FINCHforum

I have finally completed the California Flight Cage inspired by some questions on this forum.

Features:

• completely screened in (screen and mesh separated by 1.5 inches so that the finches cannot get their toenails caught in the screen) and weather stripping around the doors to prevent entry of mosquitoes and other bugs.

• central divider slot that a sized piece of lucite/plexiglass can be inserted into to divide the cage in half

• wire/mesh bottom covered in fish tank gravel for (presumbly) easy cage cleaning (but necessitates outdoor placement of the cage).

• 4 access doors on each end--3 small and 1 large

• filled with live, nontoxic plants to aid in environment enrichment

More photos can be found in the gallery in the cage section. This is where I plan to house the 2-3 pairs of owls I will be bringing home from LA in a week; I will be sure to make an update in due time regarding whether or not fish tank gravel is easy to clean in an outdoor enclosure such as this one.

WOW!!.. That's awesome, Crystal!!

I love it!

What kind of lighting system do you have inside? How are your perches attached/food dishes/waterbottles etc??

Details, Woman! We need details!

Jeannette

It is an outdoor enclosure so the lighting is natural sunlight. The street lights should provide adequate "night light." The dimensions are approx. 4' long x 2.5' wide x 3' high (minus the stand). The 2 manzanita perches are screwed directly into the wood of the frame on the cage interior. Other perching is provided by the nontoxic shefflera (umbrella tree). Small palms and fountain grass surround the nesting sites. The food dish is a plastic outdoor bird feeder suspended from a plant-holding bracket which is screwed into the wooden frame. I placed a clear plastic planting pot liner directly below the bird feeder so that any seed/food/droppings which fall will fall into the liner which is easy to clean and will prevent seeds from trying to sprout (or rot?) within the gravel. The water bowl is a large stainless steel coup cup and the coup cup holder is also screwed directly into the wooden frame.

Wow! Fantastic job! A couple questions...

1. You are getting Owls from LA??!?!

2. You plan on doing 'colony' breeding?

3. Is the dirt in the big planters safe?

4. How did you do the screen and mesh so far apart? It doesnt look like the screen is on the outside of the 2x4.

5. Where'd you get your mesh?

The weather stripping is a great idea. It's been so very dry this winter, I know at the first big rains I'm going to have a huge mosquito problem. I just hope my screen pool enclosure is up by then. (7 months after Wilma and it still takes 90 days to get materials, not to mention the price is doubled) I still haven't used my barn flight yet. I'd post pics but the masking tape is still on the pexiglass and I don't want to remove it until I'm ready.

1.Owls in LA: Yes, probably 1-3 pairs, from 2 different LA breeders; I will let you know how my experience goes.

2. Colony Breeding: Yes, and for the first time, too. The pairs are supposed to be pretty monogamous, but I'll try to keep an eye on them to see if individual cage breeding will be needed in the future.

3. Dirt: I placed all the plants in pots which were too high for the plants, specifically so that i could layer 1-2" of fish tank gravel on top of the dirt which will prevent the finches from really coming into contact with it.

4. The mesh is on the inside of the 2x4s and the screen is on the outside of the 2x4"s, but I placed a [green "frame"] "beading" around the border of the screen to cover up the edges. I'll post some detail shots soon.

5. The mesh I'm using is the polyvinyl (plastic) hardware netting found at either Lowes or Home Depot. It ordinarily is not strong enough for outdoor use (an animal could pretty easily chew through it), but since this enclosure is on my balcony, I don't have to worry about too many predators.

Wow, that looks great. It reminds me of the colorful buildings in Miami. Good luck with the owls.

Yes, nice job Crystal. Very colorful and well designed.

Crystal -

That's beautiful! How big is it? What a nice home for your new owls! By the way, ran by PetSmart in Newport News, VA and they actually had a pair! I was SO tempted, but since I didn't know where I could put them I controlled myself. I could always go back, though.....

Hilary

It is 4' long x 2.5' wide x 3' tall

:)

Crystal,

Your flight is beautiful - love the colors too. Why do they call this a California-style cage (or flight)?

Thanks,

Luis

I am actually not sure where the name originated from--maybe the cage was first used extensively in California... either way, it's a term to describe cages with an all-wire bottom that are suspended off the ground or placed on a stand--so that droppings/seed/etc just falls through to the ground.

Crystal,

How do your birds like the wire floor?

L

They are not exposed to it because I have covered it 1/4" deep with fish tank gravel. Ordinarily they tend to treat the wire floor the same as a cage with a wire grate in the bottom--sometimes they stand on it (if they feel secure enough), but they don't seem much to mind.

They are not exposed to it because I have covered it 1/4" deep with fish tank gravel

Missed that part! Thanks a lot.

Crystal wrote:They are not exposed to it because I have covered it 1/4" deep with fish tank gravel. Ordinarily they tend to treat the wire floor the same as a cage with a wire grate in the bottom--sometimes they stand on it (if they feel secure enough), but they don't seem much to mind.

Crystal - I love your flight! Its beautiful! I saw on another post that you said cleaning the gravel floor is kind of a pain. I was just wondering why you put the gravel down at all? Would the birds be fine with just a mesh floor? Have you changed the floor or do you have plans to change it or are you sticking with the gravel?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!