Update on Kiki

[ShaunaR]

Hi everyone,
I posted our mishap under cages but thought I would post a general update here. We ended up changing this little soul's name from Kiki to Pixie. It just seemed to fit her fearless tiny demeanor. You will see in the pics that she has a small bruise to her beak from a fall from one of the perches in her cage. I was busy making changes in there and she tried to fly to my head, missed and somehow hurt her beak. I nearly had a fit and cried but after a call to the Vet and close monitoring she will be ok. Needless to say she hasn't been back in the cage. We just use her carrier at night and when I can't hold her. She has been awesome in terms of eating! She accepts whatever I offer and at least tastes it. She still relies on a pablum-type mixture with softened Harrison's crumbles for the bulk of her feeding (I just make it luke warm and she eats it from a dish). She certainly eats a bunch of different foods as well. I noticed she liked to poop on a paper towel the first time I fed her so I have used this to teach her. I would say that 80% of the time when I put here there and say, "Go Poop" she just wiggles her butt and goes!
So we are trying to figure out how to revamp her cage so as to block the top half. Any advice on how to safely do that is much appreciated. We are expecting her Pac o Bird to arrive any day so will use that at night until we either get a smaller cage or block this one. The trouble with the cage is that she insists on climbing the bars instead of the perches and immediately heads for the very top. Then she screetches at me to come and help her down! She tries to use the perches to get down but isn't coordinated enough yet. They are the small diameter rope perches and I have plenty of them connected all over the place and mixed with natural wood ones so there is no shortage.
Here she is!

 

[dskidd]

Another wonderful photo of Pixie! So sorry about the mishap. I completely understand how upsetting that sort of thing can be; thankfully, it sounds like something she'll completely recover from.

Derek

 

[thekarens]

No advice, but Pixie is still adorable!

 

[Sterling1113]

She is adorable, I love white belly caiques.

In the cage- is there any way you can fasten the grate maybe halfway up the cage? So that she doesn't have very far to fall. You can also put towels down over the bars.

Hopefully you get something figured out! It's always terrifying when we find something wrong with a cage!!

 

[ShaunaR]

I did some research on cages and bought a chinchilla cage. It kind of looks like a guinea pig cage but with smaller bar spacing. It has an extra large platform along with a wide ramp and I draped her favorite blanket over it so she can climb up and down. I was able to hang her small orbiter and placed perches and a corner shelf to help her move around. She is still pretty little at 3 months and this will give her a safe place to practice climbing and swinging. I found a very cool brand of bedding called "Eco Bedding". Its safe for contact with birds and I placed about 4 inches of it in the bottom of her cage to break any potential falls. She is doing well and seems to really love it in there now!
Thanks so much for your support and encouragement!

 

[GW.Joe]

I did some research on cages and bought a chinchilla cage.

Make sure the metal or paint is bird safe, not just "animal safe"

I found a very cool brand of bedding called "Eco Bedding"

Eco Bedding is good stuff if you can afford it, that's all they use at our baby's Bird Farm, seeing it there I was able to evaluate it myself, I think I like it

It gives lots of 3D area to absorb mess, As long as it is really completely dust free as they claim I Like it !!

 

[ShaunaR]

I love this eco bedding actually. It provides for a soft landing when she invariably somersaults off her orbiter as well as its very easy to reach in and scoop up her poops with a kleenex which is great! It does appear to be dust free as it claims. Pixie is doing great in her new cage and mom is relieved today!