Photo Journey: Kiwi's Mansion!

When we bought Kiwi in May, we bought a tiny pink cage that we could afford.

Once he got territorial and nippy while in the cage, I thought of an idea. I did odd jobs for a guy that had bamboo growing along the side of his driveway, so I cut some down, cleaned it out, and went to work.

I started with a drawer that was pulled from an ailing kitchen island, and I used it as a base. Then I built a wall-free structure about 3 feet tall with angled bamboo shoots for perches. I covered these with perch covers. I attached the bamboo together by drilling holes, using some screws, but mostly cable ties. I attached his swing to the top, and made a ladder out of wooden pipes from a cheap panflute.

I attached his bell and millet holder to the middle shaft. His food and water are at the bottom, secured to the sides of the drawer.

Its sitting on a coffee table. Its shoulder height on my wife, who is about 5'4.

This became Kiwi's new home. His wings were clipped, so I had no concerns about him staying there. I even made a ladder out of pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks for him to climb up if he jumped out. He used this a lot. The biting got a lot better with him having so much space to run about, and he had plenty of fun hanging upside down and jumping from perch to perch. His attitude became much better.

I'm not a big fan of mirrors when the parakeet is in the training / bonding stage of his life. He has one, but I keep it away a lot so he doesn't bond with it.

This was the first stage - construction. My wife did the second, the decoration. She made back and side walls for the entire cage from pipe cleaners (yes he can crawl through them). Next, she added fake moss on top of the bedding in the bottom. She added two-three ladders made from pipe cleaners, and fake floral decorations throughout. We added more toys, and even got a mirrored waterfall from Kmart! This is his favorite, as he likes the sound, can see his friend in the mirror, get wet when he wants to, and it doubles as a cool shower.



The Kiwi Mansion is a safe, fun place for him to run and play, and he's already lit up with the added stimulation of color and greenery. Its the perfect playhouse home, NOT a cage. His wings are grown in and he's getting to the point where he'll fly to me from a few inches away.

Kiwi can say "Kiwi Kiwi Kiwi KiwiKiwiKiwiKiwiKiwiKiwi!!!" and "pretty bird" and "Commeerreee!". We're teaching him how to say "Whoa Baby!" (he almost said it today). His cere just finished turning blue within the past month or so.

By the way, he likes to land on my wife's roses!