FINCHforum

Here are two of our flight cage or mini aviary setups that we have built. The first we did a few years ago and made it out of an antique dresser that was not in good enough shape to be practical to use as a dresser any more. We took out the drawers and cut down the bottom one to use as a drawer, below the plexiglass front doors. I would do a few things different if we did another one like this, but overall it works well. It sets by our computer and the birds often sit and watch us. I had first painted the inside a solid light green color but found that the dropping spatters the birds would get on it here and there, quickly made me wish I would have used a different treatment. This summer I took the birds out for a couple of days and spatter painted with a toothbrush several colors across it instead. I have been very happy with the inside walls now this way. I started using the seed hoppers and they do help a lot to keep the husk mess down. I set several terra cotta dishes on the floor for pelleted food, fresh food, egg shells, etc. I use the clothes pins to keep them from sitting close to the edges and leaving a pile of droppings there. I have the lights on a power strip so that I can just turn it off at night and leave a night light on for them.



The next two are handmade flight cage / small aviary setups, that my husband made this fall. He used pine wood, made a drawer for the bottom, we used recycled cages for the side wire and plexiglass for the doors. I painted and spattered the inside and used amber shellac for the outside.

Thanks. So nice to hear what other folks do. I really like your idea of clothespins on the feed dishes to keep them from sitting & pooping in the food !!!

I use the clothspins on the perch edges near the walls. I did make it sound like I was using them on the food dishes in my post. That might work too, depending upon what type of food dish one uses.

Very nice!

Beautiful!!!!

Thank you for your kind comments. We are about ready to switch our last two birds in cages over to these little aviary setups. They make caring for them much easier as there is much less scatter out of them and viewing them nice (for both us and the birds) through the plexiglass front. The dresser type was much easier to make.

Don't the birds try to fly through the glass? In South Africa where I live, 99% of the aviaries are outside. Some people who keep gouldian finches keep them in enclosed aviaries in winter. They have wire-mesh in front of the windows to keep the birds from flying into the glass.

Our little aviary's are only up to about 3 ft. long for the largest. It might be a problem with a much larger one, but has not been at this size for us. We have used the converted dresser setup for about 5 years now. They quickly learn than they can't fly through it and at night when the reflection is right, they will sometimes sit and look at themselves in the glass.

Woahh, thats a beautiful setup you just inspired me big time! I was going to buy a big cage for my new birds, but now im thinking about building my own and having your pics as an inspiration The only thing i wonder is if the birds would fly into the glass ... hmm .. they dont seem to do it when they live in cages with glass, but when i let mine out once they flew into the walls and the windows a few times before finding their way inside again

RigorMortisKitten wrote:The only thing i wonder is if the birds would fly into the glass ... hmm .. they dont seem to do it when they live in cages with glass, but when i let mine out once they flew into the walls and the windows a few times before finding their way inside again

My aviary has windows on 3 sides. In the beginning I was also scared that the birds might fly into the windows, so I put up fruit netting in front of the glass. Turned out to be a big mistake as birds can get caught in a net (one of my button quails). I replaced it with bigger meshed netting, and almost lost another bird who was tangled in the net, this time a budgie. No more nets for me! So my husband and I build big "ladder" shaped bars that are hanging across the window, spaced about a foot apart. They are somewhat of an obstacle so the birds don't crash into the windows, and they actually love them now and use them as favorite perches. (Only messes up the windows, I clean them a lot. )

Meanwhile I think they wouldn't even need those. I think when they are used to the windows they won't fly into them. They only panic when they are in an unusual environment, and the fact that they fly into the ceiling and walls shows that the transparency of a window has nothing to do with that. Some of my birds did the same when the were introduced to the aviary from a previous cage...

Nice setup, Anne!

Thank you. Although these are just very small aviarys, they allow the birds to fly from end to end. I have a high perch on one end and a low one on the other. They can be hung from a wall with good sturdy brackets or set on a long table top, etc.