which plants to choose?

[josh011]

Hi there, I am soon to purchase one or two electus parrots
The enclosure i am currently preparing for them is a 3x3 metre double story light court.

It is a roofless room with 3 full windows on first floor then 3 walls 1/2 render 1/2 opaque windows second floor with one bottom to top brick wall.

I am planning on converting the sun room into a small natural garden to soon house the eclectus parrots and was wondering if anyone could kindly share some advice in doing so

After enclosing the top with mesh id like to grow a vine up the brick wall and plant a medium sized tree. I live in melbourne, Australia so I have a relatively dry temporate climate.

Does anyone know what vines/trees i should or shouldnt be planting in there?

The lady at bunnings said not to even bother with the vine as the birds will chew it till theres nothing left... is this true?

while im here if anyone has any ideas for a nice drainable flooring in there id appreciate that too (our current ideas involve crushed rock or pebbles but creating dirt enclosures for the vine and tree)

Thanks alot to anyone who can provide any sort of help, i really do appreciate it.

 

[wildheart]

Welcome to the forum Josh! Wow the room sounds absolutely wonderful, you must take photos of the before - during and after!

As far as I know (and that is not much)Eclectus likes it humid so while you plan this room and want to put a drainage system in then think about putting overhead sprinklers in as well. Just an idea.

Here are websites with safe and toxic plants.

Safe Plant List

Bird; Birds: Safe, Toxic Trees, Woods. Safe Tree Wood. Parrots. Parrot cages.

Index of Safe Plants for Birds & Other Pets

I see that the first site has a CISSUS (KANGAROO VINE) maybe that will work for you. I also saw they listed the wandering jew, that is one of my favorites!

 

[wildheart]

Here is another interesting website about Eclectus and what type of environment they need.

The Eclectus Parrot - Graham Taylor (Australia)

I know that ferns keep humidity well.

 

[josh011]

ahh thankyou wildheart thats very helpful

and yes yes i had actually planned to install some later on to provide relief during summer.
I'm spending 6 months overseas very soon and no one in my house will commit to looking after them while im gone so its going to be quite a while till the project is finished and i actually purchase them (but as you can probably tell - my early plannings reveals my excitement for it ) but i shall do so, maybe even put up the before shots real soon.

after reading up some i see that maybe outside wouldnt be the most suitable environment as it can get very cold and very hot here. hmmmm. such potential though!

any thoughts...?

thanks alot

 

[Spiritbird]

I think your vision is fantastic and I want Rosie to have a ticket for an overnight stay pleasse. Two parrot safe plants I know about are spider plant, jade. You could also grow herbs of which there are many safe ones such as aloe.

 

[josh011]

Thanks Spiritbird, i shall look into some herbs too, that could make a nice addition as it starts to fill. aha and shed be welcome for an overnight stay for sure when your next in melbourne


Here's a link to the 'before' photo.
as you can see, still very raw and unestablished.

Welcome to Photoserver.WS, a free image upload solution

 

[Aussie Ben]

Now thats just......cool

Welcome to the forum. Your enclosure looks great and eclectus parrots will be in heaven in there.

 

[josh011]

ah thank you lets hope so.

also, if i was to put an old wooden ladder in there and don't know what wood it is made out of, is there a way I can tell if its bird safe? or (im sure unlikely..) make it bird safe?

 

[Aussie Ben]

ah thank you lets hope so.

also, if i was to put an old wooden ladder in there and don't know what wood it is made out of, is there a way I can tell if its bird safe? or (im sure unlikely..) make it bird safe?

Unless there is a label on it, or you know who manufactured it, then you probably can't tell unfortunately. Being a ladder, it's probably treated timber (which is generally bad for birds) so that it will last in the outdoors. Other than that, its pretty hard unless you're a wood expert.
Got a photo of it?

 

[wildheart]

I love that area in your house!!! I wish we had that in all our houses.

Where are you going to place the mesh ceiling? I hope not to high cause then you will have a problem getting hold of your birds.

With the mesh the plants will grow beautifully, but what are you going to do when it rains and gets cold? What do you currently do when it rains?

(You know, an iguana will LOVE that spot.:54

 

[bogo1]

(You know, an iguana will LOVE that spot

Down girl...lol...

Welcome Josh

A question / thought : Are you planning this as a full-time home or as a fair weather play area? If the former, you would have some major work to do on the space for climate control even where you live. If though you plan to have indoor cages for your birds for use in poor weather and to give you and parrot (s) more access to each other and support socialization then you don't need to put so much energy into making the big space "all weather safe ."

 

[Aussie Ben]

Barbara brings up a good point. If I were using it as permanent housing, I would shelter a good 1/4 - 1/2 of it off, sort of like an outdoor aviary. Controlling the temperature is a little more difficult, but some decent plants may help. What is the climate like where you are?

