Monster Playstand Tutorial

[Birdman666]

My big playstand is over 12 years old, and is frankly, starting to fall apart. It's time to make a new one. A couple of people have asked me about my big playstand set ups, so I figured I'd share the design.

This is my old falling down one, in need of updating:



This is a design I've been using for over a decade, it's very stable, and it's easily scaled up or down for any sized bird, or birds. I figured that since I was going to do this, I may as well photograph it, and post it as a tutorial... (Like I'm the first one to come up with a PVC playstand design, or that this is anything unique or difficult.)

I've had as many as 20 birds on this thing at any given time. And at one time, I had 11 birds sharing this thing... And you can easily fit a dozen or more toys, plus feeding stations, plus swings, and boings, and such. I'm obviously going to be recycling most of the things I already have on the old playstand, though my 12 year old cargo nets have just about had it as well.

Since I never glued the original one together, the fittings are now loose, and after a dozen years or so, it falls apart in spots when I move it to clean.
This time, I plan on gluing the horizontal sections. (Not the vertical. I still want to be able to take it apart for ease of cleaning.)

Also, I'm switching my perch wrap from vet wrap, which quickly becomes ratty, to sissal, which is a more permanent (and more of a time consuming pain) perch wrap solution.

PVC is very, very easy to work with, and it's durable and easy to clean. And these are simple to make. Compared with wood playstands, they're less than half the price, for two to three times the perching space...

Id like to email the photos to someone, and then just add them where they go. And I'll draft a step by step instructions to show just how easy this is...

 

[Psittaciformes]

If you uploaded pictures already, I can't see them.

How did you keep the cargo nets clean for 12 years?

 

[Birdman666]

If you uploaded pictures already, I can't see them.

How did you keep the cargo nets clean for 12 years?

Throw them in the washing machine! (Hang dry. They do shrink if you dry them.) Actually I haven't done it yet. That's my little construction project for tonight. And as I do it, I'll do a step by step tutorial, with pictures, for those who consider themselves "craft challenged" to show you how easy it is...

I mean, I've made dozens of these for people over the years, and technically, I'm kind of a moron where power tools are concerned...

It's very easy.

 

[Psittaciformes]

What temperature would you use? I'm planning on getting sisal rope, unless I can find something cheaper and better.

That's perfect! I've never even used power tools haha.
Do you think it matters if they have a playstand made out of wood or no? It's so hard to find untreated trees that have good size and shapes. I figured I could make a PVC playgym/stand 'till I find a good chunk of tree, then use both.

 

[Birdman666]

Step 1: Constructing the base:

What you will need:

Pipe:
Two 30” long pipes.
Four 6” long pipes.
Four 24” long pipes.

Fittings:
Six T-Connects
Four Elbow Connects.

1. Cut your pipes to the lengths above.

2. We’re basically just making a giant rectangle here. The two 30” long pipes are your end pieces. Connect an elbow fitting to each one of those.

3. Then connect a 6 inch pipe to each elbow.

4. Then Connect a T-Connect fitting to the other end of the 6 inch pipe.

5. Attach the two 24” pipes together with T connect fittings.

6. Then attach them to the T-connects on your end pieces. You now have your base.

Important! If you are gluing your base together:

1. GLUE FUMES ARE TOXIC TO PARROTS! USE IT IN A WELL VENTILATED AREA AWAY FROM YOUR BIRDS! LET IT DRY OVERNIGHT…

2. Glue with the tops of the fittings facing down towards the floor, and check to make sure that all the fittings are perfectly level with the floor. This will insure that your poles are vertical as you build up:



Step 2: Constructing the horizontal stabilizers for the base:

What you will need:

Pipe:
Three 30” pipes
Twelve 18” pipes OR twelve 12” inch pipes OR twelve 8 inch pipes. (Your choice.)

Fittings:
Six T-Connects

1. Which length of pipe you use depends on whether or not you want to keep your bird higher or lower than you are. Mine behave when they are up high so I use the 18” pipe, and this thing will be about 7 feet tall when it is finished. If you are one of those “height dominance” people, or if your bird tends to misbehave when he gets in a position where he can control the interaction, opt for the lower playstand.

2. Insert the stem end of the T connect into each end end your three 30” pipes.

3. Insert one of your twelve remaining pipes into the six base T connects.

4. Place the three 30” pipes on top of those 6 pipes.

5. Place the remaining 6 pipes into the horizontal stabilizers. Your base is now solid and stable. You’re ready to add the first level of perches.



