Preventing Bitten Toes

[Teddscau]

Hey guys! I thought I'd share how I prevent budgie toes from being chomped on by my parrotlet and lovebird. So, I've kept a mixed species flock in an aviary in my basement for almost five years now. The kids absolutely love the freedom to fly around whenever they want. It's not the biggest aviary in the world, but it's bigger than anything most of my birds experienced prior to being adopted by me. I know it sounds all dark and dingy, but it actually has 4' long Arcadia UVA/UVB bird light (I finally found a place that sells the light itself AND the fixture with the proper wattage! Check out ReptilesRuS.ca), a 4' long fluorescent, a UVA/UVB fixture over a double flight cage, colourful bird-safe paint and primer, an Austin Air Pet air purifier, chicken coop heating panel (they can touch it without being burnt), a huge apple tree limb hanging from the ceiling, marmoleum flooring, etc.

Anyways, back on topic. As everyone knows, parrots are bad for biting off the toes of anyone unfortunate enough to accidentally land on their cage. So, when we moved Noah into the aviary to join the budgies (he would only eat with his flock, so if I didn't take him out to play with me until later in the day, he'd get low blood sugar and start falling over), we had to come up with a way to protect the budgies if they ever landed on his cage while he was in it (we keep the cage in the aviary with the doors open in case anyone feels like hanging out in the cage, seeing as they all grew up in cages and still enjoy going in them). So, we decided to put plastic egg crate on top of the cage.

The egg crate is thick enough that the toes of little budgies who are sitting on top of the cage can't poke through the bars on top of the cage and get bitten. Obviously we still have the occasional bitten toe, but that only happens a few times per year. I also can't say for sure if it's necessarily Noah or Rosie who are biting toes, since budgies are just as capable of biting toes. None of my other birds have ever acted fearfully towards Noah or Rosie, so clearly they don't go around harassing the others.

 

[SailBoat]

Interesting source for fairly common 4' long fluorescent daylight bulbs. Check-out the big box stores for the same product (different packaging) at a lower price. Listed as Daylight or fluorescent Grow Bulbs. Remember, regardless of the name on the box, its the same product and it has a fairly short life, as with time, they shift they color spectrum.

I will admit that I have a deep dislike for laundry rooms and basements as places for Parrots, in general. Unless you have installed a full home air exchange system, upgraded to a 4" proper furnace filtering system as part of your HVAC system, such areas are known for their accumulations of heavier gases from upper floors and the age old issue of out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

Great idea for saving toes!