HQ cage problems. Suggestions welcome.

[brainfogbetty]

Hello!

This is my first post after registering to this forum.
A couple of months ago, we bought an umbrella cockatoo.
His cage came with him. It's a HQ cage and it has round discs
as closures for the food dishes. The screws in these discs
are very loose and Sammy can open them quite easily. They
had tape on them when we got it, which isn't a good idea. ;(

The screw ends are enclosed in the bar which has a little hole
for access, but we can't find a socket small enough to get it
off. Anyone know how to get the screw (w/nut)out to replace, or have
a suggestion how we can secure the 5 openings and still be able
to open at least two for food dishes?

Great forum here, glad to have found it.

Betty

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hi there and welcome to the forum.

I'm not sure I understand your dilemma. Are you trying to replace the screws that hold the round disks in place?

Please have a look at this thread. I actually added something similar to those disks to my cages, as both my big macs had learned to open their feeder doors. http://www.parrotforums.com/macaws/35095-houdinis-no-more.html

 

[brainfogbetty]

That's a great idea what you did. I'd like to do something like that too.

Unfortunately, I can't get the screws out so I can remove the disc. Is your
cage an HQ? See the diagram I crudely made. Both nuts just spin around
and don't tighten or loosen. Tried needle nose pliers with no luck. I don't
have a socket small enough to fit in that hole. How did you get yours off?

 

[Kiwibird]

I might just call it a day with the disk thing and use a metal bit to drill a hole where that "arch" in the door itself (to the right of the circle) overlaps the top of the cage and run a padlock through it. No latch is really safe from a too except a padlock anyways.

 

[brainfogbetty]

I'll get my husband to do it this weekend. I wanted to wait until we figured out what we were gonna do for a closure before we took anything apart or drilled holes. I emailed the company last week and still no reply. Figures. ;(

 

[MikeyTN]

I'm actually baffled by why you can't get it removed???? I have two of HQ cages, one I bought brand new and you have to screw that piece on when I removed it out of the box. On the older cages I took it off without issues....

 

[JerseyWendy]

If you have needlenose pliers, you may be able to get them into the hole, hold on tightly to the bolt, and then get the screw out with the other hand.

If that doesn't work, I would drill them out.

We did our contraptions on both a Kings Cage and an A&E Cage. Neither cage had existing flaps/disks, but both presumably had "parrot proof" locks on the food doors.

 

[strudel]

Are you sure there's a nut inside, and it's not just a screw housing fitted to the bar? As Wendy says, needlenose pliers. Little ones from an electronics shop. Also, it may be oxidised on. You might zap it with some wd-40, but you'd need to rehouse him before zapping it, and do some research to check that the fumes won't hang around or cause a problem. The other thing if it won't co-operate is to turn the screw with pliers rather than a screwdriver, and pull on it as you turn it.

 

[mtdoramike]

I love Wendy's fix, it's quick and easy and there are two things that need to be held up to open the door, which a bird no matter how smart they are can't do that.

 

[brainfogbetty]

I tried the needle nose pliers already. Yes, there is a nut on both sides. I think the one in the inside must be rusted on or something. When my husband gets home this weekend I'll have him take care of it.

 

[RavensGryf]

I personally don't care for HQ. I've sort of been looking for a new cage, and they have the HQ at the bird stores I go to. I don't think I like the quality or the front door latch either. Good luck with it.

 

[kevin40]

Have you tried a nut driver? It looks like a screwdriver but has a socket type end on it. It should be small enough to get in that hole. The other thing to try is to put a flat head screwdriver in there and try to put sideways pressure on the nut to try to keep it from spinning as you inscrew the other side. Whatever you end up trying...good luck.