Progress of my built-in cage

[Cosmographer]

In preparation for my green wing macaw, I've decided to turn the dead space under the stairs into a bird cage. This is still a work in progress, and I'll be updating with pics as it progresses.


This pic was taken just after we started the project. We had just stripped the formica from the walls. The little room under the landing was used as a shoe cabinet before:

Natural stone tile work almost done. the walls and ceiling tiles are secured not just with cement adhesive but screws as well (dont want any tiles coming loose and hitting my bird in the head, haha):

Plywood template we made for cutting the soon-to-be-installed 10mm thick tempered glass. Stainless Steel brackets everywhere and ventilation holes on one glass panel. We will have another line of holes near the top of that panel as well. The square hole leading to the former shoe cabinet is for ventilation. Another tiled square wil be placed over the hole, hiding it, while still allowing air to pass around it from the former shoe cabinet. Inside the former shoe cabinet, we will place a Blueair 690i with an extraction fan that will send purified air into the cage. With ventilation holes only in the opposing glass panel, this system should make sure the parrot gets only clean air. And the tiled square cover over the extraction fan should act as a diffuser so there will be no wind tunnel effect:

The plywood template is off to the glassmaker. Floor tiling is done. These tiles are seamless and glazed so it should be very easy to clean. For aesthetics, I built an adjustable, removeable planter for indoor plants. These are safe for the parrot, but I doubt they are safe from the parrot. I expect to rotate out these plants every few weeks to give them relief and recovery time while the next plant lineup takes parrot abuse :18::

 

[Squeekmouse]

Wow!! That's the coolest thing ever!! Can you all come build something like that in my house too, please?

 

[fiddlejen]

Luxury accomodations indeed!

 

[fiddlejen]

Will you be patterning or texturing the glass in some way, since your bird won't be able to see it? Also birds like to climb around on cage bars. I love the plants! I guess you will be adding ladders or something as well? Or is the texture of the rock wall sufficient for climbing?

 

[Cosmographer]

The toys haven't been placed yet. Still waiting for stainless steel screw eyelets to arrive from overseas (surprisingly hard to find here in the Philippines). I'll be hanging toys from the tree braches as well, but at this point I'm not sure if that tree pictured will stay because I'm in talks with a local manufacturer to have it replicated in concrete which should last a lot longer. Really looking forward to putting in the toys!

But since you mentioned it, does anyone know if those rocky tiles offer enough purchase for a macaw to climb (they are pretty rough like real stone but they don't protrude from the wall more than 0.5 - 1 inch or so at most). Wasn't part of the plan to have the macaw climbing the walls, but it would be an awesome bonus if it could.

There won't be any etchings in the glass, but my research on this subject indicates that they quickly learn to know where the glass is and shouldn't injure themselves. Also thinking of building the same style planters along the glass on the outside of the cage to give it a more green and natural look without putting too many plants in harms way and making them easier for cleaning. That might help to create a more visible border that the macaw can use as a reference point for where the glass is.

This is my first attempt at building anything like this, so all comments, suggestions, and ideas are welcome. My goal for the cage is something that the bird will enjoy while also beautifying the house.

I will admit though, that the inspiration for the cage design came from Lecter's prison cell which I've always thought looked pretty neat. (If the bird's DNA test indicates male, I'm considering naming him Hannibal :18: )

 

[Amsterdam]

this is really amazing wow just wow!

 

[wrench13]

One thing you might not have considered - food. Unless your macaw is an extremely neat and fastidious eater, most parrots fling a good bit of food all over in and around their cages. Some can fling it several feet , if not yards away. Cleaning food off that lovely rock faced wall is going to be a nightmare, with all the nooks and craggy areas.

Our Salty is no exception, but we only feed him dry stuff within his cage ( pellets and a walnut or two) and wet food like chop or other veg/fruit ) are fed while he is on his play chain and boinggy. Under his feeding cup outside we have first a very large (24"dia) stainless bowl to catch most dropped food, and under that a plastic office chair mat to catch what ever the bowl doesn't.

