Home Is Where I Keep My Bucket of Sticks!

[Allee]

The top of Harry's new cage is the flock's favorite hangout. Harry has just recently decided it's a safe place to visit and stretch her wings.



Sammy is a big boy now and has outgrown his flight cage. The small gauge wire doesn't stand up well to a busy quaker beak. Sammy is a messy boy, keeping the flight cage clean for him was a daily challenge. Another problem, Sammy insisted on barricading his doors every evening, I hated ruining his building designs but every morning I was forced to destroy his artwork to release him from his own construction site.



Soooo, Sweet Pea got a new room! We set up the flight cage and it took our girl almost five minutes to move in and make the cage her own.





Sammy got a new place with 3/4' bar spacing, heavy gauge bars, bigger doors and better food dishes. Sammy's a happy guy with a sweet nature. He readily accepts change, more so than most quakers. I thought he'd love his bigger, better room. We set it up next to his girl, Harry's place.



For the first time since he moved in a year ago our little sweetheart was seriously depressed. He stopped building, his favorite pastime. It was hard to watch. It was the bigger bar spacing that broke his heart. When he tried to build, his sticks would fall through the larger spaces. It must have been terribly frustrating.



Sweet Pea had no intention of returning her new space. Not even for Sammy and she's pretty fond of him.



Dude, stop being a baby! What's not to like?



I was desperate to help Sammy find a way to practice his art in his new space. I attached a small grate to the back of his cage hoping he could use it as a base. Then I attached a plastic basket next to a rope perch and hung his bucket of sticks next to it. Sammys dad tried to help too, he harvested some curly grapevine twigs thinking Sammy could weave them into the bars better. Sammy Sticks Construction Company took a real hit after the move. Finally, he surprised me with a brand new project.



Sammy's back to his normal happy self and up to his old tricks!

Awww Sammy, you make me smile!

 

[Terry57]

Awww, I am so thrilled that Sammy is back to being the happy builder again! I knew you would figure it out
WOW, what great new homes! No wonder Sweet Pea wanted to stay in her new digs, that is a castle!

Allee, you are such an inspiration to me, and to many others as well, with the exceptional care you take of your Fids. I always look to your pictures for ideas

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

So happy that Sammy is back to doing his beautiful constructions again...Brilliant architect he is too...very talented...love the pics you have a lovely flock

 

[Allee]

Awww, I am so thrilled that Sammy is back to being the happy builder again! I knew you would figure it out
WOW, what great new homes! No wonder Sweet Pea wanted to stay in her new digs, that is a castle!

Allee, you are such an inspiration to me, and to many others as well, with the exceptional care you take of your Fids. I always look to your pictures for ideas

Thank you, Terry! That's so sweet. I try to keep my flock happy!

So happy that Sammy is back to doing his beautiful constructions again...Brilliant architect he is too...very talented...love the pics you have a lovely flock

Thank you so much! I have a pretty sweet flock most of the time. I guess there's a troublemaker in every group. Poppy is going through an uncharacteristically bratty stage right now. She's not unhappy but she's making the rest of us uncomfortable, to say the least. She has the advantage, it's hard to be upset with her, she's funny, cute and always in the mood for a snuggle.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Awwe but Poppy is a very Pretty Too and Pretty Too's are allowed to have their moments and their tantrums and get forgiven on the spot Poppy is Gorgeous

 

[RavensGryf]

I'm glad Sammy wasn't down for long . That boy is so clever that he made it work with the new cage regardless of new obstacles!

Also thank you Allee for pointing out that Sammy hs outgrown the baby cage he came with, and that many mature parrots even of this size have beaks too powerful for flight cages, and belong in a proper "parrot cage". It's perfect for lucky Cockatiels like Sweet Pea !

 

[SailBoat]

Sammy's Sign!

Sammy's Construction Company,
Has own material, will build! Large or small!
Quaker Quality Assured!

 

[cnyguy]

Nice to see pictures of the whole flock. Glad that a solution was found to allow Sammy to get back to work on his construction projects. Maybe that's one of the reasons that 5/8" bar spacing is usually recommended for Quakers-- it's more suitable for stick-building.

 

[Flboy]

Mz Alee,
Very awesome thread! Could have been drawn out, but your touch made it real and personal for all of us to relate to our fids!

 

[Allee]

Awwe but Poppy is a very Pretty Too and Pretty Too's are allowed to have their moments and their tantrums and get forgiven on the spot Poppy is Gorgeous

Thank you, Mary! We have our less than tranquil days but Poppy's my love. She may be a tiny bit spoiled.

I'm glad Sammy wasn't down for long . That boy is so clever that he made it work with the new cage regardless of new obstacles!

Also thank you Allee for pointing out that Sammy hs outgrown the baby cage he came with, and that many mature parrots even of this size have beaks too powerful for flight cages, and belong in a proper "parrot cage". It's perfect for lucky Cockatiels like Sweet Pea !

