed in perfume free detergent with no fabric softener). If your bird likes chilling there you may be able to have a pocket parrot for life. Generally this will only work with baby birds that get use to you and the pocket as something they’ve always done. But if they’re chillin’ by you they’ll soon start the opposing eyelid closing behavior and soon start grinding their beaky. This means you have a happy content little bird. But if you get them used to sleeping in your pocket they’ll climb in there and snooze. It’s the cutest thing.

When you come home from work, acknowledge the bird but do not take them out. If you get into that ritual habit they will come to expect this and it can turn into problems. Take off your shoes, change clothes, use the bathroom (ALWAYS wash your hands) (and don’t let the bird lick your mouth or dig in your teeth, its loaded with harmful bacteria), get something to eat, etc. Do what you would do before you turn on the TV before you got let your bird out. Give your bird (and dogs too) a chance to unwind too since they haven’t seen you all day. Usually after about 10-15 minutes they are calm and that excitement of you being home and them getting over the classic George Carlin skit of “You left… I thought you’d never come back!” Once they calm down, you can take them out and watch Judge Judy or whatever.

Warning: don’t get too comfy in patterns. We humans love patterns and so do birds. Unfortunately birds DO NOT respond as well to changes as humans. They can become temperamental and self-mutilate; Plucking, picking, skin destruction. Once this pattern starts, first get to a vet to rule out disease, then second nip the problem in the bud. Identifying the root problem is very tough but otherwise your bird may pluck for life. Try to alter the pattern of behavior that made it happen and try to alter the plucking. Sometime toddlers will develop nervous ticks for various reasons usually from not enough attention, or just needing more attention. My brother had that and my mom was an attention mom but he needed more. After awhile it went away. More hugs, more love. Just to reiterate. But the same thing goes when you’re setting up the cage.

Cage Setup:

When you’re setting up the cage which should ideally be set up, washed and ready before you even get the bird home, I suggest this. What I do is I arrange the cage so that no matter where the bird is, for 98% of everything in the cage, wherever he’s perched, if he decides to poop, there’s nothing in the way an it will fall straight down on to the tray with paper on it. That way you’re not constantly scraping poop off things that you’ll probably have to remove and take out of the cage to wash which is a real hassle. This way a simple wet paper towel will do the trick. The product Poop-Off works great but it has a very heavy fragrance and is still way too much work when one very carefully set up cage can save you so much time.

So find the perfect set up for the cage and take a picture of all the angles so you don’t forget…. And then… switch it up. You heard me right. Now the 2 things you’re probably never going to change is the food dish, especially if you have the Tidy Seed feeder (Literally THE BEST $20 you’ll EVER spend on your bird) and if you have the water silo water dispenser. When a bird is little, if he gets too used to things then all of a sudden there is a change in the pattern, that’s when behavior issues like plucking can start. Aside from Holly coming into maturity, right around that time frame, I was working and my wife was unemployed but in a matter of a couple of weeks, I ended up unemployed and she started a new job. That could have also lead to Herbie’s picking which occurred at the same time. Herbie and Holly have had 7 clutches of birds. We kept 2. Hank from the 6^th and Larry from the 7^th. Larry ended up being a Larri and they’ve had babies but that’s another section. But Hank never had any issues with plucking before. Then when I went hunting this year. Even though I’d gone hunting the year before and even though I only went for 5 days instead of my usual 10, when I came back he had begun picking at his shoulders. When I returned he stopped. So birds can be very sensitive creatures.

As for the cage setup, take the swing, the hut, the wooden perches, the hanging toys, the toys connected to the cage wall… and shuffle them around every week or 2 weeks for the first 3-4 months. This may be harder with females as they tend to get more territorial with the inside of their cage but it will get them used to things being switched around. Although, females don’t generally care until they reach maturity and have something to defend. Then switch it to once a month until they’re about 6-8 months old and have granted you access to them as you being part of their flock. That way if you have to move residences, or get a dog, or have a baby or switch job shifts they’re less apt to freak out and start destructive behavior and self-mutilation.

Since were on the subject, I would HIGHLY advise NOT getting a bird if you have or plan on getting a cat. I don’t care if fluffy has been with you for 15 years and can barely fog a mirror. Cats aren’t like dogs that can be trained that lil birdie is a pet not a meal. I’d attach it if it weren’t an upsetting picture but there is a picture of a dead lovebird all over social media because ol’ fluffy who had been the bird’s buddy for years managed to get him even while he was inside the cage. Again… another “I’m so heartbroken over my precious baby X.” Sure you’ll look online and see pictures of cats and kittens with lovebirds that are cute and cuddly but once again, cats have instinct and instinct is nature. Don’t fight nature.

Speaking of which, birds’ natural homes are in trees. High up in trees because the higher they are, the more they can see flying predators and food and the further they are away from ground or climbing predators. Hence why we put up the hanging curtain dowel decoy perch. When you’re setting up your bird’s cage, try to set it up with at least one corner, preferably the corner farthest from either the window they can see outside through or the furthest from wherever they can see you/the room the best and have things hanging from the top like foliage of leaves to give them a bit of cover. Having a hut or covered sleeping vessel pretty much takes the place of that.

Food & Water  Container:

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