Got my Pak-o-bird

[texsize]

This morning.
Put together with help from my Son. Instructions keep getting smaller and harder to read:11:

Only 1 negative thing is that 1 of the bowls does not lock in place as it should.

Birds gave it a better reception than expected.

Bingo.
During assembly he would start to do his happy dance and then scream. I think he was unhappy that I was not closer to him. I put it on my back and went up to his cage and he was full on happy dance. With some miss giving I opened his door and his foot came up straight away. I picked him up and set him on my shoulder and he was sooo happy.

Luna.
I don’t know how to guage her reaction. Luna is a bit of on odd duck. Sometimes she acts more like a wild cought bird. I think it will take some time but after she sees Bingo use it I think she will accept it also.

Bella.
She sat on my Sons shoulder while I unwrapped it (better than I expected). Landed on the drapes when he sat down to help. She supervised the whole assembly process. Overall she was less scared than I expected but getting her in it will take time and patience.

 

[jousze]

This morning.

Put together with help from my Son. Instructions keep getting smaller and harder to read:11:



Only 1 negative thing is that 1 of the bowls does not lock in place as it should.



Birds gave it a better reception than expected.



Bingo.

During assembly he would start to do his happy dance and then scream. I think he was unhappy that I was not closer to him. I put it on my back and went up to his cage and he was full on happy dance. With some miss giving I opened his door and his foot came up straight away. I picked him up and set him on my shoulder and he was sooo happy.



Luna.

I don’t know how to guage her reaction. Luna is a bit of on odd duck. Sometimes she acts more like a wild cought bird. I think it will take some time but after she sees Bingo use it I think she will accept it also.



Bella.

She sat on my Sons shoulder while I unwrapped it (better than I expected). Landed on the drapes when he sat down to help. She supervised the whole assembly process. Overall she was less scared than I expected but getting her in it will take time and patience.

Im getting mine soon, I hope everything is gonna be goood [emoji849][emoji7]


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[AmyMyBlueFront]

Great to hear,Wes The fid's excepting it all around better than you thought is awesome. You know of course,my friend,we WILL need pictures of all this,right??
How about the Amigo's? did they show any interest?



Jim

 

[Inger]

Call them and let them know about the bowl. I bet they’ll replace it.


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[jousze]

Call them and let them know about the bowl. I bet they’ll replace it.


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They replace it but make you pay the shipping which is like 70€....


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[texsize]

I almost had my Son take a picture when Bingo was on my shoulder.
Have not exposed my Tiels to it. My guess is that the birds I can handle I would be able to put them in there.

So Cheeky, Pinky and Lucky might be difficult. Cheeky I can't handle at all, I have to pick him up with a perch and 50% of the time he jumps off.

Pinky's trust would be broken completely. I could do it once but it would take a long time to win her trust again.

Lucky would be similar to Pinky. I could do it once and get bitten a few times (I don't think Pinky would bite) but he would be seriously P.Oed at me.

 

[EllenD]

I actually built my own "Pak-O-Bird", simply out of pure stubbornness and a refusal to pay over $200 for one, lol. When I first saw them I absolutely loved them, because not only can you take your birds who won't tolerate a harness outside with you, but they allow the birds to be able to see on all-sides, and it's actually like they are getting to experience being "outside"; they are much better/healthier for the bird than a regular "carrier"...All of my guys are Aviator Harness trained except for Duff, my Cockatiel. I tried everything to get her to accept it, over the span of months and months. I had no issue with training my Green Cheek, my Quaker, or my Senegal to wear the Aviator Harness (Bowie, my Green Cheek, took a good 6 months to get to the point he wouldn't be constantly chewing it apart, lol)...but with Duff, she just wouldn't do it. So when I saw the Pak-O-Birds, I knew that was a better answer for Duff than using the plastic dog carrier I had transformed into a plastic bird carrier with a perch and a stainless bowl...

