Invention For Conures (But Other Birds Too!)

[KiwiDaConure97]

Hello, so I am in grade 7 and I am doing this thing with my friends in a group called the "invention convention." We needed to come up with an invention that solves a problem, build it, test it and market it. We came up with the idea of a bottom of a bird cage that when the bird throws food or poos the bottom of the cage will dissolve it so you don't need to clean the cage as often. Since parrots usually live very long a lot of elderly people own them and we feel this product will solve a lot of parrot owner problems! But we need to know a couple things so I decided to come to the community of the parrot forums to ask some questions;

-What do you think of this product? (honest opinion please)

-What safety procedures do we need to take?

-What materials should we use?

-Will this affect the bird in any way?

-And if this product comes to the market, how much should we sell it for?

Thank you for your time to respond, we will make sure to take all opinions and information we can, if there is anything else we should know, please PM me! Thank you!

 

[SilverSage]

Hi!

Good for you for looking to solve a problem!

However, I’m sorry to say that anything capable of doing what you suggest would be extremely dangerous to a bird what if the bird got ahold of it? It would start dissolving the bird!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[KiwiDaConure97]

We're trying to find something that is safe for the bird, any safety things we should take into consideration would be nice. Thanks :3

 

[KiwiDaConure97]

Thank you for the information! We will try to do our best to do something, we're doing lots and lots of research on this! If there is anything you can think of to help us (you already helped a ton) that would be awesome!

 

[s_car_go]

I have given this idea a bunch of thought.

I would try something like this;

Build the bottom of the cage in the shape of a round or square funnel. Whatever is dictated by the shape of the cage. Stainless steel would be a good material choice. At center of the funnel base is the drain. At the lip of the bottom have a water distribution system that keeps a sheet of water flowing over the entire surface of the funnel base. When debris hits the floor the water will sweep it away. Essentially making a continuous cleaning / rinsing system. Water flows from the drain into the pump to the filter then back to the base. Constant or intermittent circulation. Similar to the old time "spit" sinks on the dentists chair. They ran continuously.

Of course the system would need pump, reservoir, filter, drain, water supply, and some sort of control system to monitor the operation.

Will be safe for the bird.

Let me know how it goes and what you end up with.

 

[LordTriggs]

though I don't think it would destroy the bird it would at the least irritate the skin

Also what you are describing is essentially Acid, to which my biggest concerns would be fumes for both parrot and human and wearing down the structural integrity of the cage (especially if plastic bottomed) You would also need to make sure that the substance itself were non toxic as many parrots climb down to the floor and try eating the discarded seed.

A better idea may be something simple like automatic locks for bird cages, or perhaps you could design a new type of bird harness that's secure and doesn't require putting heads through loops or irritating/insecure buckles

 

[Dopey]

This is a great idea. I hope that you are able to come up with a marketable product.

 

[GaleriaGila]

I like Trigg's thoughts!

 

[SilverSage]

Birds get their beaks on EVERYTHING. Anything that dissolves poop and food is almost certainly going to contain harsh chemicals. Not only would that be toxic if the bird found a way to get to it (and they would) but the fumes would most likely be toxic as well. I think you need to look for a completely different product. Here are some things that I wish existed:

-a tool for easily cleaning all the nooks and crannies in a bird cage

-a thermometer that could take a birds temperature by touching their feet beak or be able to read through the feathers.

-a convenient, easy to attach wearable device to protect shoulders from bird poop.

-sound absorbing panels to hang in bird rooms

-pellets tailored to SPECIES specific needs, not just size

-a device that can detect common household toxins and set off an alarm




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GaleriaGila]

I like Sage's ideas, too!

 

[SilverSage]

I actually love the idea of the rinsing system but I think it would be too bulky to be realistic.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[flyzipper]

... We came up with the idea of a bottom of a bird cage that when the bird throws food or poos the bottom of the cage will dissolve it so you don't need to clean the cage as often. Since parrots usually live very long a lot of elderly people own them and we feel this product will solve a lot of parrot owner problems! But we need to know a couple things so I decided to come to the community of the parrot forums to ask some questions;

...

Thank you for your time to respond, we will make sure to take all opinions and information we can, if there is anything else we should know, please PM me! Thank you!

This is a cool project and you've taken a great step engaging with your target market during the early phases. I'll leave the creativity up to your team and will simply answer the questions you asked. Here's a wall of text...

