Perches

[anzac]

Sorry to go over old ground if this has been brought up before but I was reading Mike's great advice for perches and wanted to know a little more. I have bought one of these perches
www.myparrotshop.com/perches/rope-perch-1-1/4a-x-18a-/prod_549.html
and wondering if this would be alright for my turks? I do have one dowel perch in their aviary which I will now will remove Mike on your advice and 2 natural eucalyptus ones and a multi sided wood ladder construction with a bell in the middle which I assume they will use as a chew toy. After saying that I haven't seen my turks chew anything yet in the aviary they are sharing with the canaries. Are those large calcium perches any good as well? I will be putting the calcium supplemented grit in as well.
Cheers Leanne

[avinet]

I'm not a big fan of the rope perches - they have their uses but not as the main perch in a cage. Apart from being soft and so not providing any claw wear, there is a risk of them untangling as a bird chews them, and I have seen a couple of cases where a foot has got caught in the perch and had to be cut free.

Having said that I have two in use. One is in a travel carrier where it was easy to attach inside for the bird to perch on (a photo is in another recent thread) and the second is for Bambi's cage, an Alexandrine that lost a foot in an accident about 4 years ago, and only has a stump down to the "ankle" joint. Having a soft rope perch stops the end of the stump getting raw.

I always like to add photos where possible but the only photo I have close by is an old one of Bambi when he was still young (now around 12) and we were still reaching him to read! I will have to take a photo of him in his present cage to show how we have set him up.

cheers,

Mike

[anzac]

Sorry answered the wrong thread meant to add in this thread that I actually bought the rope perch for the rats who don't think it's much chop either and just leave it alone in the cage so I may as just well leave it there then. And does anyone else use the calcium perches?

[avinet]

Yes I have used the calcium perches - work OK and many birds will chew and gradually destroy them. Which is pretty much as designed since it provides calcium. However the colour in them tends to come off onto the birds, so a pink calcium perch may result in a bird with pink feet and a pink head if they rub their beak against it.

cheers,

Mike

[gypsy]

Sorry to jump in on this thread but I have a ? regarding perches so thought it best to put it here

I have spent the afternoon collecting large branches from the native trees around our place, some 'dead' and some 'fresh' - I dont know the names of the trees they are just the ones the wild galah's sit in and trim the new growth from and I give ends with the seeds on for wally to play in and chew to bits -
So is it ok to use the softer fresh wood for perches or do I wait till it 'dries' out?
I have no problem with Wally chewing them up in a day or two as there is no supply issue
thanks in advance for any help

Sally

OH and I have used a calcium perch for wally - it lasted a whole 2 days! - but he did enjoy it

[anzac]

You are more than welcome to join us ;D The eucalyptus ones I have in the turks aviary are dried out ones but I only got them cos they were really cool shape and thrown out on some-ones front verge. I haven't seen my turks chew anything yet but I have had galahs in the past and I know they can chew for Australia. I assume that if the wild galahs are chewing away on them, then tame ones should be fine? One of my old galahs managed to ring bark the lemon tree and I was living at home at the time and my mother was not impressed.

[anzac]

Thanks for the tips about calcium perches as well I'll get one for Tilly and Billy and see how they go. Leanne

[twr]

I have eucalyptus perches that go the length of the cage. I also like to make short perches, that only go halfway or less. I use the "Perch Adjustable Hardware Kit" fro PRC. Here's the link (you have to scroll part way down the page

www.parrotrescuecentre.com/ubg/shop_sub_prod.php?subcat=17&cat=5&subcat_name=Perches

Here is a pic of Tinga's favourite perch I made using the kit





For something different, I also like the Sisal Bungee. I have a large & small one inside each cage, mainly for the different thicknesses. Scroll half way down the link

www.parrotrescuecentre.com/ubg/shop_sub_prod.php?subcat=20&cat=5&subcat_name=Rope%20Bungee's%20and%20Rings

All my birds love these bungees.

[gypsy]

Thanks for sharing those links Robyn Another couple of items on the wish list LOL - especially the bungee! I worry that Wally may hurt himself when trying to be a fuit bat with a 'half perch' (hanging upside down flapping wings and screaming lol)
Have spent the morning cutting up branches - for perches, home made ladders and toys the wiffle balls last all of 5 minutes with wally he learnt how to chew them to bits very quickly

I so love Tinga's cage setup Does he use his 'birdy bed' ? And the fresh branches are they hanging from the top of the cage? - how do you tie them up?

Sally

[twr]

Apr 2, 2011 11:06:57 GMT 10 gypsy said:

Thanks for sharing those links Robyn Another couple of items on the wish list LOL - especially the bungee! I worry that Wally may hurt himself when trying to be a fuit bat with a 'half perch' (hanging upside down flapping wings and screaming lol)
Have spent the morning cutting up branches - for perches, home made ladders and toys the wiffle balls last all of 5 minutes with wally he learnt how to chew them to bits very quickly

I so love Tinga's cage setup Does he use his 'birdy bed' ? And the fresh branches are they hanging from the top of the cage? - how do you tie them up?

Sally

Hi Sally

Tinga destroys his wiffle balls too. He loves doing that.

Because Tinga's cage is quite large (82cm deep x 163cm wide and taller than me) the half perches are not a problem. That one is Tinga's fav. It has lots of natural knots & he is always chewing away on it. He doesn't do the fruit bat, but he does somehow hang onto things & flap, flap, flap those wings. Never seems to hit anything. I recommend those bungees. Each of my cages has 1 small and one large, so different widths to exercise those toes (as well as the variation in thickness of the natural perches).

