Decorating the aviary

[Edster]

As I near completion of my indoor aviary I am thinking about setting up the decor now. It will be 6 feet long by 3 feet wide by 7 feet high. Does anyone know of a good source for plastic plants? I've read that silk is a brute to clean, which is a shame because I went out and bought a big silk fern for 35 dollars (before I read that), so now I will just keep the fern on the outside. Also from what I read, the finches will tear live plants to shreds, so dont really want to go that route.

Another thought is that I notice most nest boxes are up high in the aviaries. Seems to me this would be fatal for any newborns that might get tossed or leave the nest before they can fly. How do finch keepers get around this. I have two RC Cordon Bleu and two GoldBreasts that will be in the aviary when it's completed.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Ed

[Sally]

What a nice size aviary for just two pairs of birds, they should love it! I don't know what stores you have available in Canada, so I will let the Canadian members advise you there. The nests are usually hung fairly high because that is what the birds like. You do chance losing some babies, but usually you are OK. Babies fall out from overstuffed nests (not usually a problem with those two species, they build deep nests) or being knocked out by parents who are startled out of the nest (not a big problem when the aviary is not overcrowded).

[tinysparrow]

Hi Ed,
The dollar store is always a good place for plastic plants I find that Dollarama is the best. There are a few locations near me, and they always have lots of different kinds of plants... long hanging ones, flowers, grasses, bamboo sticks, large leafy plants and more. I'm not sure if there are any Dollaramas near you, but if you know of one, it may be worth checking it out

[Asym]

I have live plants in with my birds.. yes they do have FUN tearing them up and if you put them in coco liner baskets they pick at the coco liner to use as nesting material.. Keeps them busy. For my hanging plants I buy the biggest yet cheapest ferns I can find and for grasses I just go to Home Depot and pick up their1/2 gallon type containers usually no more than $5 . I just replace when they pick it clean. I consider it part of the expense, like seed. It's very fun to see them interact with plants like they would in nature. Be sure you can remove the plants- whether real or fake to hose them off outside since you're aviary is indoors!

[Ria]

I've found some plants in the reptile section of pet stores that are totally plastic - makes them easy to clean and disinfect. downside is that they are pricey compared to cheap replaceable dollar store ones.

[Chrismurdoch3]

Im excited to see pictures of your aviary when its completed.

[Edster]

Sally, thanks for the advice. I'll put my nests up high. For now, there will be just the two pair, I have 2 Zebras, but they are aggressive even to themselves, so they wont be going into the aviary. In the future, I would like to add two Societies and possibly a pair of Gouldians ..possibly two males. That will probably be the extent of the population of the current aviary, unless I add another panel.

Amy, thanks for your tips. There is a Dollerama and also a dollar store if I remember correctly in Thunder Bay which I will visit next time I'm up that way . Will certainly be putting them on my list of stops

Ali, I think it would be great to have live plants, but I fear my thumb isn't green enough for that. I am going to try growing some grass though, think I can manage that

Ria, will check there also. My main reason for plastic is for ease of cleaning and sterlizing.

Chrismurdoch3, one picture for you It's still in construction, but I'm on days off now, so hope to make some big advances. I will post more pics when finished.


Thanks everyone for your comments. Have a good idea where to get the plastic plants now.

Ed

[debbie276]

VERY nice!

[tinysparrow]

it looks great ed! i wish i was that handy and could build something like that!

[gsjohnson]

I have live plants in with my birds.. yes they do have FUN tearing them up and if you put them in coco liner baskets they pick at the coco liner to use as nesting material.. Keeps them busy. For my hanging plants I buy the biggest yet cheapest ferns I can find and for grasses I just go to Home Depot and pick up their1/2 gallon type containers usually no more than $5 . I just replace when they pick it clean. I consider it part of the expense, like seed. It's very fun to see them interact with plants like they would in nature. Be sure you can remove the plants- whether real or fake to hose them off outside since you're aviary is indoors!

+1 Live Plants. This is exactly what I do.

[Edster]

Thank you Debbie for the kind compliment.

Amy, I think you could easily build one like I did. I followed the plans in the information centre. Using the screen doors makes it fast simple and cheap. I was thinking originally of getting one of those big HQ cages, but to have it shipped to my door I was looking at 500 to 600 dollars(cage cost plus shipping), so I figured using the screen door method I could build something a lot bigger for the same amount, as I have the space. Except..I decided to use a plexiglass front and that bumped it up to around 1000. With out the plexi would be around 500 to 600 to complete. 2 sheets of plexi 1/8 thickness cost me 400. The most time consuming is the staining and clear coating. Putting together uses mostly flat and corner brackets along with about a dozen 2 inch screws. Dont need much for tools, hand saw, drill, several screw drivers and a neighbour with a table saw(table saw not necessary for the build). I used a table saw to rip A grade 2 x 4's in half , I didn't like what the local lumber yard had for 2 x 2's in stock. All of the building items came out of Homehardware except the clips I used for holding the plexi in place. They came from Canadian Tire. My soon to be aviary looks ok in pictures, but it's not a piano build by any means

gsjohnson I do like the idea of live plants as well, and I will investigate this further. I'm roughly 3 hours drive from the nearest plant shop though, so perhaps next visit to the city I will pick up a couple. Need to do more research on which ones are safe and which are not, as I get confused with the long names of some of these plants and their appearances, and seeing as how the birds will rip them to shreds anyways, no worries on keeping them alive for an extended length of time. Live plants would contribute somewhat to the humidity levels as well I would think, is quite dry in the winter here.

Happy Finching everyone

Ed