Bourke Parakeet Nest Box

[Lithium]

What shape nest box would Bourke Parakeets use?

[Lithium]

Here's the ones I've been looking at.

http://www.birdsetc.com/nestbox.htm

[cindy]

Wooden nest box 8x8 cube is best...the ones that you can lift a portion of the back works well.

[wellingtoncdm]

I agree with 8x8 or you can try lovebird size.

[Finnie]

I use my budgie boxes for my Bourke's.

I know a Bourke's breeder who recommends the shape that's called the "inverted boot box" on your link. BUT, the prices for those on that site are astronomical!!

I've been thinking that it would be fairly simple to convert a regular cube style budgie box to the inverted style by placing a block of wood under the entrance hole. The point being to reduce the area where the hen broods, so its easier for her to keep her eggs closer together, and to provide a platform for the chicks to be fed near the entrance, when they are older.

I agree with Cindy that sliding up a portion of the back of the nest to look in is better than raising the top of the box. When the top is tilted up to view, it provides so much more space for escaping. Whereas when you slide up the top portion of the back, you can limit the crack you make to just an inch or so.

[cindy]

also with the type that open in the back the parents have a tendency to move forward out of the box into the cage.

[Lithium]

I'll probably just make a nest box. I can't seem to find a nest box that is the size I want and opens the way I want. If I made one I'd made it an "inverted boot style" like in the link. The nest area would be 8" x 8", the platform would be the same size, just 4" up. It would open from the side where the nest are is. I'll post the plans once I get the drawn.

[Finnie]

You are lucky if you are able to work with wood and get things to come out the way you intended. I always buy my boxes. I'm going to ask the guy who makes them if he can do the inverted boot style.

If you can work it into your plans, it's also a good idea to have a removable concave.

This link is to a British site, but it shows the piece inside that has the concave, and it also shows how the back door fits in the groove they made. The door is in two pieces, so the bottom half stays down when you lift up the top half.

If the door were one piece, then when you lifted it, bedding material would spill out. And chicks could fall, too.

http://www.supapets-online.co.uk/nestin ... st_box.htm