Looking for stainless steel skewers?

Expandable Habitats' monthly sale for November is on their "Chewable Hangers" (or simply put skewers) - buy 3 medium or large Chewable Hangers or Toy Hangers and get 1 free.

Here they are on the website!

Now the medium or large refers to the size of the acrylic ball on the end of the skewer, not the actual length -  the skewers themselves are available in short, medium or long (see the table on the website for exact measurements).

I purchased my skewers from EH last year when they had a similar sale. The birds currently each have a skewer filled with wood pieces and I think a few are almost due for a refill. Such an easy way to keep them occupied!

If you order, you have to mention that you saw the sale on their website (see here).

Léa's new cage is all set up!

Well, not really...

Since I wanted to give her a chance to settle in it before crowding her too much, I only added a few toys at first. In fact, since I took these pictures earlier this morning, I already added two toys that she used to have in her previous cage. As well, as she gets more and more comfortable, I might move things around and add more things as I figure out what configuration will work for her. But for now, I think it's a nice start.



Her new cage was made by Expandable Habitats (EH) out of type 304 non magnetic stainless steel. It's 42" wide by 30" deep and I'm not quite sure of the internal height. I chose one of their "small cage" models as I like the look with the shelf at the bottom best and I find having the bottom higher up makes it easier to clean. In any case, the height seems about the same as her previous cage and she gained space in the other two dimensions.



I made the choice of going with a stainless steel cage because Léa has started stripping the powder coating away from the bars of her old cage - this is a much safer alternative for her. It was quite funny seeing her trying to get around her new cage at first; the stainless steel is seemingly more slippery than her old bar cages were so she was a bit unsure of them at first. However, as she gets used to them I'm sure she'll enjoy sliding down the sides of her cage.

Client service at EH was also pretty great - on top of answering every little question I had along the way, once it became apparent that the production/finish/delivery of my cage was going to be delayed, Tricia offered to add in either some of their skewers or an additional stainless steel bowl and holder for free (I went with the bowl).

I'll probably give a more exhaustive review of my cage after I've used it for a little bit, but so far I'm quite pleased with it, and, most importantly, Léa does seem to enjoy it quite a bit. I didn't really have space to keep her old cage and this new cage side by side so she could get used to it at her own pace and, luckily, she didn't seem to frazzled about having to get used to the new cage "cold turkey".

Finally, here are a few pictures of the inside of her cage; please keep in mind that I've used my wide angle lens, which makes things look wider and distorted. While the cage is quite big, the wide angle lens makes it appear rather empty.


Left hand side; includes an Oliver's Garden platform perch on the door, a pedicure perch, her Grey feather toys Megaphone toy, an ocotillo perch from Things for Wings, a skywalk perch from Oliver's Garden, a few toys (homemade and from Things for Wings), her swing from Crystal's Bird Toys (which needs some replenishing) and her pellet bowl.


Right hand side; includes a grapevine perch from Thigns for Wings, that same pellet bowl, a snugly from Things for Wings, Ruby Blue from Oliver's Garden, a rock perch from Birds on the Rock, two of the EH stainless steel bowls, a rope perch and the Big Beak Bop toy from Crystal's Bird Toys.

A quick glance

I couldn't leave the cage in the many boxes it came with until this week-end. I had to put, at least the main frame of it, together to see how it looked. Curiosity got the best of me!

So here it is, with Nemo on it to give an idea of it's size.


View from the side


View from the front

I hadn't bothered to install the brackets at the top which will hold a piece of acrylic a few inches above the top of the cage, nor did I insert the tray and pieces of sheet metal that go around the base to block that big hole. I just wanted to have a general idea on how to bring the cage together before having to do so in the smaller confines of the birdroom.

I can't wait to have it up there and be able to place perches, bowls and toys in there for Léa - but before I can build it up again I have to take it apart...

It's here!!!

5 (very heavy) boxes containing all parts of Léa's new Expandable Habitats cage!

I *did* open them to make sure the panels all arrived ok and everything was so shiny!

I'm quite happy we don't have a formal dining room set yet as it's where these boxes have taken up residence until we are ready to assemble, which will probably be this week-end as I'd like Léa to have a day to adjust to it before night time as I won't have space to keep her two cages side by side.

Welds and other news

Behold, the power of Léa's beak at play.



This was not part of a toy. Léa's cage is locked by a spring loaded lock. I trust this lock with all my other birds but her..pretty early on she tried playing with it so I figured it would be best to also have another locking mechanism in place - which, until yesterday, was this small chain closed with a quick link.

I placed it underneath her platform perch so it would be hard of access and for nearly 11 months it did the job.

Until last Sunday. I caught her playing with the quick link and this made me realize that we had lowered her platform perch when we had put it back in after a wash. So I raised her perch once again.

But it was too late. The "damage" was done, Léa knew of it's existence and all she had on her mind was that. There is no denying that her ability to focus on something outweighs Joey's, who goes from one thing to another on the flip of a dime.

When I let her out on Monday afternoon after work, I didn't notice the chain so I figured the Boy forgot to put it on (he does the last check on the birds in the morning). I brought Léa to the orange room and didn't think much about it until the Boy came in with the chain..and showed me what Léa had done. Probably frustrated by being unable to open the quick link, she did the next logical thing, she opened a link of the chain and that was it.

There is no point of putting it back - she knows what to do and it'll take her a fraction of the time it probably took her on Monday to figure it out. She's smart. The only thing that would work is to get a completely welded chain and that might last us a little while longer, until she figures out the quick link.

It has become apparent that I need to be very very careful with her. I've been weary of using chains on toys in the bird cages for a number of reason but this is a new one to add - as I didn't really have any concerns with the smaller guys opening such things. If using anything that can be opened by Léa's powerful beak, it's seems like it will be necessary to have it welded shut first. I can't say how happy I am that when I ordered what has always been one of her favorite toys, the Super MegaFone from Grey Feather Toys, that I had asked the owner to please weld all pieces shut - otherwise I'd probably be considering removing it to avoid any possible injuries.

This all has prompted me to very much look forward to a recent purchase I've made - a new stainless steel cage for Léa.

I have always thought that I would upgrade the cage she's in now so that she could have something bigger and was always strongly considering going with stainless steel. This was made definitive back in June when I saw her chew on the bars of her cage - knowing the damage she can do, I'd rather the bars be made from a material that is as safe as can be.

The cage will be custom made by Expandable Habitats - I have heard a lot of good things said by people who own them and when comparing the prices of those cages to some that I could get locally, they still seemed more affordable and would be made to my specs. While I wasn't thinking of ordering right away, Léa's new obsession with her cage bars combined with the fact that Expandable Habitats was having a sale in June consisting of 10% cages, I took the plunge. The cage should be shipped to me sometime mid-September and I can't wait!