I basically bought a few cheaper Ozark Trail backpacks at Walmart to experiment on, along with a ton of photos of the real Pak-O-Birds I downloaded, so that I could see every aspect of how they are built. Then probably 10,000 trips to Lowes, trying different pieces of hardware, along with different types of hardware-cloth...And after about 2 months of working on it pretty much every night after work and on my days off, I finally built an exact replica of a medium-size Pak-O-Bird...It took Duff a few trips out in it to get used to it, but the first time I took her on a hike out in the woods in it, she loved it. I unzipped all sides of it and set it down in the grass by a fishing stream so we could have our lunch/snacks, and now she's all about going out anytime she can...So I think they're great, perfect if your bird just refused to wear a harness...

I was thinking about now trying to build a replica of the "GoGo" Pak-O-Bird, it's the smaller one that is basically meant for short trips, where it's less of a backpack, and all sides are mesh, so it's basically like the bird is "outside" and not really inside of any type of carrier at all; they get a 360-view, they're lighter, and meant for short trips/walks, whereas the Pak-O-Bird is more heavy-duty and great for longer trips...

It's not that hard to build one of these out of a backpack, if you have the proper tools and a little bit of handyness...I restore/repair guitars and all other musical instruments, so I have a full shop in my house, including all the major power-saws used for woodworking, so that made it easier, but it really wasn't that difficult, so if anyone is interested I can email photos and a basic outline/guide of how to do it...Just PM me...

 

[Tami2]

Nice
We love our POB and use it all the time.

Levi does do a number on the inside.
I’ve already had to get it mended by our local taylor.
And he’s working on another area now.

 

[ChristaNL]

LOL Ellen: yes plze: I have been messing with some DIY's myself (and failed mightily) - (hence the Northern Parrots one).
I would love to have a safe "quick and dirty" one for the macaw - because she really is not psycologically prepared to handle the doggy-bench for "fun trips".
They will do to get her to the CAV if need be, but not for fun (I am working toward one I can set on one of the bike-carts that -like the POB- is suitable for funfilled-few-hours at least).


but
but
but
but


this thread has no pictures!!!!!

 

[texsize]

I did get Bingo into an aviator harness twice.
Putting it on was not a problem, taking it of..... different thing.
Putting it on he looks forward to going outside. Taking it off it’s all over and he has no patience for the process.

I had Bingo sit on the entrance to the pack.
Someone in my house ate the bribe I was going to use (hawaiian bread) to coax him in.

 

[texsize]

I was not happy with the price also but I thought it was worth it.
Winter is coming and using a small cage is drafty to take my birds 2 the Dr if needed.
Can use it for .... well any of my Fids will fit in it. Bella would have a stroke until she gets use to it and that may be a while.

They make a pak that has 2 separate sections. That might be a way to get Bingo to accept Luna if they have a “date “ together.

 

[texsize]

Best I can do ATM. computer is occupied with other work.

https://imgur.com/gallery/bXzsQRQ

I took Bingo for a short walk down the block. Talked with/to neighbors.
Bingo was very happy and excited to see the outside.

 

[Inger]

Gorgeous! You know the piece of plastic in the bottom is held in with Velcro so you can pop it out for easy cleaning, right?


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[texsize]

Gorgeous! You know the piece of plastic in the bottom is held in with Velcro so you can pop it out for easy cleaning, right?


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It has a zipper all the way around the bottom so it wont fall out, but yes the plastic insert on the bottom should come out.

but it would not soak up um... liquid mess and it would end up in the fabric.
newspaper will soak up small amounts of liquid waste. For an extended trip and water in one of the bowels I would have to do something else. Perhaps several layers of paper towels. If going to the vet I would want to bring water along.. or a long car ride.

 

[ChristaNL]

Instructions keep getting smaller and harder to read:11:

Sorry, totally unrelated to the POB, but you made me laugh so loud when you added this.
(one of my petpeeves atm as well)
Thank you! :03:

 

[TiredOldMan]

Gorgeous! You know the piece of plastic in the bottom is held in with Velcro so you can pop it out for easy cleaning, right?


