enrichment

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How I “accidentally” made a Parrot Jungle Gym

By Lynn Galbreath

My husband and I have a Maximillian Pionus.  We acquired her from a person who found her in his yard, kept her for 5 years, then put her on Craigslist.  The entire 5 years he believed she was a conure and fed her a diet with almonds and Goldfish crackers as the basic foods, with dried fruit as a treat.  Amazingly enough our Avian vet said with a good diet and exercise she would be healthy, and she is.  Although veggies are not yet her favorite food she is slowly learning they are not instant death.  She eats the Phoenix Landing Mash fairly well; the fruit and veggie topping not so much but even throwing pieces to the floor gives her a taste.  She will happily and easily Step-Up. We also recently adopted a Venezuelan Brown Necked Conure from Phoenix Landing.  He will eat anything but is in Step-Up training.  So the two birds complement each other in those respects.

At any rate- back to the unintentional Jungle Gym.  

A few months after acquiring Sydney the Pionus,  I enthusiastically purchased a LOT of ½ x ½ square dowels with the intent of cutting them into short lengths for her to chew up.  She was power chewing through wood sticks from Etsy parrot supply sellers and, being cheap, I was planning to save money.  So I bought $69.72 worth of 1/2″ x 1/2″ x 36″ Square Poplar Wood Dowels!  Made in USA!  This amounts to 80 three foot dowels.  The little detail of “POPLAR” escaped my notice… and so after they arrived I discovered that Pionus really can’t chew hard poplar wood with their usual enthusiasm.  OK, now what to do….

These 80 dowels lived under my bed and in the back of the closet for months.  I tried selling them on Craigslist and had zero response.  I gave some to a friend with a chinchilla; with the same lack of interest from her chinchilla as from my Pionus.  

Then lighting (so to speak) struck.  I spend too much time poking around Etsy looking for extra good deals (as I said I can be cheap) on parrot chew supplies.  I somehow stumbled on a site selling 3D printed plastic connectors — 3D123 owned by Ken O.

The Etsy samples shown were for round dowels and the satisfied customer pictures were all using round dowels.  I clicked that magic button called Message Seller and asked if it was possible to use square dowels.  Ooohhh…Ken was intrigued, never having made connectors for square dowels.  He knew it was possible and asked for time to figure it out.  He made an earnest attempt to figure out exactly what I needed which was somewhat difficult because I didn’t know what I needed.   Since the wood dowels were still living under my bed where they had been for months, I was not in a hurry whatsoever.  To my surprise Ken messaged back in a couple of days with the configurations and sizing figured out. SO fast!  On the Etsy site 3D123 he has multiple types of connectors you can choose from; square corners, 4-way corners, things with different angles, ones shaped like a Y and so on.  Having no idea what I was going to do I asked for 6 of each type, and said not only did I not care about the color choice but I was pretty sure my parrot didn’t care about the color choice also.   Within a few days I had 36 multi-colored connectors in 9 different configurations in my mailbox.  Plus a few extra ones for good measure.

I am neither an architect nor an engineer so my construction method tended to consist of See-What-Happens-If-This-Gets-Connected-Here.  I happily made a Jungle Gym.  Sydney loves it.  I love that she wanders all over it poking at things and doesn’t merely sit on the highest dowel.  The Gym measures approximately 40 x 58 x 20 inches (it is not exactly rectangular) with the highest stick another 12 inches but that one is only vertical so I hang toys on it and my husband uses it to attach clamp on food bowls..  The pieces are intentionally at odd angles and it wobbles a small amount but we are all fine with that.  The connectors are holding every dowel securely so it’s not in danger of tipping or coming apart.  I did use some screws and glue in the construction after I ran out of connectors and wanted to finish the project the same day.  My husband says that the connectors are more sturdy than my screws and glue.

Having lots and lots of remaining dowels I later bought a few more connectors and built three smaller perches/playstands plus a small one to sit on the kitchen counter or a side table.  The three play stands are gorilla glued to 12×18 floor tiles.  This gives them stability when a flying parrot lands with a thump but they are extremely portable also.  Normally one sits in front of a kitchen window, and two are in the home office.  When I fold clothes or are cleaning the bedroom I bring one of them in the bedroom with me and Sydney supervises until I finish.

This spring we are screening in our little back deck and moving the Jungle Gym outside with the intention of leaving the door to the deck open as much as possible so that the birds can choose whether to be inside or out.  They love being outside in their travel cages so I expect the freedom to fly outside to the Gym will be a wonderful addition to their daily routine.  They will be able to happily yell at the crows and the squirrels while sitting in the sun.