 

[bigfellasdad]

That will look amazing, I dont think Hannibal chewed his way out via the door frame though, how will you be hanging the door? I assume 'hannibal if a boy' will not be in his amazing living quarters all of the time?

 

[Cosmographer]

Yup, considered the food mess. Thankfully, I moved to the Philippines years ago, and labor here is incredibly cheap. I have 2 live-in domestic helpers who will be cleaning the cage (and caring for the bird when I'm asleep or away). It's so affordable that even people living in apartments often have domestic helpers, so I'm very fortunate in that regard.

Regarding the door, it will be all glass like the rest of the cage with stainless steel hinges mounted on the wall and a stainless steel latching mechanism where it meets the other glass panel.

I expect that it will spend about 12 hours in its sleeping cage and probably about 6 hours in its daytime cage, with the remaining 6 hours or so hanging out in the lounge, playing and training on his treestand perch. Hopefully, this will be enough attention and interaction.

 

[wrench13]

SO are you like the guy who wrote the program Cosmographer?

 

[Cosmographer]

SO are you like the guy who wrote the program Cosmographer?

Since I have no idea what you're talking about, I suppose my answer would have to be "no, I am not" hahaha. Im guessing you're referring to some kind of software program? If so, haven't heard of it. My handle is named after my watch, a Daytona Cosmograph.

 

[wrench13]

(faceslap) Duh!

 

[Cosmographer]

Getting closer to completion. Blueair 690i installed with an extraction fan blowing the purified air from the unit's exhaust directly into the cage. With the glass walls installed, there is no draft and very slightly positive pressure inside (a barely discernable outflow through the ventilation holes).

With the walls installed, the next step is to install lights to brighten things up a bit.

 

[noodles123]

very cool! Crazy! I can't get over this! haha

That looks amazingly chic for a bird cage lol!! Good work!

If those are real plants-- you may need to rethink that due to the soil (the plant may be safe, but the soil can contain bacteria, fungus and chemicals)...and make sure he/she can't get in those boxes and get all hormonal. Remember, any shadowy space can be a hormone trigger.

I'd hang some stuff from the ceiling and consider mounting a cross-cage perch (you drilled for the air holes, so can you do that for a perch mount too?)

You could also mount some stainless steel mesh or something on one of the walls for climbing if you have a way to attach it. Climbing around is important, so just consider how to add enrichment within that space. It may not look as pretty, but it is important for them to have lots of perches/toys etc.

 

[Squeekmouse]

Jute rope net can provide climbing also, just a thought.

 

[HEEDLESS]

One thing for SURE that Precious is a spoiled PRINCESS. ^_^



Kise is very jealous.
​

 

[Cosmographer]

Yup there will be lots of toys in there. Here's the first one we're working on. A rope swing perch. We just finished cutting the rope and attaching end caps and fasteners.

Regarding climbing, do you think the rock wall offers enough purchase? Here's a closer look at the depth of the indentations:

I decided to remove the real plants and add fake ones after the breeder/trainer said that these should be safe for her. The real ones created too much of a mess with the water and dirt, etc.

 

[Cosmographer]

The recessed directional lighting at the top horizontal area of the ceiling is going to be a pain to install. We will have to drill circular openings right into the stone tiles. We should have done that before tiling it up, haha. But it was an afterthought. Figured the room lighting would be enough, but after some comments and suggestions in this thread and the forum regarding lighting and the bird's emotional well being, I decided to include built-lighting. Lighting up the cage would make it look a lot better too, not to mention the glare it'll cause on the interior of the glass panels should help Precious more quickly figure out where the glass is.

 

[noodles123]

Yup there will be lots of toys in there. Here's the first one we're working on. A rope swing perch. We just finished cutting the rope and attaching end caps and fasteners.

Regarding climbing, do you think the rock wall offers enough purchase? Here's a closer look at the depth of the indentations:

I decided to remove the real plants and add fake ones after the breeder/trainer said that these should be safe for her. The real ones created too much of a mess with the water and dirt, etc.

