Bird Update

[ScantyNebula]

Open air markets? Hmm .. never heard of em before. I live in a very small city .. probably won't find much stuff like that here ..

Logan, what kind of toys do they like best? I have a bell for them, a little toy mirror, the "cat ball" type toy with three balls with bells inside. I've hung them from the top of their cage but they don't play with them .. they just knock them down to the bottom of their cage in their poop! Or is that playing? lol .. I have no idea ..

[K9soul]

You've already gotten a lot of good advice on how to tame them and I can't really think of more to add on that, but as for your toy question, that might be something else they aren't used to, or they could be like my tiel, Dawn. She has never really cared about toys, she's never really played with anything I put in her cage. She's totally disinterested in mirrors, bells, hoops, and so on. She is my first tiel but I had parakeets before her, and they were always so into their toys that I was surprised at her disinterest.

I have thought about getting one of those toys with a hair-like tassel on the end, or I saw one that was part of a peacock feather hanging toy, because Dawn does seem fascinated with my hair and with the rope tassel on her jungle gym. The only other things she seems to show interest in are cords/strings.

[ScantyNebula]

yea! Those pacifier things .. I may buy one this weekend , thanks for that information I think Chip and Fancy are more interested right now it investigating outside the cage - Chip spends half the day out of the cage! Fancy is just starting to come out too

[Logan]

Johanna, just in case you need some company (I always heard that misery loves company), my Milly is about to have a fit because her eggs are gone. She is pacing and squawking........it makes me terribly sad. I removed 4 eggs yesterday!

[ScantyNebula]

Thanks Logan .. it does really suck to have to do this. I have an additional worry of thinking doing this will only make Fancy resent us even more..

Something very neat happened today! With all the talk about getting a second cage and it being too expensive - we were driving home and someone had a yard sell - and I saw this big cage sitting on their lawn!! I told Justin to turn around so I could see it .. so it turns out to be the perfect tiel cage! Long, rectangular, lots more room. She was selling it for 20 bucks - so I ran to an ATM and had to get it!

The only problem with it is it will need lots of work .. its rusty and old .. so I have lots of fixing up to do. Has anyone ever spraypainted a cage before using special paint for cages? May have to look into that ..

Anyway, that was pretty awesome =)

[popcornbird]

Wow! Seems like you got a great cage!!!!

If its rusted/old, I would recommend getting it painted, because if the paint is off, it could possibly be dangerous for the birds. I have no idea where to get safe paint from though. Normal paint would be dangerous for the birds. You'd need to use the non-toxic paint cage manufacturers use to paint bird cages before they sell them. I really have no idea where you could get that from.

[ScantyNebula]

Well I've spent several hours cleaning the rust off the cage - its cleaning up really well! Starting to look shiny and somewhat new, as new as it can look I guess! I don't even think painting will be necessary, a bit too much trouble for whats it worth, really.

It was a great find they are going to LOVE their new home .. and its huge! No more pooping in inappropriate places! I hope to have it ready for them soon

[popcornbird]

That sounds great!!! I would be worried about painting it because you never know if the paint is safe enough. Glad its cleaning up nicely! We'll need to see pics when they move in.

[K9soul]

Congrats on the new cage! Can't wait to see pics of the birdies