The upshot is that I highly highly recommend Etsy site 3D123.  Ken will design connectors to your specifications.  He even lets you pick your colors.  He responds quickly, the connectors are cheap and Ken is a pleasure to work with.  

And may your parrots love your creations as much as mine love their Gym and Playstands.

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Wisdom from Avian Veterinarians

By Ann Brooks

Attending the annual Association of Avian Veterinarians conference is one of my greatest joys. While much of what is said involves a language beyond my knowledge base, I always learn something new. Here is a summary of my biggest takeaways from this year’s conference.

Thanks to the Grey Parrot Project initiated by Dr. Scott Echols, there is a growing body of evidence that a lack of exercise, sunlight and appropriate diet are highly detrimental to the long-term health of birds in captivity. These may seem like obvious statements, however proving their relationship to disease is easier said than done.

According to Dr. Echols, “a new technique involving radiographs (X-rays) is allowing researchers a means to clearly visualize bone density in birds. Preliminary evidence shows that birds flying outdoors in natural sunlight have better bone density than those housed indoors in small cages. In the attached pictures, cockatiel 1 has better bone density than cockatiel 2. Using the new imaging technique, one can readily see that cockatiel 1 has more red (indicating higher bone density) in the wing and leg bones.”

Cockatiel 1
Cockatiel 2

Since most birds don’t have the opportunity to fly or vigorously move, their bones start to disintegrate. In order to stay strong, bones need to have some stress. It is terrible to think that our birds are suffering in this regard, so we must find a way to get them moving. (For starters, provide more activities outside the cage, increase foraging opportunities, provide a wide variety of perches to encourage movement, and even offer flight when it can be accomplished safely).

The loss of bone structure is especially problematic for female birds in the “lay” mode. Unfortunately, many people touch their birds in sexually stimulating ways, which may encourage these hormonal responses. The healthiest relationship we can have with our companion birds is one that does not involve an excess of “petting” and mate-like behaviors.

Another common problem is nutrition. So many birds live on a diet of packaged seeds. Not only are these high in Omega 6’s (safflower, peanut, sunflower, corn), but most seed brands have very little nutritional value. Our parrots need more Omega 3’s, which can be found in fish oil, flax, pumpkin seeds, hemp, chia and walnuts. If you use flax oil, make sure to buy a very reputable brand, keep it in the refrigerator, and do not shake. And don’t forget to provide a wide variety of dark orange and green fruits and veggies. Here’s an interesting tidbit, if you have chickens, you can dramatically reduce reproductive cancer by including flaxseed as 10% of their diet.

From Drs Dahlhausen and Orosz, we learned that a very large number of birds are Avian Bornavirus positive (ABV), as many as 45% or more in some studies. If your bird is ABV positive, do not panic! Most of these birds remain healthy for their whole lives. Sometimes birds with ABV also develop PDD, but some birds that develop PDD are not positive for ABV.  So as you can see, it is a complicated issue that requires more research.

Possible PDD symptoms might include difficulty in digestion or problems with the nervous system (e.g. seizures). They usually experience some kind of of stressor that suppresses the immune system or alters its normal function as well. Some of these potential stressors include: concurrent infection with Campylobacter, extreme stress, avian gastric yeast, old age and/or reproductivity.  This is yet another reason why we should not sexually stimulate our birds by excessive petting, especially below the neck.  Just remember if your bird does develop PDD, there are ways to help. And if your bird is ABV positive this does not mean it will develop PDD!!

Drs Orosz Dahlhausen Costanzo2

Drs Susan Orosz, Robert Dahlhausen and Greg Costanzo

Another major health concern for birds in captivity is atherosclerosis. Countless birds die at a young age from this heart problem. Why?  Again — they don’t get enough exercise and they don’t have good diets. If we are going to have birds in our homes, we must learn to do better by them by providing healthy food and lots of mental & physical activities.

Lastly, there was another foraging study from UC Davis. Orange wing Amazons were fed an oversized pellet, similar to the size of the nut they eat in the wild. This pellet was made specifically for the study to see if the larger size caused eating activity time and manipulation to increase. In the wild, most parrots spend up to 60% of their day foraging. This means they have to find the food, pick the food, and then manipulate the food. In captivity, parrots usually spend 4 to 10% of their day eating.  So if we can make eating more complicated and physically challenging this will give birds more to do with their time and increase physical activity. The UC Davis researcher, Dr. Polley DVM, calls this “podomandibulation” because the Amazons use both their feet and beaks. This increase in activity helped to reduce stress and improve the welfare of the Amazons.