STEP 3: CONSTRUCTING THE LOWER PERCHES

What you will need:

Pipe:
Four 15” pipes
One 24” pipe.
Four 13” pipes.
Four 11” pipes

Fittings:
Ten T-Connects
2 Four way connects

1. Just as you did with your horizontal stabilizers, connect a T-Connection at the stem to your one 18 inch pipe.

2. Insert your four 15 inch pipes into your T connects to form a Letter H. These are your center perches.

3. Insert the stem end of the T connects into each end of the H.

4. Insert the four 11 inch pipes horizontally into each of the Four Way connects, and attach that to the center of your H.

5. Attach the stem side of each remaining T connect with the remaining 13 inch pipes.

6. Attach the whole thing to your base. The lower perches are now done.



STEP 4: CONSTRUCTING THE MIDDLE PERCHES

What you will need:

Pipe:
Six 12” pipe.
Two 30” long pipes.
Four 6” long pipes.
Four 24” long pipes.

Fittings:
Six Four way Connects
Four Elbow Connects.

If adding food and water bowls:
Anywhere from One to six Licksit locking bowls.

1. Insert one of each of your six 12” length of pipe into your base to “build up.”

2. Construct the same configuration as your base, except this time using four way connects instead of T connects. Place this on top of your 12” pipe.



Adding food and water bowls is an optional but recommended step. You can add up to six food and water bowls here simply by drilling a hole all the way through the center of your 4 way connects, and using bolt on Licksit treat cups. You will need to change the bolts as the one supplied with them are too short, and it needs to be long enough to go all the way through…



Theoretically, if you add all six food bowls, cages become optional. Your bird could live on this thing quite comfortably, IF trained to stay put!

Step 5: Constructing the Top

Pipe:
Six 12” pipes.
Six 15” pipes
Two 24” long pipes.

Fittings:
One Four way Connect
Two T connects
Six Elbow Connects.

1. As before, build up by inserting one of your 12” pipes into each of the fittings.

2. Insert one end of each of your 24” pipe into the 4 way fitting.

3. Insert a T connect at the stem at the end of each of those perches.

4. Insert your 15” pipe in each of the holes.

5. Insert elbow connects onto the ends of each of your 15” pipe.

6. Attach it to the top of your playstand.



YOUR FRAME IS NOW FINISHED!



Next wrap the perch levels with either vet wrap, athletic tape, or sisal to make them easier to grip, more esthetically pleasing, and softer on your bird’s feet.

Then, add toys, swings, boings, etc.

Then drape cargo nets to either or both sides using Baby C links. (I do both sides.) A great source for sturdy cargo nets is the Pacific Fiber and Rope company. They are a maritime firm, doing cargo nets for shipping purposes, but they also do them for zoos, and will custom make one to size. Just tell them what you need, and what it’s for, and they’ll make it for you.

http://www.pacificfibre.com/

This will give you a size perspective. That is my red fronted macaw standing on the thing. That's a Bolivian Greenwing on a Kings Double macaw cage in the background. The playstand is AS TALL, AS WIDE and LONGER than the double macaw cage, with six feeding cups, and about 30 large toys...

Yeah, massive!!!



Unfortunately, I spent all weekend building the stupid thing, and as you can tell, I did not get a chance to clean the aviary this weekend, so it's very nasty. Please ignore the mess. It got cleaned up.



This is just one of FOUR of these sections. The thing about the cargo nets is that the birds become very active running around on them. Somewhere I have a picture of 12 large birds on the one net... (Mostly, but not all mine at the time.)



I used to bring in foster birds, and just set them down on the big playstand, and watch their eyes go. It was especially fun with big macs... there was just this stunned I don't know where to look, or what to do first. Especially for a cage bound bird, that hadn't been out of the cage in years... it's not really bird whispering.

Happy birds are much easier to deal with... and a day or two, out on this thing, you have a completely different bird on your hands. Especially where there is a flock of other birds teaching them "flock ettiquite." They hit the ground running... you do a few behavior mods, and that's it! It's self-perpetuating once you get the flock structure in place, and this playstand had a lot to do with it, I think.

Itty bitty stands with nothing to do? They're gonna get bored, they're not gonna stay on it, and they're gonna wander off and find something to do.

My birds stay out on this thing all day long, and three of them even sleep on it at night. They go back and forth to their cages to eat on their own...

 

[Birdman666]

What temperature would you use? I'm planning on getting sisal rope, unless I can find something cheaper and better.