Tinga does sleep in his hut. His old owner told me he never had one in the 5 plus years she had him, but he slept in it from the first night. He has a new one now, as the one you saw was Butch's old one. I don't have a pic of him sleeping in the hut, but here are a few of him playing on his new one





And here's Butch, in his hot summer night sleeping position


To secure the fresh branches, I poke part of it up through cage roof & attach a clothes peg to secure. The branches & leaves hang down. I make sure it hangs down near a perch for easy chewing access.

[anzac]

I also have the eucalyptus branch in the aviary that Tilly and Billy are going in and I poke them through the aviary wire and secure them with cable ties (on the outside) but those perch adjustable kits do look very cool and cheap too!

[gypsy]

ohhh wow Tinga looks so cute, for sure saying 'this is mine don't touch' lol

I might make one for Wally and see what he thinks. (have found a few instructions on the net)

Pleased that Wally isn't the only one who destroys the wiffle balls, spent two hours making a beaut leather, cotton rope, paulie rope, paper twist threaded with beads looked so nice, hung it up and he jumped onto it and chomp chomp to release all the strands! At least he flings the beaded strands around and chomps on them lol and it was a large wiffle ball!

The peg is a great idea for the branches. I had tried to tie them with rope

For the outside birds we got a hollow tree stump about 5 foot tall with a thick hollow side branch, and I poke the fresh branches into the holes, Hubby used stainless wire to hold the stump to the frame as its very heavy! Romeo and Julian love sitting all over it, and hiding in the branches, chewing them.

And the next purchase will be a bungee!

This is great how we can share what we all do and help each other

[twr]

Apr 5, 2011 23:07:46 GMT 10 gypsy said:

ohhh wow Tinga looks so cute, for sure saying 'this is mine don't touch' lol

I might make one for Wally and see what he thinks. (have found a few instructions on the net)

Pleased that Wally isn't the only one who destroys the wiffle balls, spent two hours making a beaut leather, cotton rope, paulie rope, paper twist threaded with beads looked so nice, hung it up and he jumped onto it and chomp chomp to release all the strands! At least he flings the beaded strands around and chomps on them lol and it was a large wiffle ball!

The peg is a great idea for the branches. I had tried to tie them with rope

For the outside birds we got a hollow tree stump about 5 foot tall with a thick hollow side branch, and I poke the fresh branches into the holes, Hubby used stainless wire to hold the stump to the frame as its very heavy! Romeo and Julian love sitting all over it, and hiding in the branches, chewing them.

And the next purchase will be a bungee!

This is great how we can share what we all do and help each other

sounds like you're quite the talented toymaker & sewer. Your aviary with the hollow log sounds pretty cool.

I plan on having a go at making toys soon. I got various bird toy parts from myparrotshop. Also I sterilised some bottle brush branches & hubby cut them into thinnish disks, so they are now toy parts, waiting to be strung up with the toy parts I bought.

That's the great thing about forums, sharing ideas. How hard it must have been in the old days without forums. I sure would never have known what they really need without places like Aussie Birds.

[gypsy]

[/quote]

I plan on having a go at making toys soon. I got various bird toy parts from myparrotshop. Also I sterilised some bottle brush branches & hubby cut them into thinnish disks, so they are now toy parts, waiting to be strung up with the toy parts I bought.

That's the great thing about forums, sharing ideas. How hard it must have been in the old days without forums. I sure would never have known what they really need without places like Aussie Birds. [/quote]

Well without this forum I am sure Wally may not be with me today - I really had no idea how to look after him when he found us, him being such a baby and a wild one but alls good now

I think we are lucky here in Aus, as many of us have access to branches, gum nuts etc - so our birds have the 'real' thing to chew and play on, they don't have to rely totally on toys. saying that I have a hole bucket of gum branches cut into various lengths for ladders, swings, and poles waiting to be drilled!

But toy making is FUN - thats why the Cheap Parrot Toys and Tips is such a great site, so many ideas - its not a shopping site its a do-it-yourself site - although they do have links to suppliers.

I am going 'hunting' today for an 'odd' looking branch that would be suitable for a half perch - probably end up bringing another couple of trees worth of branches into the yard LOL - wally is loving his new perches we put in on the weekend, he has had quite a lot of fun ripping off the bark and nibbling on them - a knot in the wood has kept him in the same chewing spot for ages

[purplehat]

I got the parts from the PRC too, and sent DH off to the hardware store to get more 'bits' just like them - I just knew we'd want lots.

We made 4, each with a hole drilled in the end and rope or string forced through. The favourite one has string, and on the end of the string hangs a gumnut. I've put it lower to the floor of the cage, and the gumnut hangs about head-height. The funniest thing I've ever seen was Squeak (a turk) attacking it with his beak, headbutting, running around it, chattering all the while. I never thought it'd be used like that! I thought they'd chew on it. lol

The rope ones are popular, too. Quite often he'll sit on the rope and chew rather than sitting on the branch and chewing the rope. I made a couple of wood ladders - just dowel with holes drilled in each side and rope as the sides of the ladder. The one I'm most proud of is the swinging perch - but the birds don't seem to agree as much. It's made in the same style as the others.. eucalyptus branch, rope.. but it reaches from one side of the cage to the other and it moves slightly when someone lands on it. Pip isn't too keen, Squeak occasionally uses it. He's the braver of the two, that's for sure.

I found gumnuts of any description have been a huge hit. A banksia nut is enjoyed at the moment, too. The downside of the cage I have is it has a solid roof, so I can't really hang things from there. Perhaps a few retrofitted eye bolts are in order - that bungee looks really fun.

[heletia]

Thank you so much guys for adding your pics. Ive been trying to find photos with birds actually playing on them so I know what the best toys are! Those look fabulous! :-)

Luckily I live across from a road that has a whole row of eucalyptus trees :-)

Helen xo