So, we know without a doubt that our companion parrots need and deserve better diets, more complex enrichment and absolutely more exercise!  What have you done for your parrot?

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Go Outside!

Earlier this spring I had the great pleasure to attend a Phoenix Landing lecture, with guest speaker Nyla Copp, “Get  The Flock Out!” in which she discussed the importance  for the health of our parrots  to provide them with  time outdoors in the sunshine & fresh air. Exposure to UV light is vital to parrots in order for them to produce vitamin D, which is essential for the utilization of calcium, a necessity for parrot health. There is no better source for UV light than pure, unfiltered sunshine. Parrots have a highly refined respiratory system which makes them more susceptible to chemicals and contaminants in the air. With indoor air quality decreasing over the years, avian vets have been seeing an increase in the number of companion parrots with respiratory illnesses. This was true of the little lovebird, Orlando, who came to live with Nyla several years ago. Nyla combined her construction skills, creativity, and passion for providing the best care possible for her new companion and built Orlando an outdoor aviary. Through her business, My Birdie Buddy, Nyla now designs and builds custom aviaries, as well as unique perches and playstands. In her presentation she shared invaluable tips and advice on design, materials and construction techniques for building aviaries, from simple to elaborate, from enclosing a porch or deck to building large free-standing structures or small portable ones, and left the entire audience longing for their own aviaries for their birds.

I have yet to build an aviary, for my requirements for one are high, as it must be able to contain my very powerful GreenWing Macaw, Annie, and be big enough to allow each bird to have enough personal space to prevent fighting and allow flight. In truth, I think I will need at least two separate enclosures; but this does not mean that my birds are sitting indoors waiting for me while I plan and dream and research aviaries? NO! We go outside as often as we can, nearly every day.


From my very first days with parrots, I have always taken them outside. At first, my little parrotlets were in a cage that I could pick up and carry so I would bring them out and set them on a table or bench or chair whenever I was out working in the yard. Then when Ariel joined the family, her cage was too large for me to carry around, and a friend gave me an older, travel sized cage which we used. But even that was very awkward, as it became more challenging to find places to safely set her outdoor cage.

Then one day I was attending a Phoenix Landing event, and I saw John Kerns, rolling a travel cage mounted to a babystroller frame. Wow, what a great idea! John told me that his wife Bobbie put them together and calls them “cageollers” and  most generously offered this one to me! I will be forever grateful! Thank you, thank you John & Bobbie!
Once home I mounted Ariel’s outside cage onto the stroller frame and secured it firmly with zip ties (the cage that John gave me had bar spacing to large for Ariel’s little head). Now she traveled with me all around the yard wherever I went, she could reach through the bars and nibble on parrot safe plants, could easily be moved in or out of the sun or shade, with ease and safety.
From the day I knew that we would be getting Trixie, I began looking for a second stroller base to build a cageoller for her.  I had no luck finding another like Ariel’s, and upon meeting Trixie, a BIG Blue & Gold Macaw, realized I needed something bigger anyway. We had a large wire dog crate in our attic that would work as a cage section, and I just needed to find a base. While glancing through one of my husband’s tool catalogs, Harbor Freight Tools, I noticed an ad for a flat (no sides) powder coated steel garden wagon. I checked the measurement of the wire crate, 36” long x 23”wide x 24”high, and realized it would fit nearly perfectly on the 24”x48” wagon, all the better that it was on sale! I removed the bottom plastic tray from the wire crate, and again used zip ties to attach the two together, trimming off the excess of the tie. I initially replaced the plastic tray, but realized that without the tray, poop, and water from misting, and pieces of food could fall straight through into the grass, resulting in less required clean-up.
As I continued to foster various birds for Phoenix Landing, I kept searching for baby carriage bases, still with no luck, so I consulted the cageoller creator, Bobbie, again. She was now buying used Snap-N-Go stroller bases, made by Baby Trend. This is a stroller base designed for a baby car seat to be snapped into place, and comes in a single and double model. Used ones can be found for sale on Craig’s List. Bobbie uses the double stroller frame with a wire dog crate, like that first one that her husband John gave me, for her macaws and larger Amazons. These would be suitable for larger cockatoos as well. For smaller birds, I have used standard “pet store” bird cages, as there are so many around that are really too small for a parrot to live in, but this puts them to good use. (Important side note here, make sure all doors, even food bowl doors are very securely latched when using these cages outdoors, use quicklinks, clamps or zip ties for extra safety.)
One of the major downfalls of using this type of cage for cageollers though, is that since my birds really love being misted (and I mean soaked down to the skin wet!) nearly every time we go outside, the cages were rusting and powder coating peeling off very quickly.

