My Natural Aviary!

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 3:10 pm

Yep....I can definitely tell from your window view that you sure are not from my neck of the woods

This is the view from mine.....Not much difference eh?

Fishfreak218 · Post by **Fishfreak218** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:08 pm

haha, thats a HUGE difference!
A little more tropical over here.

Anyway, I went out and bought a small 3 foot Areca palm, a large boston fern, a small hanging tropical fern, and a tiny staghorn fern.
I know, a lot of ferns... but I just love them so much and they are perfect for the shade. Next on my list is a taller palm of some sort and some bromeliads and orchids!
Tommorrow I'm going to get the mulch and lay it all down, I'm hoping that I'll only need 4 bags but we'll see.
I also need to get some organic soil to replant the plants in so that I can put them in the aviary.

Fishfreak218 · Post by **Fishfreak218** » Wed Aug 13, 2008 9:22 pm

So today,
I added 4 bags of eucalyptus mulch today and I added some plants (After I washed them and repoted them with organic soil.
Anyway, onto the pics:

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:20 am

Don't tell me you're gonna serve 'em afternoon tea as well?

Are those walls washable?....I hope so.
Paul.

williep · Post by **williep** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:53 am

Very good job on your indoor aviary. Can't wait to see some pics of the completed, fully furnished, fully stocked cage.

mickp · Post by **mickp** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 6:06 am

looks good so far, finished cage should be great.
Paul raises a good point about washable walls, finches area able to crap where you least expect it

am wondering how you plan to put in nests for the birds (if any) how will you attach them to the wall?

williep · Post by **williep** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 9:24 am

poohbear wrote:Try a couple of climbers in big pots...they will grow up high and eventually surround your nest sites giving privacy for the birds and look good.Low growing plants will get soiled very quickly.This flight of mine has a passion flower growing around it that I have to cut back in the winter because it is so vigorous.

Paul, do you perhaps know the scientific name of the variety you have planted, I'm looking into some creepers too at the moment but most varieties are listed as toxic. Thanks

poohbear · Post by **poohbear** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 12:25 pm

Common variety of passion flower....passiflora something or other ...if you find this is toxic I wouldn't worry about it, I've had it growing and being nibbled at for years....'aint seen any dead bodies yet.

Paul.

EddieNorCal · Post by **EddieNorCal** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 5:38 pm

It's looking great so far!!

What are you planning to do for water and food dishes? And how soon until you plan to add the little guys?

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 6:02 pm

Josh
Someone said awhile back that not to many young people seem to be into bird keeping I guess they just didn't see this post I am really impressed with what you are building and how its going can't wait till its all finished and you have birds on your head and table while you have tea,great job

Fishfreak218 · Post by **Fishfreak218** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 7:35 pm

Today I got my 3 manzanita branches screwed in, but they are all on one wall and it looks kind of awkward, I wish I could have something spanning the width of the aviary, but I have no clue how to hang something like that, unfortunately (or where to get such a large branch from). Hopefully in the next few weeks I can get more plants.
I have a question though, is there some kind of acclimation I need to do for the birds because they probably aren't used to outside weather (temps reaching high 80's on hot days).
p.s. Im sitting on my laptop outside in the aviary with a cold bottle of water as I type this.

Elvis, my cockatiel, is testing things out for the new birds

B CAMP,
yeah, Im one of the few.... but once I'm into something I have the tendency to get really obsessed with it (such as my fishtanks and my birds) hence this aviary.

EddiNorCal,
For food and water, I did plan on building a small pond with UV filters and everything but my dad already got mad at me for spending so much money since the economy is so bad right now and he is in the building business. He doesnt realize that this aviary cost me about $40 more then my HQ cage that I already had.

After everything I bought. So anyway, I scratched the pond idea and am now thinking a few water bowls and maybe a bird bath... Then I'm going to get a hanging bird feeder for the bird food and a few small food bowls. Also, I dont know exactly when I'm going to get them... I would like to give the aviary a little rinse down and get it fully prepared with all the plants, perches, food bowls, swings, baths etc. before I add any new birds to the flock. Only time will tell but I'm sure its not too far off from now.

poohbear and mickp,
I'm pretty sure they are washable walls. I mean, its the same thing as what I have on the whole exterior of the house and I'm almost positive that they are washable.

mickp,
I plan on half screwing in cement nails and then hanging the nests on those. It shouldn't be too hard. Also there I can hang some on the ceiling if I need to, I'm not to worried about it.

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 7:52 pm

josh You might be able to stand a large branch up like it was a tree to hang some nest or limbs for the finches, I think you could make some kind of base to hold it upright even a concrete block then put some covering to hide the block,But I am sure you will come up with something

JHitchcock · Post by **JHitchcock** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 9:37 pm

what ive done with my perch tree in my aviary is taken a pot and filled it with 3 inches of concrete and then soil ontop of the concrete. The soil then grows sprouting seeds which is then devoured by the birds. works well for me. (there is also soil covering the pot so it all blends in.

Fishfreak218 · Post by **Fishfreak218** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 9:42 pm

Oh, I'll definitely think of something, I don't know what yet, but something.
There is a large manzanita tree at my local bird store (no leaves) which i think is intended for a large aviary (or just to cut up into smaller perches). And I haven't asked the price because I'm almost positive it will be at least $100+ (basing that on the fact that one manzanita perch is like $8-$12).
Also, I have a few questions that I'm hoping someone could help me with.

1. What do you guys think about putting a lot of nests everywhere? For example, say I had 4 pairs of finches, and say 6 nests. Is that a bad idea? Will it matter? To be honest, I just enjoy the look of the nests

2. Whats your opinion on lizards? I saw a baby lizard in the fern today and I realized thats about the only animal that can really get into the aviary. Do you think its safe?

I had one more but I cant think of it now...

I'll ask when I think of it

B CAMP · Post by **B CAMP** » Thu Aug 14, 2008 9:59 pm

The bottle brush tree is good for perches and bird safe to should be a lot of them around where you live.
lizards,chemelons[bad spelling],I keep my birds on a screen porch and I have them on the floor of cage all the time without any problems