Broken leg :(

[monotwine]

They are an adorable couple.

[MiaCarter]

KarenB --- Oh. My. Heck.

That is the CUTEST photo EVER!
It's like they're posing!
I see you liked it too as it's your new profile pic!

So adorable. That is a keeper, for certain!

Well, they don't *look* sticky, so that's a good thing!
I zoomed on the stump on the other pic. It looks pretty good!
That little nub on the end is totally normal and desirable, actually. It's scar tissue, which forms as the sharp bone end contacts the tissue. (Otherwise, the sharp bone end would just break through the skin.) So over time, the bone end mends and the scar tissue builds up enough for it to heal over.
Hopefully, she'll be all healed up very soon!
That unhealed stump makes me nervous; it would be so easy for an infection to get in there and penetrate the bone. So for a quick heal!

She's just so lovely, Karen.
I'm so happy to hear she's doing well!!

[KarenB]

I think my next project will be some sort of flat platform for the corner of their new cage when they get to move in. It is a wire flight cage similar to what they are in now as far as the wires go. I'm not exactly sure of the dimensions, 30 by 20 by something, maybe, a fairly nice size. I plan to move the societies over with them all at once after their baby Beans is weaned.

So I was thinking about the platform, and I kind of want to sink the cup nest into it and then the platform area would maybe be a few inches wide all around.....their own little sunken living room. What materials should I go with? If I do wire, I could clean it easier, just do a cut out for the nest, but then I'd have the raw wire edges to contend with and possibly rust. If I do wood, I'd want to cover it with contact paper or something. I'm thinking easier to clean, the better. I'm pretty handy, so the material is really not much of an issue as I've worked with lots of different things as an artist.

Any other ideas?

[KarenB]

MiaCarter, I was wondering about the bulb, but I figured it was normal. I was putting Rescue Remedy drops on it, too. Figured it couldn't hurt. I took a pic of the broken leg that fell off, but not sure everyone could stomach that, so will spare the gory details. It was a sharp break.

[MiaCarter]

KarenB -- What if you used a shelf and covered it with paper towels?
This is the one I have:
http://tinyurl.com/lxatrjx

I have these in my cages and they love them. (They're the basis for my baby catcher! So you too could have your very own baby catcher!! Exciting, right?)

I fold the paper towel in half and wrap it around the shelf, taping it on the bottom.

They keep it pretty clean. I change the paper towel every 3 or 4 days.

You could use it without the paper towels, but it's more or less like a perch; the bars aren't spaced close enough to allow a small bird to really sit in a manner that takes the weight off her leg.

I imagine that's likely her greatest challenge, building up the muscles in the remaining leg.

[KarenB]

Yeah, I thought about that, but I probably would use puppy pads instead since I use those for the bottom of my enclosures already....cheaper than newspaper. Yes, I've done the math! I don't like paper towels because they don't stay put, and I don't want to have to tape them down. Too much of a pain for me. I need easy.

[MiaCarter]

KarenB -- What about those little mat thingies that the other guy had?

(Hmmm...that's really cryptic. LOL)

I just saw them on another thread. They're like rubbery mat things.

ETA --- Ah, here we go:
http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=29800

They're called Dexas Gripmats. And you just stick 'em on the shelf. That's pretty easy!
Except you'd need to wash them.

[KarenB]

How funny, I was just at Target the other day (despise Wally World), and I actually bought a four-pack of these for cutting up veggies all the time. That way I always have a cutting mat available. I could go get another pack of four or sacrifice one for Annie's shelf. The set I got has four different colors in it. Blue for fruit, red for beef, green for veggies, yellow for chicken. Obviously I use whichever for whatever, lol.

I will have to think about this. I really kind of wanted to countersink the cup nest into a platform. Maybe I could just put the cup nest next to it. I just hate the way it has the wires for mounting. I haven't been able to figure out how it is supposed to mount on the cage. Right now I just have the wires wedged between bars so it will stay, but something tells me that's not the way it was intended to work. I need a diagram with mounting instructions, lol

[MiaCarter]

KarenB -- Would it help if you made your own Kool Aid cap nest?

I make them from the cap on these containers:
http://tinyurl.com/ny3cwnc

That's just the nest, without any wires, etc.
Except I'm not sure how you'd get it to stay attached.

Here's what I'd do:
I'd get one of those metal shelves I mentioned.
I'd use the dremel saw to cut a couple of the bars so I could embed the kool aid cap nest in there.
I'd use craft wire to make a little 'basket' that would hold the Kool Aid cap nest to the shelf. Then, attach the little wire basket to the underside of the nest. You'll have the little rubber mat covering the shelf, so it will prevent access to the wire.
Stick the Kool Aid cap nest onto the mat, trace it and cut out a hole in the rubber mat thingie.
Put the nest into the wire basket structure. Then, put the rubber mat on top of the shelf.

The only problem is you'd have exposed wires on the bottom of the shelf. Though in my experience, they wouldn't bother that area. It just wouldn't look very pretty.

[KarenB]

Hmmm....seems like it would be just as easy to wire the plastic cup nest I already have into a hole. Then I wouldn't have to first make a wire hammock to sit another thing into. I guess I need to decide what platform I'm going to use.

[MiaCarter]

KarenB -- I think the plastic nest would work great!
Is there a way to get the bothersome wires that you mentioned out of the way?

For a platform.....
What if you used wire and the plastic that they use to make those yard sale signs? The edges of the plastic can be a bit sharp when cut, so you can just put electrical tape along the edges.
That way, you could make it in the dimensions you need it in.

The wire would be the same shape as the red dotted area:

[KarenB]

This is the nest I have. It's a canary nest, I guess. I just don't understand how the wire works to hold it in place.

http://www.thefinchconnections.com/inte ... s-holders/

[KarenB]

This is more what I have in mind, and I can cut a round hole in it with a hole saw or scroll saw,

http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Products-S ... orm+Prevue

[MiaCarter]

KarenB --- Ah, I get it.
It took a minute, but I got it!
The straight wires that stick up? You're supposed to turn those into hooks.
The clue was the mention of "Long customizable Metal hooks".
So in other words, they haven't turned them into hooks yet; they leave that part for you to do.

The little squared off "U" wire that extends below the nest is just to serve as a support so it doesn't sag, I think.

That's a clever little shelf! I've never seen that in all my Amazon browsing!

I think the spot where the two pieces of wood meet to form a "T" could be tough to make. So if it was me, I'd take a piece of wood, drill holes in it, then put wire through and make the wire into hanger mechanism.

[KarenB]

MiaCarter, Funnnnnny..... I never bothered to look up how to use that wire. And I put it upside-down and have it all wedged between bars cattywompus to get it to stay and for it to sit level. I'm a dork. But, hey, in my defense I've never had canaries.

New development. There is all this discussion about the canary nest, and then I keep seeing Hoot wanting to get at that wicker nest, so tonight as an experiment, I just stuck it in there to see what would happen. Hoot immediately went to work arranging the furniture in there. Then I put more nesting in the bottom of the cage, and before lights out they both got in. Hoot was so cute arranging the opening after Annie hopped in.

So, at this point the whole what-to-do-with-the-canary-nest thing may be a moot point! Go figure. Apparently, Annie is feeling well enough to negotiate the small opening it has. For a minute I even considered cutting the top off of it like I did for the societies. I may still put in a platform, though, to give her a rest from perching.

I guess Hoot feels like it's time to move on.......