That’s when I came across the King’s aluminum travel carriers (contact Phoenix Landing for purchasing questions). They all have 5/8” bar spacing, this would work for all but the smallest birds. The larger one is 20x29x20, the smaller one is 18 1/2×16 1/2x 18. Aluminum is very light weight, will not chip, flake or rust like powder coating. I will admit they are pricey, but I look at it as a long-term investment.
The Kings are too small for Trixie and Annie macaws who still use the wire dog crates, but they work great for my other birds, so everyone has a cageoller to fit their needs.

Cageollers are great for traveling with your birds too. Once removed from the cage/carrier, the stroller folds flat, and when you reach your destination, reattach the cage to the stroller using several bungee cords, or you could use zipties, just remember to bring scissors to cut them off when you are ready to take the cageoller apart for the trip back home.

So go find a cage or carrier appropriate for your bird, pick up a stroller or wagon, build your own cageoller, and get outside this summer!

Made by Judy for her birds Dixie and Wilson
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Goodie Bag Races, Anyone?

Like most people I know, I have been a little more stressed and busy lately than I would prefer to be.  Things are finally getting back to normal for me, but I’ve realized that the relatively high level of enrichment my parrots usually enjoy has probably decreased a bit as a consequence.  I had the great pleasure of attending parrot enrichment guru Kris Porter’s class for Phoenix Landing in Northern Virginia last weekend, and let me tell you…I was INSPIRED!  If you’re not already a fan and user of her website and enrichment booklets, I certainly encourage you to check it out online at http://www.parrotenrichment.com .  Kris has the gift of seemingly endless creativity, and anyone (I mean anyone) who keeps parrots can get some ideas from her.

Personally, my biggest take-away from the class was that I want to begin making some toys that include food items.  I had seen various forms of this idea on Kris’s website and books before, but it never fully dawned on me how useful it could be until I heard Kris describe it and saw her related slides.   I don’t think I’ll be using pretzels, etc, because my silly carb-loving African greys, I’m sure, would never want to eat another vegetable!  (I have to be particularly careful with what food items I allow them to have because-smarties that they are-they’ll constantly hold out for something ‘better’.)  But, I love the idea of baking birdie bread in mini muffin cups with a hole pushed in with a wooden spoon prior to baking.  (Refer to Phoenix Landing’s Nourish to Flourish cookbook for a detailed description of the process.)  The mini muffins can then be strung along with shreddable non-food items to make an interesting and irresistible toy.  The idea being that once the delectable food is gone, the parrot will remain interested in the toy and proceed to work on all the non-food items.  I’m excited to try this concept with my Franco in particular because sometimes I have difficulty convincing him to chew up his toys.

Well, I haven’t had time to bake a new batch of stringable pumpkin bread just yet, but I did come up with a simple idea that my guys are crazy about.   Maybe your parrots will enjoy a goodie bag race as much as Pepper and Franco do!  I start with a small paper bag for each bird.  (I use the brown paper ‘lunch’ bags available in almost any grocery store.) Then I place chunks of birdie bread or other treats in small paper cups and fold the tops of the cups over.  (I use 2 – 3 cups per goodie bag.) Waxless bathroom cups like Dixie cups are perfect.  I put the loaded cups into the bags and fold the top of the bag over once for added strength.  I poke a hole in each bag and attach the bags to the birds’ foraging tree with plastic links used to attach babies’ toys to their carseats, etc.  Or, a big quick link would work just as well.  Add parrots, and the race is on!  Many of my Pepper’s friends know her to be a very accomplished forager.  However, sweet Franco’s technique for this particular job is impeccable.  He can beat Pepper every time.  If you watch the video, note the frustration Pepper (on the right) shows when she realizes Franco is into his bag already.  Of course this activity would be almost as much fun if it weren’t a race, but my greys seem to relish some good old-fashioned sibling rivalry now and then.  (Hmm…I wonder if that’s why the Model/Rival teaching technique works so wonderfully for African greys?)  If you give this a try, please let me know what your parrots think.