The pet's present :)

[birdsnreps]

putting this here cause it has a mixture of parrots...

this is what we have been working on today i hope these guys like it

ok, this is before...boring old cage to sit on :( *yawn*





and this is mid-way through the project...



a little more stuff going on here...



almost done...



and tada!! done!! and of course Queen Sweetpea has to be up top to rule the roost!!





all kinds of stuff to play with, and pretty girl's FAT self still isnt motivated to do anything but just sit there :(



and look at my little poopy :D

[greencinacheeks]

thats awesome!!!! i like it! what kind of bird is the black one?

~N

[birdsnreps]

thanks :) it actually didnt take that long to make the black bird is my pet trumpeter hornbill, Sweetpea.

[birdlady49]

I loved watching the transition! Does Sweetpea bother the eclectus and cockatiels at all? Are the 'tiels scared to death of such a large bird?

[birdsnreps]

the tiels arent scared of anything really, the are used to seeing larger birds, they arent even scared of the macaw babies that we raise. sweetpea only really bothers the other birds if they get too close to her, or if someone dares trying to climb on the sides of her cage, lol. sometimes sweetpea and pretty girl (ekkie) dont like each other, so one of them has to get put up, but usually everyone gets along pretty good :)

[4HAND]

What type of twine did you use and how did you secure it?
Thanks, Tena

[cody123]

That black bird is freaky I dont think I would be able to handle him. LOL

[birdsnreps]

awww, whats wrong with my big sweetpea? shes a sweet little girl, although shes not completely tame yet, but we are working on that :) and to be honest, you will get MUCH WORSE bites from a parrot than you ever will from sweetpea :) shes not aggressive towards us at all, ever :)

[greencinacheeks]

ha ha...i love her..sweet pea is soo pretty. where did you get him/her??

[birdsnreps]

sorry i didnt answer your Q, 4hand, we just used regular undyed twine that we found at lowes. there is the 1/4 twine, its thick, we use that to string large wooden blocks and for larger playgyms for the bigger birds, and then we have this small twine that we use for the smaller birds, also from lowes. i believe the smaller twine is 3/16in, but dont quote me on that.

we wrapped the pvc with the twine, and we secured it with superglue, but we did it so that the birds cant reach it. before we put the playgym together, we got both ends of the twine, and tucked the ends into the ends of the pvc pipes, so that the tips were inside the pvc piping, and when we put together the gym, the superglued part actually fit into the sockets of the T's and elbows. this way it makes it harder for the pvc piping to fit in the sockets, but wtih the superglue, the pipes arent gonna come out, and the twine isnt gonna come undone either.

i got sweetpea from a private, but well known, breeder in southern california. he breeds all kinds of softbills, i found his ad for sweetpea in a softbills classifieds website, kinda like craigslist or upatsix, but way better and only for rare softbills :) there are all kinds of toucans, mynahs, cranes, hornbills, and all kinds of other rare stuff on that website, its really awesome!!

i wanted a hornbill cause i fell in love with the hornbills at the zoo where i volunteer, haha. they have really awesome, funny, and VERY intelligent personalities!! they can be just as tame and loving as a parrot too, but most hornbills (including sweetpea) are parent raised, so you have to tame them down yourself. sweetpea will come to me for grapes and blueberries, and she will go in her cage at the end of the night on her own, when we put her treats and her last feeding in her cage :) she lets me touch her feet and belly, and ive started to take her to the bathroom for a few training sessions daily. i sit with her, have her perch on my hand, and she lets me pet her back and scritch her head now :) she doesnt wanna admit it, but she LOVES the head rubs!! she got all fluffy and closed her eyes, even letting me pet her right by her eyes and under her chin as long as i keep working with her, shes just gonna get tamer and tamer, and pretty soon i should be able to get her into a harness and take her on outings with us just like we do with the other parrots that we raise :)