Kiwi LOVES his new tree!

[Kiwibird]

So I finally got the chance to get Kiwi's new tree together. He absolutely LOVES it! I know it's a bit sparse on toys right now, but we'll be making a trip to the parrot store this weekend to see what neat things we can find now that I know what I'm working with (I'm thinking one of those "spring" rope perches would be cool). I know some people were saying the branches were really slick on these PVC trees, and that we needed to use "vet-tape". Kiwi has 0 issues, he has even discovered he can hang like a big bat to retrieve food from the dishes (he's going after a grape in the photo). He's a super talented climber, and his nickname is "the batbird" lol

 

[Merlee]

Interesting to see food cups at the bottom.

 

[Kiwibird]

Keeping the dishes at the bottom makes sure he actually gets off the top perch and works for his food. Since Kiwi isn't flighted, I like to keep him active and strong by encouraging lots of climbing and as much foraging type activities as possible. In nature, I'm sure the papaya isn't always on the same branch they are

 

[Featheredsamurai]

That looks great! Glad he likes it

 

[DallyTsuka]

love the stand!! he looks like he is enjoying it!

 

[Karigan]

Neat! How's the grip on it? I can't quite tell what it's made of, ceramic?

 

[Pinkbirdy]

Cool Looks nice and big [ you can put alot on that]. kiwi actually looks small on it . I always love birds that stay on their playstands [good boy ]

 

[LoveMyParrots]

That looks awesome!

 

[weco]

Yep, looks good.....

 

[Kiwibird]

Karigan- it is suppose to be made of PVC (feels like regular plastic to me, but what do I know?). Kiwi has no problems gripping it, but in a prior post, a lot of people said most birds would need this "vet tape" stuff wrapped on all the branches. Then again, I've seen some peoples birds who have problems gripping smooth wood perches, so I think it may be dependent on the bird.

Pinkybird- he doesn't really have a choice but to stay on his stand. The cabinet/end table thing it's sitting on is one of the few piece of furniture in our apartment he can't climb on/off of. Kiwi flighted would be scary! All of your birds are flighted though right? I can only imagine trying to keep your flock where they belong

 

[Karigan]

Not all. I have an open concept house and there's no way to keep them out of the kitchen, so until such a time when I can provide a safe environment for my flock to fly in, I choose to clip their wings. They glide and don't drop like stones, but they can't get any lift. There are too many things and people for me to patrol them all the time and put them in their cage every time the door opens.

 

[ParkersMom]

Where did you get it and is it the kind you can disassemble easy...
Kiwi looks like he is having fun

 

[Kiwibird]

It was pretty easy to assemble, though the center "tube" was a bit too long and I had to buy a small segment of PVC pipe at home depot to make it stable (only cost $2). Thats the little white part at the bottom. It was on sale for more than 1/2 off its original price though, and I would assume that's why. I got it at americas-pet-store.com (you have to use the hyphens). It was only $90, free shipping and was originally over $200, so I can deal with a $2 fix to make it work It's the "cockatiel" rolling play stand, though it's really big for a cockatiel-sized bird, and IMO is more suited to a zon-sized bird. It also comes with legs and wheels, but it worked better for us not to put them on.

 

[wjgonzalez]

Is it homemade or store bought?

 

[jbail1026]

That looks so fun! How old is Kiwi? Is this type of tree new for him and was he hesitant at all? I would love to get George off his cage and on to something like that, but he's just so resistant to new things.

 

[Mickey3696]

I wish I could get kiwi to get on something other than his cage! Your stand looks great!

 

[Parrotdise]

He looks like he having lots of fun!

 

[Kiwibird]

Kiwi is about 15, and we adopted him 5 years ago. From what little we had to go on when we got him, he had always been kept in a cat crate. One would think he would be fearful of everything after that, but he actually been completely fearless about exploring his environment since we got him. He's extremely inquisitive, and LOVES climbing. I thought he would "lay an egg" he was so excited when he saw me putting it together. He was practically falling off my hand trying to get on it when I took him over. I know a lot of birds are really timid about new things, but I've never really delt with it personally. But I'm sure with time you can work with your birds and introduce them to new things.