That's perfect! I've never even used power tools haha.
Do you think it matters if they have a playstand made out of wood or no? It's so hard to find untreated trees that have good size and shapes. I figured I could make a PVC playgym/stand 'till I find a good chunk of tree, then use both.

With conures I always used the 3/4 inch diameter PVC.

With my bigger birds I used 1 inch diameter PVC.

And you can easily scale this up or down as you see fit. For a little bird, just eliminating one of the vertical sections, cuts the size in half, and is still an enormous amount of room for two conures.

Instead of a wood playstand, just add plenty of wood chew toys to this thing.

 

[Flboy]

Any photos?

Oops! Am at work, firewall blocking the photos!

 

[Birdman666]

Any photos?

Oops! Am at work, firewall blocking the photos!

Not yet. I'm also at work. This is my after work project. Bought all the stuff for it this weekend. (Well, I actually had almost all the fittings I needed. The rest will be recycled.)

Total damage? About $80.00!

For a playstand that will end up being seven feet tall, almost 3 feet wide, and five feet long...

If you had to buy all the fittings, it would probably run you around $110. Plus what ever the cargo nets go for these days. And there's nothing like this on the market anywhere.

A four branch, two foot wide manzanita stand will run you around $260-280 these days. And my macaw destroys those in a year or two.

My big one lasted 12 years. (And if I'd done it right the first time, I wouldn't be re-doing it now.) So, yeah, it's a DIY bargain... For awhile I was making these custom as a sideline business. But it is fairly labor intensive, and there really wasn't a profit in it. So, I stopped.

 

[Psittaciformes]

With conures I always used the 3/4 inch diameter PVC.

With my bigger birds I used 1 inch diameter PVC.

And you can easily scale this up or down as you see fit. For a little bird, just eliminating one of the vertical sections, cuts the size in half, and is still an enormous amount of room for two conures.

Instead of a wood playstand, just add plenty of wood chew toys to this thing.

Good idea. Looks a bit boring with a PVC playgym, so instead of using vet tape or whatever, I think I'm gonna go with rope instead, at least it'll look a bit more natural and fun, could make knots along the way too.
Oho I'm gonna have a lot of fun with this Great thread!

 

[Birdman666]

Exactly.

I haven't put the thing together yet.

I wanted to put the pics and comments all in a row, and not have them interrupted by comments so someone can easily scroll through that and say, oh, that's what he meant. Because explaining it, and actually seeing the visual are two different things.

And it may take me some time to get this done. And there were already people saying, I can't see the photos... so, folks can look at that reserved section, and say, I wish the lazy B@$#&*% would finish the stupid thing!

And you won't be bombarded with I can't see the pictures. Or, I can see some of them but not all of them...

Which brings us to the last point... self motivation to actually finish the stupid thing. Because not only am I a lazy B@$#&*%, but I am also easily distracted from the task at hand...

Does that make sense?!

 

[Birdman666]

Yeah, but I'm completely AR... :32:

I did one for each section of the construction...

I'll remove a few...

 

[Allee]

Not touching that first proclamation, Mark!

I admit, I'm a little curious about why you aren't able to post the photos with the instructions?

 

[Birdman666]

See AR above...

 

[Flboy]

I wish the lazy B@$#&*% would finish the stupid thing!

Ahem! Well said!

 

[Flboy]

A thought, in using sissal, I use a clove hitch knot, it loops over and over, and I jammed the frayed end into the joint. I wrapped the horizontals before assembly.

 

[Birdman666]

A thought, in using sissal, I use a clove hitch knot, it loops over and over, and I jammed the frayed end into the joint. I wrapped the horizontals before assembly.

Okay. AR remember? I'll google clove hitch knot. That doesn't mean I can necessarily tie one...

I did my mock up. Actually put this stupid thing together while dinner was cooking, so 1 hour start to finish. Yeah, it's not hard.

Who can I send pics to?!

 

[Psittaciformes]

What's AR, and why do you need to send the pictures to someone?

 

[Birdman666]

What's AR, and why do you need to send the pictures to someone?

I almost fell over laughing at this one...

Your first question answers your second question...

AR = A**L RETENTIVE...

 

[Christinenc2000]

Who can I send pics to?!

I sure with someone would help . I want to see the pictures. I can't because I am at work . Boss would not fully understand how much I want to see them

 

[Sunset_Chaser]

Ok, I'm a little confused.... You want to send pictures to someone so they can upload them to the forum? Is that it? Or you haven't taken pictures yet? I'm having one of those "what??!!" moments here