Bird room, and sleep cages

[Chastjw71]

Hello,
Im in the process of converting a small spare bedroom (12X10 plus closet) into a nice bird room. My idea for sleep area will be small sleep cage's in the closet, with a black curtain to be closed at night. I presently have a Senegal Parrot and will be Bringing home a Blue and Gold Macaw in a few months. MY many questions include how will my new B&G get along with my Senegal? Senegal is 12yrs, B&G is a baby. What size sleep cages should I get? the goal is to safe the room from hazards (electrical, windows etc) and be able to let them have free reign of their room during the day, and sleep in they're sleep cages at night, while still having evening time interaction with us (wife and myself. all kids are moved out). I already have a pretty good plan for perches, toys etc, including multiple levels in the room and different size and style of perches, (Manzanita, rope, net etc). I also have Large cages for them in the living room as well. all answers and suggestions will be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

[MrsKay]

Hello Chastjw71, that sounds like a great idea. Have you considered air ventilation/circulation in the birds room/closet? It will be important for their health and well-being. I think that will be one of the more important bird-room features (that, and the flooring for cleaning purposes). If you have carpet in there perhaps you could take it out and roll it up for storage. It is WAY WAY easier to clean some type of hard floor surface ie: vacuuming, mopping, etc. That is what I would do. Those are my only suggestions.
Have fun. Hope you can post pics of your progress

 

[weco]

Welcome to the forums.....sounds like an interesting project.....

I think the only concerns I might have doing a similar project would be providing additional ventilation in the closet and if the house is over twenty years old, the possibility of lead paint having been used on the closet walls, because many times, if our feathered friends can get their beak on it, they will often try to create embossed designs in the wallboard.....and if your house is older than 1979, I would have the layers of paint tested for lead.....the U.S. banned the use of lead based paints in 1978, but some 1979 houses have been found to have had some lead based paints used. Simply painting over walls & trim that had lead based paint applied to them is usually safe, except when we have to do some remodeling/removal, then it falls under EPA and local hazardous materials disposal regulations (at least in the U.S.).....aside from that, the lead toxicity danger to birds wanting to chew the plaster/plaster board.....

 

[Chastjw71]

For the ventilation, it is natural, there are 2 windows in the room, on adjacent walls. I will be adding a security style screen door to the main door so I can leave the main door open most of the time. The Closet is within 2 feet of one of these windows and will only be separated at night by a curtain, similar to covering a parrots cage at night. If you feel this is still not enough, then what suggestions would you have for more ventilation??
I'll look into the paint, I've been here for 10 years and have personally seen 4 coats of paint (daughters room, and well she never could make up her mind LOL) the closet walls have been replaced since Ive been here as it backs against the bathroom which was remodeled couple years ago.
Also what recommendation do you have for securing electrical outlets? I want to set up a small TV for back ground entertainment when we are gone.

 

[MrsKay]

I use electrical boxes that close, such as you find in campgrounds or on RV's. They are usually made for exterior use. A good electrical supply or sometimes an RV supply store should have them.
I have wrapped wire/metal cloth (from a hardware store or bird supply, non-toxic) around electrical cords that are exposed in the room. Or you could run them through pvc or conduit. Affix to the wall near the floor.
I think the windows sound like good ventilation. I run a small fan on 'low' nearly all the time in the room where my birds are. I also have a storm door (screen door with a sliding glass window) in my room. Having the curtain on the closet not quite reach the ground should provide adequate ventilation. You will open it during the day of course so it sounds good.
Good the paint doesn't sound like a problem.
I just leave on a radio during the day for my birds, they're not really into television hehehe

 

[thekarens]

I can tell you from experience that sennies and macs do not get along. As a general rule sennies don't get along with anyone, including other sennies. I have two sennies (siblings) and a blue throated mac. The sennies hate each other and the mac. The mac doesn't care .02 about the sennies. I give each of them separate attention. I let them out together, but ONLY if I'm there supervising.

I also think putting a bird in a closet with a blanket over it isn't near enough ventilation. I know if it were me I'd feel smothered. I would think the birds would too. There just wouldn't be enough air flow.

 

[MrsKay]

I think the windows sound like good ventilation. I run a small fan on 'low' nearly all the time in the room where my birds are. I also have a storm door (screen door with a sliding glass window) in my room. Having the curtain on the closet not quite reach the ground should provide adequate ventilation.

