Atlas Update and Videos

Hello friends!
I have been meaning to make an update for a while but haven't gotten a chance to until now! So we bought Atlas a new cage:



What a pain to put together!! It's awesome though, and he loves it! I'm super psyched about it too because he can't climb it (he used to run for his cage and climb to the top any chance he could, which made him aggressive) so we're happy.

We also built him a PVC play gym a few weeks ago:



He's already figured out how to get down from it and is now working on climbing back up. He likes hanging out playing with his toys and looking out the window, when he's not running around all over the place.

We made a shower perch for him a few days ago (no pic yet!) but haven't used it yet because we haven't been home in the morning to shower with him. I'm planning on bringing him in the shower tomorrow morning with me. I hope I don't lose an eyeball! :52:

And now, on to the videos!

Play Time!

Play time last Sunday! Sorry it's sideways! My husband took it on my phone.

[ame=http://youtu.be/wJHX-4fnKGw]Atlas Roll Over - YouTube[/ame]

Working on roll over! Still a work in progress

Thanks for reading!

very nice cage and playstand but I am sure it won,t take him long to figure out how to climb up and down the cage. They are smarter than you think

Aww i love macaws!! lucky you! i would put some more toys in his cage though

ydeerod: Your setup looks nice . But if I were you I would be careful of those long ropes and chains with heavy objects hanging many inches below their anchor points. During play activities, long ropes/chains/cords with weight on the ends may inadvertently become wrapped around the neck of a parrot, creating a weighted noose situation. We don't often think about such things but in my view it's best to be safe.

Also, your tie-wraps used to hang the toys should not be looped wide enough for Atlas to get his head through. The size of the loops in your photo appear too large to me.

I'm just hoping to help you make sure everything is safe for Atlas

THANK YOU so much for the update! Atlas is TOO precious! I cracked up in the first video, when he finally had enough of the PVC and decided to go for the cameraman. And how SWEET that he plays on his back!!!!

And how awesome that you are teaching him tricks! Please feel free to stop by and teach Niko the "roll over". Heavy duty armor is suggested during training sessions, however. :54:

LOVE his new cage! And I can just picture you 2 putting it together with all those screws, nuts and bolts, lol.

LOVE the playstand you made out of PVC as well.

BUT - I completely agree with Plax about the dangly things and the loop holes in the zip ties. The chains you are using look like they are the very light weight plastic links, correct? They should be just fine, as long as Atlas can't get them to loop and stick, meaning turn them into a knot. And baby Macs explore A LOT! And they are clumsy...and accidents can happen.

We are only trying to prevent any heartache and/or accident. We are not criticising

Awesome! We are also thinking about making a playgym out of PVC

Also, how did you get him used to play on floor? I am, he was like that from start? Our baby is always climbing back on the cage or bed ASAP : )) - I know they like to be somewere high, just wondering about you Atlas being so cool on floor : )

JerseyWendy said:

The chains you are using look like they are the very light weight plastic links, correct? They should be just fine, as long as Atlas can't get them to loop and stick, meaning turn them into a knot. And baby Macs explore A LOT! And they are clumsy...and accidents can happen.

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To add: Even if a rope or chain isn't looped into a knot it can still wrap once around the neck of a bird. If that happens and the bottom of the rope or chain has a somewhat heavy object hanging from it, asphyxiation can result. That's a weighted noose scenario.

JerseyWendy said:

We are only trying to prevent any heartache and/or accident. We are not criticising

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Wendy's right. I think one of the great benefits of a forum like this is that we can share observations and opinions that may be beneficial to each other, and, most importantly, to our kids with feathers

Atlas is quite a sweetheart!

Thank you everyone! And most importantly thank you for the concerns! the chains in the cage are plastic and very light. They hang straight down so i think its ok. The ropes on the play gym are cotton and have toilet paper rolls at the end which is also light. He likes shredding them the zip ties, im not sure if theyre big enough for him to get his head caught in it. I will certainly investigate! we have some more toys on order for him as well. Hes got a rope perch, concrete pedi perch, sandblasted java perch, and the 2 wood perches that came with the cage which were going to diy wrap it with vetrap to give it more texture and diameter variance on it so his feet dont cramp up.

Hehe thanks wendy he is super adorbs! The cage was a pretty funny ordeal, complete with atlas chattering in the background doing his "let me out" dance in his old cage.

Johnny to answer your question we didnt do anything special. At first we would just put him on the floor when he was being aggressive and bullying us around. Then after a while he got over being suspicious and warmed up to us, so when we are in the kitchen he would wanna come hang out so wed put him down on the floor and he would just cruise around and explore the kitchen. Then my husband started putting him on the living room floor for play time with us and he loves it. So now if he's on his play gym is bored and I'm in the bathroom, he will slide down the pvc pipe of the play gym like a tiny fireman and run to the bathroom and hang out in there. Lol, it's quite comical really. There are drawbacks though. If we're not watching him for a second he might start chewing on furniture, doors, or even walls!

Just curious about the size of your cage we are looking for one too~ also curious as to why you don't think he can climb to the top of the cage?

This is the exact cage we bought. It doesn't look that big in the picture but it's HUGE. Not exaggerating one bit.

The distance between the floor and the edge of the seed catcher is much taller than he can reach, thus he can't simply climb up the sides. He's already tried to no avail. For him to climb up, he's gonna have to get crafty. Also: He can't fly cuz his wings are clipped.

There's mom in Atlas's new cage! On her tip-toes might I add!

Johnny, we would also put some of his favorite toys and treats on the floor with us. He won't like it if you try to block him from getting back to a high place but if he makes his own choice to stay for the treats that might help him get used to the floor!

Atlas said:

There's mom in Atlas's new cage! On her tip-toes might I add!

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Uh-ooh...did someone need a time out?

JerseyWendy said:

Atlas said:

There's mom in Atlas's new cage! On her tip-toes might I add!

Click to expand...

Uh-ooh...did someone need a time out?

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LOL Wendy!! Haha, you're a riot!