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It has a zipper all the way around the bottom so it wont fall out, but yes the plastic insert on the bottom should come out.

but it would not soak up um... liquid mess and it would end up in the fabric.
newspaper will soak up small amounts of liquid waste. For an extended trip and water in one of the bowels I would have to do something else. Perhaps several layers of paper towels. If going to the vet I would want to bring water along.. or a long car ride.

You might try small piddle pads or even baby diapers. Much more absorbent than newspaper and paper towels. If you are worried about chewing you might try a changing pad or mat.

Just a thought.

 

[Scott]

That looks great, and those linked pics of Bingo are terrific!!

 

[EllenD]

Gorgeous! You know the piece of plastic in the bottom is held in with Velcro so you can pop it out for easy cleaning, right?


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AHHHH! Thank you! I just got another little tip for building them!!!

I guess when I get home I'll post the photos of the one I built for everyone, as I've gotten a few PM's about it...It's really not that difficult at all to build one of these if you're even just a little bit handy...The most difficult part was finding the right type of backpack, as most of the backpacks now have tons and tons of little pockets everywhere, all over them, and what you need to build a Pak-O-Bird is a backpack that has one single, large compartment instead of a bunch of small pockets/pouches all over it, or one that has a large compartment, but the large compartment also has smaller compartments inside of it...That was the most frustrating part of this DIY project...

I ended-up finding a $30 Ozark Trail backpack at Walmart that was very plain and had one very large compartment, along with the common smaller pocket right on the front, which was removed anyway. The problem is that if you're wanting to make one for a larger bird, you'll end-up having to spend a larger amount of money on the backpack itself, because you'll have to buy a pack that is large enough, and those end-up being the more expensive hiking packs; the nice thing about using a larger hiking pack though is that many of them, even the cheaper ones, have an internal-frame located in the back panel, and if you make that back-panel the "door" to the pak and leave it solid, you already have a frame inside of it. So then it's simply a matter of removing all unnecessary pockets, pouches, zippers, etc., finding the right type of material to add to each side so that it is large enough to put both the "window" and the "frame" inside (I made the left, right, front, and top panels mesh windows, and left the bottom and the back solid, with the back being where the door is), and being able to use either a sewing machine or sewing them in by-hand, which is what I had to do, since I have no sewing machine...

I put the entire pak together first before cutting any windows in. So basically I had the entire pack with it's internal-frame in each panel, and each panel expanded a bit (specifically the top panel, as the backpack I used had a drawstring cinch instead of a zipper, so I had to basically sew-in a top panel, along with small interior pieces on each panel so that pockets/tunnels were created to insert the plastic frame pieces into)...Then after I basically had the entire pak completely finished without any windows, then it was quite easy to leave the frames in the pak so it was fully expanded, and only then did I draw my lines, cut my windows, and then sewed-in the wire-hardware-cloth/mesh...Then I finished the inside of the pack by lining the entire inside (except for the windows, obviously) with a nice, soft fleece material I got at Jo-Ann Fabrics, so that it not only looks good, but so it's all nice and soft, and safe, for the bird to be inside of. For the floor of the pak I first padded the bottom with a piece of hard foam, and then I sewed-in a piece of waterproof material that came from a waterproof "DryBag" that I bought at Walmart in the camping department; I stretched it tight, glued it down to the foam from the middle outward, let it dry completely, and then sewed the edges right into the seams that were already there, and pulled them extremely tight, so that the bottom and the seams around the bottom are waterproof and very easy to wipe up/clean...basically the part that took the longest amount of time was "finishing" the pak after it was all done, so that it looked good both inside and out, and so that the entire interior would be safe for the bird...

The whole thing cost me about $45 to make, and it turned out really very nice. I like doing DIY projects, so it wasn't so much about saving money as it was just seeing what I came up with, lol...

It would be much easier to make one out of a solid plastic, which is something I'm thinking about doing, I just need to come up with a good plan for it first...

 

[texsize]

sewing I something beyond both my wife and myself so a do-it-yourself project probably be beyond me.
But idea idea of using a backpack frame sounds like a winner.