I agree with theKarens. I would not completely close-off the closet from the rooms ventilation.
You could use a tension rod and hang the curtain below the top and above the bottom to allow the fan to create more circulation? just a thought

 

[Chastjw71]

Thanks for all you comments!! And ideas!! Thekarens and mrskay I will NOT be covering the sleep cages. I will as mrs Kay suggested be hanging a black curtain at the outer edge of the closet opening. Letting air in above and below the curtain, but still blocking view if rest if the room and outside light from outdoors etc. Sorry I wasn't more specific in my first explanation. I'll take some pictures as this project moves along. I painted the walls blue and want to put some trees on the wall and clouds on the ceiling but not much of an artist so we'll see how it goes lol.

 

[Chastjw71]

Mrskay my idea in my head for electrical was some sort of box and any wires needed would be through PVC. Thanks for the outdoor elec box idea. I'll look towards that If I do a tv it will be mounted to the wall incased in a plexiglass box for safety.

Another question. Lighting. Is a normal flush room light ok with full spectrum bulbs??? Anything better???

 

[weco]

My mentioning ventilation of the closet was that most closets are not built with any ventilation in mind and given that your room is on the smallish side, the closet is probably 28"-32" deep and up to 60" long and adding a macaw to the mix could make it too warm at night.....without the possibility of at least one vent just above the closet's baseboard.....your curtain will also block out any possible ventilation, even being that close to an open window...what about during bad weather, when the window will be restricted/closed...same thing in the winter/cold weather...actually, I might be inclined to put at least a 6"x10" vent at or just above the baseboard, on the wall side facing the room's entry, then a sister vent, catty-corner across to the top of the closet wall facing into the room, that should give you enough ventilation in the closet.....you can do a sort of airflow test by setting a candle on a chair sitting in the center of the closet, close the windows and turn on your A/C fan (if you have central A/C), close the closet door almost closed & turn the fan on.....I'm pretty sure the candle's flame will hardly flutter, indicating no ventilation in the closet.....you'll have another reason to install the closet vents, given that you've got piping running up that one closet wall, you're going to have an amount of heat impressed into that wall, from the hot water running through the pipes & the wall is going to hold that heat until it naturally dissipates and if a shower or bath is taken, that will probably be all night or longer.

As for protecting outlets from curious beaks, I think I would be inclined to use the hall outlet for vacuuming and remove the outlets, terminating the wires with wire nuts & electrical tape, then putting a flat metal plates over the outlet openings.....just keep any perches far away from the light switch.....by temporarily terminating the outlets allows you to easily change back.

For your TV, I would probably be inclined to use a wall-mounted flat panel, along with a hidden cable/antenna/electrical outlet...it mounts into a normal outlet opening and can be cut into/installed in any flat wall.....just make sure you mount your outlet/wiring box so as to allow for your TV mount to be properly installed.....when you're done, all you see is your TV.....

Good luck.....

 

[Chastjw71]

Forgot this earlier. Floors are hardwood but under the perches I was gonna build, out of plywood and 1x4 a tray like the bottom of a cage and line it with plastic for easy cleaning and replacing of the plastic. Fill it with the shredded paper from my office shredder. It would be 3 or 4 separate trays to easy be able to take outside for deep cleaning. All would be left raw for the safety of the birds

 

[Chastjw71]

What about the sleep cage itself? How small is to small? the searches Ive done only say a smaller cage for a sleep cage. Im assuming for a macaw I should get something tall enough for the tail feathers not to touch the bottom. is a Crate better then a smaller standard cage??
Also I made a typo in the first post our Senegal is 19 now not 12.

 

[weco]

I'm pretty sure that you are going to have to do a bit of looking, to find the cage that will fit in the closet, because the majority of cages you're going to find are designed to assumed acceptable bird size standards, rather than sizing to fit closets that are very often what can be squeezed out of a house's available leftover space.....unlike recent history, most closets, unless custom designed/built were what was left from best space/materials utilization, so I think you just might have to do some closet re-design...maybe increasing a probable 20"-24" door opening to even possibly opening the closet's end wall, to allow an assembled macaw cage to be slid in that opening.....

Now, if you are handy at construction, you should be able to construct that end wall so that it is preassembled, then bolted together from inside the closet, using only 4 bolts...keep in mind that the macaw cage would already be in the closet, leaving you with maybe 10"-11" of working room, by doing a preassembled end wall, you would have only two vertical seams and a top horizontal seam, all hidden by joint compound, leaving them openable to allow you to return the closet to its original purpose withe little more than a weekend's worth of work, a 50# bag of joint dry joint compound, maybe 60 feet of joint tape, the same reused joining screws and some agile dexterity in joint finishing, and if you're good at wet sanding drywall, you shouldn't even have a blush of sanding dust to worry about.....done right, I'd defy any home inspector to find the modifications.....