Those are the rocks on the ceiling, right?----If so, I think it will be a real challenge for her to hang from those upside down---maybe with some practice, but even then, I am not sure she will do it. The ones by the stairs are so low to the ground and there aren't that many--- she will want to go higher than that....you will want to have lots of room for her to move around via climbing (so that she feels safe and gets some activity).

You will want her to be able to move all around the cage space without having to go down to the ground and you will want perches and toys at various heights (the perch you have is good, but it's not enough)..You could fully utilize the space with some cross-cage perches...If you are already drilling fo lights, couldn't you just add some extra holes to the walls for mounting perches, toys etc? You are really going to want to be able to hand things off of them....

Right now, even though it is a big space, your bird would be restricted to that perch and those pots...so there is so much that couldn't be used unless you add some perches or a way for her to get to the walls etc.

Also-- Really look at those pots--- do you see that shadowy space behind the plants (next to the stairs)? That will be a hormone trigger in an adult bird---it's a perfect cave back there....You don't want any shadowy nooks like that if you can help it. I honestly would remove the pots if you can over somehow cover the tops so that they are not basically boxes in the cage...They LOOK nice, but they could cause some serious hormones...

I put a red arrow in the image below to show the the "cave" (which looks very nesty) and I used green to show you how much of the space your bird will be actually be able to use with this current setup unless you can add more stuff to allow her to utilize it. It is so huge, but if she can't move around, it doesn't do much good, which is why I think you need to add stuff to the walls etc

[/IMG]

Keep in mind, that the space is technically even smaller than what I outlined, because she likely won't spend a lot of time on the floor...

The space has a ton of potential and it's aesthetically pleasing but you need to make sure your bird can utilize it to its full extent...and if you are worried about finding perches that would fit, ParrotWizard will make custom perches to fit pretty much any dimensions.

I'd remove the plants (because they look too small to perch on and produce a nest-like environment) and I would add additional, larger/wider tree stands to the cement boxes in place of the plants, OR cover the boxes up like I did in this REALLY crude editing job lol! Either way, I think you need to add more perches/climbing surfaces to the walls/cross-cage etc so that the whole space can be used by your bird....If you remove the pants without covering the tops of the boxes OR filling them with tree perches, then you have basically created a nest box/dark recessed hole for her to sit in and get weird...

Also, I know your vet said fake plants would probably be safer, but they aren't meant to be chewed on like parrot toys etc--- so how do you know what plastics/stains/fibers/glosses/glues etc were used to construct them? They could contain toxic chemicals... even though they aren't real---tons of plastics and glues contains toxic stuff (hence those California warnings that come on the most benign objects---you know, the ones that say "warning this contains substances known to cause cancer and birth defects"). I bought a packet of paper flowers (the kind intended for scrap booking) and they had that cancer warning in the fine print on the label...so you just need to be careful about using things for birds that were not intended for them.

so either cover the tops OR add tree perches where the plants were ...either way, you need more perches etc.

That toy looks cool-- just MAKE SURE the metal is stainless or at least safe...zinc etc is not safe (even if they just mouth it)... --here's s link to stuff on metals and parrots: http://www.multiscope.com/hotspot/articles/heavymetals.htm


^^^

 

[Cosmographer]

That picture of the rock wall depth is the vertical space at the back wall (actually same as the ceiling since it's the same tiles).

Not to worry about perching areas. We're installing about 20-30 fasteners to hang various ropes, toys, nets, etc. If anything, with everything we're planning, I'm worried that the cage will be too crowded with features for her to move around freely. We'll play it by ear, but it definitely won't be lacking things to interest her. Still a work in progress.

The tiled planters won't have any dark areas when we're done with it. The top will be covered with large stones with only the greenery coming out. I suppose she could still try to squeeze under the leaves and nest there, but again, we'll see what she does before making adjustments.

Regarding the fake plants themselves, some of the research says they can be a problem, but the majority of the research I've done says it's safe unless the particular bird shows an interest in ingesting the silk. Precious's trainer told me not to worry about that since very few of their birds have ever shown such a tendency including Precious herself. But we will keep a close eye on how she plays with the shrubbery.

Thank you for your suggestions and advice. We will definitely keep them in mind as we finish up the cage!