Category: general

Add a shelf to your rolling bird cage

Add a shelf to your rolling bird cage

As I mentioned in my review of bird cage brands, some rolling bird cages have a convenient storage shelf at the bottom. Here are two, for comparison.

  • No shelf at the bottom
  • Shelf at the bottom

Personally, I find it an invaluable place to store food, toys, cleaning supplies, and other items. When you’re pressed for time and want to swap out a toy, this makes it super easy. Also, if you want to move the cage, the floor around the cage isn’t cluttered with items.

But I have a bunch of cages that don’t have this nice shelf. I thought of just cutting a piece of plywood, but I have roaming birds that become hormonal when they find dark places. Plus, plywood isn’t particularly attractive.

Custom plastics

You may not know it, but you probably have a custom plastics shop where you live. They will take plastic sheets, film, tubes or anything else and create whatever you can dream up.… READ THE REST

Benefits and joys of remote cameras

Benefits and joys of remote cameras

Setting up remote cameras on your birds can be more entertaining than TV. But it can also have important benefits to the well being of your bird that you may not have considered.

Benefits

Your birds will behave very differently when you are in the room as they do when you are gone. You may see important clues to their health by checking in on them remotely from time to time.

Food

Especially with fresh foods, it can be difficult to figure out what your bird is eating when you look at their dishes at the end of the day. Everything can dry up and shrink a bit.

Turns out the little Splendid Parrot is pushing around the cockatiels!

Behavior

What does your bird do all day when you are not around? Do they sit around or are they active and playing with toys? How are they interacting with other birds.… READ THE REST

Finding a compatible vet

Finding a compatible vet

It can be difficult finding a vet that has experience with birds. I’m fortunate to have several vets that only see birds or it’s a significant part of their practice. For many people, the only choice is whatever bird vet lives a reasonable distance away, so this post may not be useful if that applies to you.

Many of us have run into doctors that like to run the show and bristle when being questioned. They are the doctor and we are the patient. This same mentality finds its way into vets as well. Both doctors and vets tend to be conservative and traditional. They can be skeptical of less mainstream methods for care and treatment.

If you find yourself agreeing with some of the posts on this blog, you are likely to be in conflict with your local vets. The conventional wisdom on many bird topics is vastly different in some areas, especially nutrition.… READ THE REST

How do I know who to trust?

How do I know who to trust?

If you do a web search on any bird topic, you’ll probably get some results, but how do you know if it’s good infomation? This is especially difficult if you find conflicting information from multiple sources.

Is this a trusted source?

Sometimes the publication or author is enough to give credibility to an article. I can’t tell you which sources to trust, but I can tell a few that I trust to give you an idea.

If it’s from a source you don’t know or don’t trust, here are some questions you may ask.

Does the author cite sources?

… READ THE REST