-What do you think of this product? (honest opinion please)... For me personally, my bird is rarely in her cage, so that's not the location that gets dirtiest in my home. Her table top perch is where I feed most of her food. Her window tree and hanging rings are the locations where she spends most of her time (oh, and my shoulder too), and therefore these are the places which accumulate the most poop. She's flighted and all birds are messy eaters, so food and poop end up on the floor too. I currently use Uhaul packing paper under all these (4) spaces to catch the mess. I use moistened paper towel for spot cleaning wherever needed. The biggest problem / inconvenience I have is cutting or folding the Uhaul papers to the right size so they fit cleanly in all her locations. I've often thought I would like a service where I could input the dimensions I need, and a box/roll of precut papers would be delivered to my home. Your alternative solution would need to work for all of my locations, and be sufficiently easier to save me time (if it's also cheaper, that'd be a bonus). Long story short: I probably wouldn't use your product.

Speaking of time, I don't believe the elderly are your target market; they're retired and therefore generally have more time and less money for these chores than working-aged people do (it's also likely they've been using the same system for decades, and would be resistant to change). I wonder if your target market might be bird stores and rescue organizations where they have a large number of cages to clean (but they often also have volunteers to help).

-What safety procedures do we need to take?... As you've heard from others here, birds are very curious creatures so they'll touch everything, and they're also very sensitive to airborne toxins (Google 'origin of the phrase canary in a coal mine'). Your solution will need to factor these things into its design. You'll also want to think about testing before your product comes to market. Even if your eventual product was proven safe, a community such as this would look poorly upon your company if your testing involved harm to birds during its development. Ensure the 'dissolved' byproduct is also safe for birds and humans, and any common household surfaces (cage materials for sure, but don't forget about rugs and hardwood floors or various kitchen countertop surfaces).

-What materials should we use?... Acids are dangerous as others have already pointed out. Are there enzymes that can dissolve various organic compounds while being safe? It would need to work on a wide variety of items (poop, fruits and veggies, seeds and pellets).

-Will this affect the bird in any way? If you get it right, a bird with clean space(s) will be happier and healthier.

-And if this product comes to the market, how much should we sell it for? I spend $15 for a box of Uhaul paper 2x per year, and it takes me an hour per week to maintain 4 spaces for 1 bird (time wouldn't double for a second bird, but maybe increase by 25%). You can do the math to determine how much your product needs to cost, or save me in time, in order for it to be worth my consideration.

 

[KiwiDaConure97]

Thank you everyone for the information! You are making our group think very hard about how we should change it! All the information you guys have given us is going to help a ton, we will make sure to take ALL information into consideration and I would still love more information too!

 

[KiwiDaConure97]

I have given this idea a bunch of thought.

I would try something like this;

Build the bottom of the cage in the shape of a round or square funnel. Whatever is dictated by the shape of the cage. Stainless steel would be a good material choice. At center of the funnel base is the drain. At the lip of the bottom have a water distribution system that keeps a sheet of water flowing over the entire surface of the funnel base. When debris hits the floor the water will sweep it away. Essentially making a continuous cleaning / rinsing system. Water flows from the drain into the pump to the filter then back to the base. Constant or intermittent circulation. Similar to the old time "spit" sinks on the dentists chair. They ran continuously.

Of course the system would need pump, reservoir, filter, drain, water supply, and some sort of control system to monitor the operation.

Will be safe for the bird.

Let me know how it goes and what you end up with.

Really good idea! I will try this out with my group to see what we can come up with! :35:

 

[KiwiDaConure97]

Birds get their beaks on EVERYTHING. Anything that dissolves poop and food is almost certainly going to contain harsh chemicals. Not only would that be toxic if the bird found a way to get to it (and they would) but the fumes would most likely be toxic as well. I think you need to look for a completely different product. Here are some things that I wish existed:

-a tool for easily cleaning all the nooks and crannies in a bird cage

-a thermometer that could take a birds temperature by touching their feet beak or be able to read through the feathers.

-a convenient, easy to attach wearable device to protect shoulders from bird poop.

-sound absorbing panels to hang in bird rooms

-pellets tailored to SPECIES specific needs, not just size

-a device that can detect common household toxins and set off an alarm




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Good ideas! Some of them seem like I and my grade 7 friends wouldn't be able to do but, I really like the shoulder idea! We might try that if we can!