 

[weco]

Sorry, forgot to address your question about the dog crate.....if you are going to confine this design to to an existing closet, you're going to be looking for a crate that is front opening, rather that the end opening design tha all cages I've seen, have.....I will concede though, that I have not had a need or desire to try finding something that just might fit my design idea.....

Again, good luck with your project.....

 

[Chastjw71]

Weco,
I now have a 3'LX2'Deep play top cage that fits perfect inside the closet, is that to small for a sleep cage?? If Im understanding correct the sleep cage doesn't need to be very big as its only for sleeping, and will only be used at night, I also have a very large corner cage for the living room for when he is out of the bird room.

 

[MrsKay]

Mrskay my idea in my head for electrical was some sort of box and any wires needed would be through PVC. Thanks for the outdoor elec box idea. I'll look towards that If I do a tv it will be mounted to the wall incased in a plexiglass box for safety.

Another question. Lighting. Is a normal flush room light ok with full spectrum bulbs??? Anything better???

Sorry, I am unfamiliar with artificial lighting so i can't offer any suggestions.
Artificial lighting also seems to be a bit controversial as to the effects they have on birds. You will have to research that.
My birds get filtered sunlight several hours each day.
I don't think I would settle for not having an electrical outlet in the room. Just too much hassle. You can find a box that closes to save trouble.

 

[weco]

What is the height of this 3'x2' cage? The average B & G is about 33"-36" long, so, if you are thinking of a horizontal style sleep cage, what some people refer to as a flight cage, I think you're wrongly assuming several unknowns about a bird you have yet to meet.....the natural perches these birds will enjoy in the wild, are similar in size to giant redwoods, we're the ones who want them to fit into our designs.....don't get me wrong.....I'm just concerned that you end up putting forth all this effort & your forthcoming B & G refuses to sleep/use it horizontally.....

If your cage is a vertical, 3'W X 2'D X ?'H cage, the 2' depth is not going to let a grown B & G extend its wings properly and if the bird were to get spooked, for whatever reason, there is a very good chance it could break/ruin it's wing(s).....as part of their wings, a bird has a tip joint (pinion joint...outermost from the body) on each wing, much like our wrist, that if broken, damaged or otherwise made unusable, the bird will never fly again.....

While these joints are not necessarily very strong, as such, they are, like our wrists, complex and in a frantically flapping macaw, easily caught in cage bars of a too small cage and rendered too damaged for possible use again.....

I am sorry, as I was interested in your project, but there ended up too many limitations for the bird...now if you wanted to downsize to a mini-macaw, I believe you have a workable opening and your 3'W X 2'D X ?H cage, depending on its height, may also be workable.....

 

[Chastjw71]

Weco, I think your misunderstanding me, I have no limitations. Im more then willing to get the proper set up here. I'm asking what size sleep cage I should get? I only said I have the 3'x2' cage and IF it could work for only a sleep cage great. If not then ill purchase the proper one. The height is around 32" so that will not work. I am not assuming anything I'm just asking questions so I can make this the best possible living arrangements for him. So what size, style cage would you recommend for a sleep cage? he will only me in it during sleep time. I've read of people using large dog crates for their sleep cages but, what your saying is to small, correct?

 

[RavensGryf]

Sounds like you've had some good advice and suggestions on the room. I just opened this thread today for the first time. I agree with Karen that Senegals don't get along well with other birds. The Poicephalus genus birds in general do not. Unless the Poi is very young AND is the newcomer like my Griffin. Since your Poi is the older one, I can bet money that he will not be happy about the new macaw. Depending on his individual personality, he might be able to manage his jealousy well, but maybe not.

I've seen a web site featuring a Cape and a Jardine's which are 2 bigger Poicephalus parrots, and they get along beautifully. I'm not sure whether they were both introduced very young, or if the larger Poi's are more tolerant of other birds than the smaller ones such as the Senegal, and my two Red Bellied and Ruppell's (Senegal relatives).

 

[Chastjw71]

I think what I'll do to start, since he will have the whole room to safely roam during the day time, is I will build a "sleep station" in the closet opening area that will slightly protrude out the opening to get an area of over 3' deep, and 6' wide. there will be 3 walls, and at night a curtain covering the opening. being 6' wide I'd like to have one perch, and also a soft flat area and give him the choice to sleep in either area. Any thoughts?? Ideas?? Pro's and Con's????