Julie, I've been uncomfortable having Sammy in a flight cage for a while now. I put it off because I knew he would have construction issues, haha. For small birds, quakers are very strong, they have no trouble chipping paint off the smaller wire, Sammy has never done that but I know it's possible. The food doors aren't easy to secure for a quaker. I hate seeing birds in small or inappropriate cages.

Sammy's Sign!

Sammy's Construction Company,
Has own material, will build! Large or small!
Quaker Quality Assured!

Steven, I love the Sammy sign, especially that last line.

Nice to see pictures of the whole flock. Glad that a solution was found to allow Sammy to get back to work on his construction projects. Maybe that's one of the reasons that 5/8" bar spacing is usually recommended for Quakers-- it's more suitable for stick-building.

Thank you, Gary! It's great to see Sammy building full time again after his one man strike. I guess the flight cage did have one advantage for a quaker.

Mz Alee,
Very awesome thread! Could have been drawn out, but your touch made it real and personal for all of us to relate to our fids!

Thanks so much for the kind words, David.

 

[RavensGryf]

I meant to tell you.... Sweet Pea could not be any cuter!! She is the sweetest looking thing, with her little blush cheeks . I'm such a sucker for the cuteness of small birds .

 

[Anansi]

As always, I loved reading your story, Huckleberry! Especially with the happy ending and all.

And I'm always impressed with the amount of thought and care that you put into every aspect of your flock's wellbeing. That's why your parrots are so happy and healthy. You are an exceptional parront, my friend.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[cnyguy]

These building projects can keep a Quaker busy and contented for long stretches of time. Ralph has been experimenting with some different locations around his cage to build, but he always insists that I pull his structures apart so he can start over again in a different place.

 

[Bladesmith]

Beautiful family! Any suggestions on how I can get Jarvis to get into his toys or building? He has no interest in any of them. On the other hand, he'll happily preen me for hours on end.

 

[Allee]

Thank you! Are you sure Jarvis is a male? Not all quakers are born builders, most of those who build are males. Either way, males and females are pretty active birds. I would try drinking straws, zip ties, knotted leather strips, or chew toys with soft wood pieces. cnyguy's Ralph builds structures with silverware.

It may be that Jarvis was never introduced to toys before you adopted him, sometimes it takes a while. If you keep offering different materials, I think Jarvis will catch on.

It's really a bonus that Jarvis likes to spend time with you, generally speaking, quaker parrots aren't known for being cuddly.

 

[Puck]

Aw, I am so happy that Sammy is happy in his new home and figured out a way to build! He is a true artist that one!

 

[Allee]

These building projects can keep a Quaker busy and contented for long stretches of time. Ralph has been experimenting with some different locations around his cage to build, but he always insists that I pull his structures apart so he can start over again in a different place.

That's funny, Gary! Sammy wants no help from me, I'm only allowed to supply the sticks. He gets furious if I touch his creations, he prefers to take them down by himself. Right now he has the door for one of his food dishes barricaded shut, thankfully, he has three other bowls in his new cage.

Aw, I am so happy that Sammy is happy in his new home and figured out a way to build! He is a true artist that one!

Thank you, Mitch! Sammy is an artist. He's also a talker. A couple of weeks ago, he started saying, "You are a good, good bird." Not thinking, I would respond, "You are a quaker parrot," apparently Sammy considers that a great compliment, every day he announces loudly, "You are a quaker parrot", he's called Joe and me, all three dogs and each of his flock members, quaker parrots. He has a great sense of humor.

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

Beautiful family! Any suggestions on how I can get Jarvis to get into his toys or building? He has no interest in any of them. On the other hand, he'll happily preen me for hours on end.

Peter Pan is the same as your Jarvis...she builds nothing and would spend the day kissing me and preening me and getting head and neck scritches and kisses blown her way lots of kisses and she blows them back but a bit on the lazy side when it comes to construction work...not as much as two twigs have I seen her put together...any chance Jarvis is a girl as someone on here (I forget who) told me its mainly the boy quakers who do the building and construction work and my Peter Pan despite the name is a girl

 

[BIRDIGIRL]

These building projects can keep a Quaker busy and contented for long stretches of time. Ralph has been experimenting with some different locations around his cage to build, but he always insists that I pull his structures apart so he can start over again in a different place.

That's funny, Gary! Sammy wants no help from me, I'm only allowed to supply the sticks. He gets furious if I touch his creations, he prefers to take them down by himself. Right now he has the door for one of his food dishes barricaded shut, thankfully, he has three other bowls in his new cage.

Aw, I am so happy that Sammy is happy in his new home and figured out a way to build! He is a true artist that one!

Thank you, Mitch! Sammy is an artist. He's also a talker. A couple of weeks ago, he started saying, "You are a good, good bird." Not thinking, I would respond, "You are a quaker parrot," apparently Sammy considers that a great compliment, every day he announces loudly, "You are a quaker parrot", he's called Joe and me, all three dogs and each of his flock members, quaker parrots. He has a great sense of humor.

Ha ha thats priceless LoL