Housing Birds
Cages, Aviaries, Air Quality, Lighting & Heat
Keep your Pets Happy & Healthy - Tips for Appropriately Housing and Caring for your Pet ... Cages / Aviaries (ready to buy or instructions for building them yourself) .... Perches ... Watering Systems ... Lighting ... Heaters / Emergency Heat / Heating Options for Sick Birds or Babies ... Air Quality / Air Conditioning ... Bird-safe Plants that Clean / Remove Toxins from Your Air
Housing Your Bird & Setting Up Your Bird Cage:
- Cages / Aviaries:
- Cage Info: What Type of Cage? ... Cage Safety
- Cages: Inexpensive Cages for Babies / Breeder Cages for Small Birds ... Budgie, Canary, Finch & Like-sized Bird Cages ... Cockatiel, Lovebird, Small Conure & Like-sized Bird Cages .. Cages for Medium to Large Birds ... For Do-It-Yourselfers:. Build Your Own Cage - Step-by-Step Instructions
- Aviaries: Bird Flights & Aviaries / Aviary Photos / Set-ups .Housing Pheasants & Other Outdoor Birds - has some nice photos and useful guidance
- Playgyms / Fun Cage & Playgym Set-ups
- Cage Lining / Cage Substrate - What to Put at the Bottom of Your Bird's Cage
- Protect Your Carpet & the Walls from Food Splatters: Birds have messy eating habits. Some species more than others; such as lories / lorikeets that are on a nectar / fruit diet; but many birds can make a mess when eating. You might see food spatters at the wall or on the floor around the cage and they tend to be difficult to clean. If this is a problem then my recommendation is to buy clear vinyl panels or plexi glass and drill holes in them for the screws, string, or self-adhesive velcro to attach the panels to the side of the cage. In the past I found some nice (shower?) hooks that worked great.
You can get inexpensive panels at Home Depot or at Wallmarts. I bought mine at Home Depot and they have cutting machines that people can use to cut the panels to the right size.
For the floor I used square chair mats available also at Wallmarts, Office Depots. It protects the carpet / flooring and is easy to clean. You can take the mat outside, if you like, and hose it down. A little soaking and any dirt comes off easily.
- Do-It-Yourself Enthusiasts: Aviary Photos ... Beautiful Aviaries and Building Tips (BackYard Aviary) / Aviary Building Tips ... Custom Long Flight / Aviary Tips ... Small Aviary for your Deck ... Sheltered Aviary ... Creating and Enjoying an Indoor Aviary ... Aviary Photos ... Build Your Own Breeder Cage ... Make Your Own: Decorator Cage Covers
- Refinishing Cages / Removing Rust from Cages, Accessories or Bird Toys Great Photos of Aviaries & Tips / Tricks & Instructions: >
- Purchasing Breeding Cages / Aviaries: Wire Cages / Aviaries ... Aviaries
- Perches: Perches can be made from:
- Rope (a lot of fun for birds and easy to install - )
Wood (manzanita and madrone, maple, and apple wood - please refer to: safe wood for perches) - PVC (check for toxicity!)
- Acrylic, like Plexiglas(TM) - but these should be sanded slightly to roughen up the otherwise slick surface
- Sandy & Concrete perches help keep beak and nails in trim.
- There are even heated perches to help senior birds through a cold spell or to relieve arthritic discomfort.
- Rope (a lot of fun for birds and easy to install - )
- Watering Systems: I personally don't like water bottles and other such watering devices. My birds like to bathe and I am also worried about them getting blocked and my birds not getting water - the leading cause of captive bird death. I prefer to use the traditional water dishes, which are also easier to wash / disinfect.. I have twice as many water dishes as I need and put them in the dish washer every day, which is easy enough. However, many breeders prefer to have watering devices - and if you have many birds, maybe that is the way for you to go. Following is some more information. Problems and Solutions - Feed Cups and Watering Devices .... Water Bottles: Convenience at a Price
- Lighting: Full Spectrum Lighting - Ott-Lite: Natural Light Supplement
- Heat:
- Heaters / Heating Systems (to heat rooms / areas)
- Brooders - for the really little ones, the only way to provide controlled warmth for each stage of the chick's development
- Heat Lamps - provides heat when temperatures are chilly or when sick birds need additional warmth.
In an emergency, you may want to try Susanne Russo's tip: "A simple and cheap heater can be made by taking any leaves from the yard and kitchen table scraps, and stuff. Put them in a double layer trash bag, wet the contents til they are slightly damp, then tie the bag closed. Put it in a trash can with a lid. This is my emergency heater for cold weather. The stuff in the bag starts composting... and in several hours starts building up heat. It can in 24 hours almost get hot to the touch...and will radiate heat for a few days. Just put the closed trash can in your flights ... it'll radiate some heat. Another thing that can be used to get the leaves and compost heating up quicker is Compost Starter, which can be found at some nursery and garden supplies." Susanne Russo
Another cyber friend told about her experience of an electric outage in the midst of an icy winter, with chicks in the incubator. She said she was able to save them by putting on several thick sweaters, putting the chicks underneath the sweaters, right up against her warm body, and huddling in the bed underneath a thick comforter. Her body heat was able to sustain the babies until the electricity was back up. Emergency Portable PowerHEATING OPTIONS (for both Baby Birds and Convalescent Adult Birds):
Simple Instructiosn to Build Your Own Brooder ... Teflon / Non-stick Coated Heating Lamps!!! ... Salamander Ceramic, Quartz, Metal and Flat Faced Panel Electric Infrared Heating Elements and Accessories
- Air Quality: Stagnant and uncirculated air acquires unhealthy contaminants / environmental toxins from various sources, including ground radiation, fungi, bacteria, bird dust, decaying food, feces, and by-products of electric appliances, such as heaters, fans, and lights. Toxins will directly or indirectly cause health problems and lower production. Ventilation helps regulate the air quality, humidity and temperature.
- Controlling the humidity level in the aviary reduces the growth of any unhealthy organisms. A good ventilation system will exchange the air from every corner of the room. If high moisture levels occur in certain areas, problems will eventually occur.
- Moving air removes summer time heat, generating a cool breeze thus greatly increasing the comfort levels of the birds.
- Relevant Resources: Air Filtration & Ventilation Systems ... Dehumidifiers
Below is a listing of various bird-safe plants that will rid your home or office of not only carbon dioxide but also 1 or more of 3 other toxins.
African Daisy ... Bamboo Plant ... Corn Plant ... Dracena Janet Craig ... Dracena Warnecki ... Snake Plant ... Spider Plant - Remove beneze found in inks, oils, plastics, rubber, dyes, detergents and pharmaceuticals
Aloe Vera ... Bamboo Plant ... Date Palm ... Snake Plant - Remove formaldehyde found in particle board, plywood, foam insulation, grocery bags, room deodorizers, waxed paper, facial tissues, paper towels and some fabrics
Dracena Warnecki ... Pothos - Remove Trichloroethylene (TCE): found in dry cleaning chemicals, printing inks, paints, lacquers, varnishes and adhesives
If you would like to add to or correct any of the above information, or would like to share with web visitors your own experiences, please e-mail the webmaster.
Photo contributions are welcome!
