nightstand conversion to finch cage - how to fit a tray?

[tympan]

Hi! I'm totally new to owning birds (I'm an wildlife illustrator so I draw them all the time!) and have a few questions about a potential build.

I scored this topless ( ) nightstand for nearly free - measures 24 x 24. I was hoping to use the top drawer to hold a tray. I was planning to cut down the inside sides of the drawer to hold a tray larger than the drawer itself, but still narrow enough to open.

in case image embedding doesn't work

Then, my concern was - while opening out the drawer/tray to clean (tray would be at the very top of the drawer btw) a bird could get stuck behind it somehow and it's a decently tall drawer.

The other option I suppose is to add a top to the nightstand and build a cage with its own tray (similar to this one: http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=12140) on top of it. Building a working drawer might be pushing my woodworking skills a bit, but I'm fairly cavalier and can generally figure stuff out.

I initially plan to house a pair of zebras to get my toes wet.

[Icearstorm]

tympan

24" is not wide enough for a permanent cage, unless you let them out in a room daily to fly around more. 30" width is considered the minimum for finches.

Some people do wire-bottom cages to separate the birds from the tray; I'm not a fan of this since wire can be rough on their feet, but if they have plenty of stuff to do above the floor, then putting in a grate with 1/4" spacing or less and having it a couple of inches above the drawer (so they can't get their toes broken when you open the drawer) would work. It looks like you will have to put a solid boarder of a few inches around the floor so the poop can't fall behind the drawer or on the sides of the drawer. The bottom grate will need cleaning on occasion, but a brush and distilled vinegar might work.

Zebras tend to be fairly aggressive and some may fight and pluck each other. I'd recommend societies instead, as they are quite docile and fighting is rare.

[tympan]

Thank you for the feedback! I realized that it was was too small after more research this morning.

The new plan is to build completely from scratch at 48" long (x24x24). Was hoping to use some recycled materials but that won't quite work out. I love the armiores that folks have made in this forum but they're much too tall for my liking (and if the finches aren't too keen on extra height why need it?)

I will look into societies - since I may end up wanting more finches in the future it seems that they're "nicer".

I'll make a new thread with the new build!

[tympan]

(Nice DA account btw!)

[Icearstorm]

tympan

Cool! Some finches use the height more than others; I find that my societies use almost the entire cage. On the other hand, when I had gouldians and Javas, they just sat at the top.

Societies are definitely one of my favorites (Javas are a close second), and come in a lot of mutations too. The ones I have right now are American-Euro mixes, which I have found very slightly pushier and a bit less eager to breed than pure Americans. If you don't want to breed, I'd recommend males only, since some hens tend to drop eggs no matter what you do. I haven't had this issue with the part-Euro hens I had, although I've only had two, so obviously not the greatest sample size.

Just beware that societies and a few others can carry illnesses that may kill gouldian chicks, so if you ever want to keep and breed gouldians, breed them in a different enclosure than the societies. Consider housing them separately for the rest of the year as well.


Thank you!

[tympan]

The current flight is already half built and kind of wishing I went a little bit higher, but oh well. First big woodworking project so I'm sure by the time I'm done with it I'll know enough to want to do a different one anyway!

Thanks for letting me know re: societies and Gouldians! I'm not sure about breeding, so still doing my research re: male/female pairing.

Bummer since my goal is to have societies and see how that works out and then Gouldians. I keep seeing stories about societies fostering other species including Gouldians, so I wouldn't have known that - need to keep reading up in the health forum. I'm a bit obsessive with animals (just love to nerd out on care/genetics/enrichment) so breeding anything would be just such a big rabbithole (and currently looking at spaces house more flights, because I can't stop myself).

Thanks so much for the thorough responses.

[Icearstorm]

tympan

Yep, societies are definitely one of the most popular fostering species. I wouldn't recommend fostering for bad parents unless you absolutely have to, though, as most common captive birds should be able to raise offspring on their own. Gouldians can be a bit more problematic, but there are plenty that can raise their own babies, so there's little reason to continue to breed and foster sucky parents' offspring. That's my opinion, at least. There are many others that will jump right to fostering even before babies have been tossed or abandoned that are successful raising birds to adulthood by fostering, though. Rare birds are a whole other story, since fostering is primarily used to up the numbers of clutches and birds being produced.

You can get clean societies from a flock used to foster gouldians and other birds susceptible to Campylobacter and Cochlosoma, since those societies should not carry the disease. However, there is no way to tell if birds are clean just by looking at them, and adding one carrier could make all the societies carriers. I heard there is a test you can do on them, although it is probably quite expensive.

You're welcome!

[tympan]

Oof I agree on continuing to breed parents who toss chicks/eggs often. It seems like such an avoidable problem.