 

[wildheart]

a

after reading up some i see that maybe outside wouldnt be the most suitable environment as it can get very cold and very hot here. hmmmm. such potential though!

any thoughts...?

thanks alot

Here is the answer, I dont know why I think he is from Australia? Must be imagining myself.

Herbs wont do well in a humid area, they like to have their feet dry and gets loads of diseases when it is humid.

 

[josh011]

Wildheart: I was definitely planning on putting the mesh ceiling at the very top of the light court as I'd feel like I am depriving the birds of the potential living space i could provide them if I didn't.
I had a feeling getting them to come down could be an issue but I'm sure they'd happily come down when brought treats or come inside for some out of 'cage' time. (Although I'm far from having an experienced idea; feel free to correct me if I'm wrong ) - Also there are times of day where the only direct sunlight is at the top and I figure I might as well utilize the top so they can enjoy it.

And rain and coldness are the biggest issues using this space faces. I will put in some sort of shelter from rain but sheltering from the cold could be a serious problem during winter here.

Although I actually messaged Graham Taylor from the web page you linked me to and they informed me that they have seen outdoor aviaries housing eclectus in Hobart, which is further south and even colder than Melbourne and the birds withstood the weather- however that's not to say its acceptable and a way I'd like to treat a pet of my own.

Its funny because i didn't mean to give the impression that I already have eclectus parrots but just to clear that up I don't yet. I just take a particular liking to them and am pretty set on getting some

And in response to Barbara and the other posts that just emerged as I wrote that -

I am planning it as a full time housing - not a play area.

I have various plans for the 'climate control' but I don't think enough to suffice.

I do plan on covering a proportion of the roof and probably also putting in lower down shelter. I'll also install overhead sprinklers to provide frequent relief in the heat of summer and i like the idea of ferns to keep humidity.

- But as I've written above, I'm not sure how to approach the cold winter nights without say installing heating or something of the sort... which begins to exceed the resources I'm willing to allocate.

 

[wildheart]

Most of our parrots do not sleep in their big cages or aviaries, we have small sleeping cages for them. I cover my girls sleeping cage every night and it is in a room that has no disturbances or noise. I also place her cage next to a heater during the cold nights.

Maybe you should look at doing that, it will solve all your cold night problems and give you time to intimately interact with them.

Does not matter how high the ceiling is, they will only go as high up as the highest branch. That is completely your choice.

 

[wildheart]

You can also place an econo heater against the wall for cold days. It is not expensive and animal and children safe. During hot days you can cover it so that no water will get in (like a made to fit plastic cover).

Here is their website, if you click on global you'll see that they are world wide.

Econo-Heat South Africa, Global HQ

 

[bogo1]

Josh,
I am not certain this is going to work out well the way you are envisioning it now. This kind of parrot would thrive with this space as a fair weather aviary but for purposes of socialization you are almost certainly going to need an indoor cage as well. If you only have the outside space how will you keep it clean...especially when the weather is poor. If you only have outside space how will you handle the bonding and trust building you clearly desire with your parrot. Especially as you plan to have two birds ( as I do ) routine interaction is crucial. I think you can spend less on weatherizing(sp?) the space if you have a reasonable indoor cage and that cage will help you and the birds establish a relationship that will bring pleasure to you both.

 

[josh011]

Barbara, i see the value in an indoor cage for night time (as Wildheart suggested) and cleaning purposes but can't see why so******ing and bonding can't be achieved with an outdoor enclosure....
As I stated in an earlier post the birds would certainly have some out of 'cage' time by which i mean coming inside and spending time indoors for 'bonding' or 'so******ing'.

and also i checked out that econo-heater. pretty cool stuff i reckon.

 

[bogo1]

I think it could work to socialize birds only in your big space but it will be much harder...especially with two birds. See threads about caring for multiple birds. It would help you tremendously to have indoor sleep cage. That one decision will ensure interaction, eliminate bad weather issues, promote healthy sleep patterns, provide place to poo for potty trained birds...a lot of gain for one or two smaller cages and indoor play space.

 

[Aussie Ben]

I honestly think the idea is fantastic and is more that capable of working. So ci alising with the birds should be fine, its just like a big cage, only more awesome. Just don't put any perches higher than what you can reach . I actually want to do something like this eventually, build a small room on the back of the house where the birds could live.

The only thing I just want to make you aware of is the temperature change between the courtyard and indoor area. I had my ekkie outside on the veranda for a few months and I had to be super careful when I bought him inside because the house is climate controlled. Sudden change in temperature has been known to kill birds (its not that great for people either )