Breeding Cages

[zebbiefan]

I'm wanting to make my own breeding cages, can anyone help me with what size they should be? Inches would help.

[Rayray]

check my pictures and see how i build them .... hope you can use something from my ideas

ray

[thegoldfincher]

Well, if you can made by yourself, then best size IMH are 80cm X 150cm X 200 cm. I have made my own, i'll post soon on my blog.
Meanwhile these are my advice about right size to breed european goldfinches.

http://thegoldfincher.blogspot.com/2010 ... eding.html

All the best,
Nick

[zebbiefan]

I cant seem find those pictures you were talking about...

[ac12]

I made mine to fit my shelf. 32 inches long x 14 inches deep x 14 inches high. But I also used 1/2 inch square wire mesh for the front, so I can make to any size I want. If you use premade cagefronts, then you have to build to the dimension of the cagefronts.

Hints
- Make the cage w a divider in the middle. Makes it easier to catch the bird when they have less space to fly around in.

- Make the divider to all the way down, and use 2 poop trays. That way, you can divide the cage semi-permanently if needed and clean each half w/o affecting the other side.
I have one dividable cage, that when I clean the cage, the birds can go UNDER the divider to the other side. So that cage is only good for temporary dividing, where I don't have to clean the poop tray w the divider in place.

- Think real hard about where you want to place the perches, food tray, and water tray/tube BEFORE you cut the doors. I have one cage where I put one door in the wrong place, and it is a pain to deal with.

[zebbiefan]

I made mine to fit my shelf. 32 inches long x 14 inches deep x 14 inches high. But I also used 1/2 inch square wire mesh for the front, so I can make to any size I want. If you use premade cagefronts, then you have to build to the dimension of the cagefronts.

Hints
- Make the cage w a divider in the middle. Makes it easier to catch the bird when they have less space to fly around in.

- Make the divider to all the way down, and use 2 poop trays. That way, you can divide the cage semi-permanently if needed and clean each half w/o affecting the other side.
I have one dividable cage, that when I clean the cage, the birds can go UNDER the divider to the other side. So that cage is only good for temporary dividing, where I don't have to clean the poop tray w the divider in place.

- Think real hard about where you want to place the perches, food tray, and water tray/tube BEFORE you cut the doors. I have one cage where I put one door in the wrong place, and it is a pain to deal with.

Hey thanks for the info

Where do you put the nest and what type of nest do you use?

[ac12]

I use the ABBA plastic nest box.
I have it hanging on a door I cut into the side of the cage. You can just see the nests on the left side of the cages.

[zebbiefan]

wow that looks all hightech lol

[ac12]

He he
Those are about the cheapest webcams that I could find. $15 USD
I could have up to 5 nests going at the same time, so I needed inexpensive cameras.

[zebbiefan]

He he
Those are about the cheapest webcams that I could find. $15 USD
I could have up to 5 nests going at the same time, so I needed inexpensive cameras.

How have you linked the webcams up? have you linked them to your computer?

[ac12]

Yes, they are all going into one computer.
The problem I am running into is I cannot always display all the cameras at the same time. Either limited processor power or the video from the cameras are jamming up the USB channels.

[lou]

Hi ac12,
where did you purchase the web cams
lu

[ac12]

I got my web cams at one of the local computer stores "Fry's"

[G8love4finches]

I really like the way you built your cages....I was thinking of using some shelves but wasn't sure how I would make the fronts of the cages to fit....Can you give more details on how the doors work, what you used for the trays in the bottom, and how you clean the bottom of your cages....Are the webcams just the ones you buy to normally put on top of your monitor?
Thanks,

[ac12]

The panels (top, front, back, sides, bottom) are made of plastic coated 1/2" square hardware cloth from Home Depot. I put the panels together using the clamps that you see in the pix. You use a plier like device to put the clamp on.

Doors are real simple. I just used the same clamp, just not so tight, and I use a spring hook to hold it shut.

Poop tray are made of either cardboard lined with plastic sheet, or coroplast (corregated plastic).

Warning. Think REAL HARD about the placement of the feed dish, water tubes, and perches. I put the doors in first then realized that I did not have a good place for the water tube.


Web cam is a standard PC web cam.

There are a few things to look for:
- close focus. Some web cams will not focus as close as you need for a nest cam. You need to be able to focus down to about 5 inches. Check the specs on the box.
- how to mount. The shapes of some of the webcams leave me wondering how you would mount it on a nest. ????
- low light. Some webcams are not sensitive enough for the low light inside a nest. I have one that I can't use. Unfortunately you can't read this on the specs on the box. Ask the store about return policy if it does not work.