wow.......

 

Very cool

 

thanks took me forever but she loves it which is the main thing

 

Natural Play Gym MkII

After the trip to Coromandel (Details Above) to collect Tea Tree (Manuka).
I pulled down the old Gym and built a new Gym for the two new additions. It seems to meet their approval. So far they have choose to sleep on the Paperbark Gum branch. I am going to put money on the fact they like it's nice soft touch on their feet. It also seems they like the perch which is about 40mm.

It is mounted on a concrete paver by 4x brackets.
The trunk and some of the branches are Tea Tree, the rest are the Paperbark Gum. Except those on the floor, they are Coppersheen.
It is held together by just 5x screws and 6x cable ties.
I just put Blank news print paper around on the floor to catch the mess.
The wood is as it was when we picked it up.
It does seem like around Auckland (at least) the Manuka has a black, I think mold, on it. And I would not use this, unless it is sterilized.
I also think anybody can make one of these, as it is only branches intertwined, with the odd screw (screws are not stainless, not Galvanised.) and cable ties holding things. Except for the cross branches which are screwed and not so easy to attach firmly. I also tried to put branches so that they can climb to other levels.
It is just a matter of finding that main trunk, and work things into it from there. And scaling it down to your needs, mine is 1.8mt tall.


Please Note:
Some doubts have been raised about the use of Tea Tree. It is discussed above. I am happy to class it as safe. As I do not think all the people I have talked to can be that wrong.

 

Paperbark Gum-Melaleuca Tea Tree-Manuka

Ok I think it is safe to use Paperbark Gum.
It is also related to the Bottlebrush, such I also think is safe.

It makes sense if a birds total diet was this then there maybe trouble.
But as a perch and a Toy for them to chew on, it would be OK
My Tiels love it and sleep out on the Play Gym, It must be loverly and soft on their feet.
Here is Tweety pigging out on some fresh Paperbark gum tops.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVfqH3PIDY4

Tea tree. There is evidence that at least one of our local Cockatoo's chew on the leaf's. And it is the wood of choice by NZ for perches.
It has antibacterial antifungal and antiseptic properties. Which I would think is great for their health.
There is a comment that the concentrated oil, I think applied to the skin? has caused a parrot health trouble. Why you would put this on a parrot is not clear?
Tea Tree oil comes with a warning: 'Do not use oil undiluted' This is for human use.

 

I'm in the process of making a play gym at the moment, so once its done I will post some pictures!

I'm so excited about it.. I spent a fortune yesterday getting bits and pieces for it. So hopefully in the next week or so it will be complete!

 

Just made this today, level one of Wally's new playgym. its a decent start.

The top perch broke off already, guess I have work to do tomorrow lol

 

My husband built my birds a play gym out of pvc pipe and wrapped with vet wrap. I was so excited and brought it into the bird's area and opened all the cage doors to see what they would do.

My cockatiel Moonshine was scared to death of it and flew away when I tried to put her on it.

The budgies would fly around it but no one would land on it. Cookie cannot fly so I took her out of the cage and put her on it. She liked it and didn't want me to take her off it. I hoped the other budgies would go land on it since she liked it.

Nope, only Cookie used it today. Hopefully in the next few days the other birds will get nosey and go sit on it.

 

Wow! Your husband did an awesome job on that playgym! I think your birds will get used to it soon -- Nimbus is always really suspicious of something new play areas for few days, but always ends up landing on them and playing with them eventually.

 

Wow that's amazing! What a wonderful huge playgym!!! My tiels sure are jealous, although i did just finish their gym haha. I hope Moonshine warms up to it, I'm sure s/he will

 

The new playgym. It was a little more cash than expected but the tiels seem to love it! And just fyi that cage in the back is just more room to climb, I don't actually keep them in there

 

I am so jealous of your playgym. Your birds actually like it and want to spend time on it. I have been wanting one of those orbit toys. Do they like that toy so far?

 

They do love it so far. Every toy on their is one of their favorites, but I pack millet in almost every one so they have even more fun! They get so excited when I come home cause they know I'll let them out for play time haha. The gym was kind of expensive, but very easy to make. $15 for each rope perch, 10 for the big ladder, 5 for each chain and about 20 for the circular orbit perch thingy haha. But seeing how much they love it makes it all worthwhile!

 

Nice gym Wally bird I was just wondering is that their cage they stay in? If you could I would save up for a bigger one or they might be duck butts for a long time

 

NO NO NO NO WAY! They live in identical but separate cages that are huge! 38 High x31 Wide x22 Deep. The cage in the picture is just the travel cage. I have a perch on the outside of it and a portable perch on the desk to the right that I hung the play gym from. It just provides extra climbing space and it's a temporary solution until i get hooks screwed into the ceiling.

Lol in my original post I said its just extra space for them to climb cause I didn't want anyone to think I kept both them in a little travel cage
Here's a pic of Dexter's cage and Wally has the same one. It's a little low on toys right now cause most of them are on the play gym, but I'll be making more tomorrow. Most of the perches are hard to see just because of the way they're facing but I have quite a few in there.

 

Dudes play gym we made.... sits on top of his cage.

 

Wow! These are very aspiring! I hope I get to make one this weekend... I also want to make perches, but they come first...
Rick

 

All these play gyms look great!

Has anyone actually purchased a play gym from www.birdgymsrus.com? I ask because I tried to buy one of theirs a good 7 years ago (!) and they ended up refunding me my money because the guy who makes them got sick. The gyms are just so cool though and I'd consider buying one now, but I'd prefer to do it only if other people here have bought them. Maybe I should just e-mail them and ask if they're still making them...

 

Play Gyms (Natural woods)

Time to update my gym build.
There has been a few branches added and I built the steps.

I have included pics of the two small gyms.

This one has bridge to dinner table, and it is where we inter act most days.

And this is the small one in the lounge.

 

For xmas Im getting my friend to make a big cool playgym!!!YAY!!!!

 

Hansi' new Gym

This is Hansi's new Gym. The drop ladder can fold up and down and slide side to side. The bottom is covered with vinyl place mats from wal-mart. It's really slick so the poop wipes right off. My father-n-law gave me a drill press over the holidays so I got a little carried away with the dowels

 

This is Hansi's new Gym. The drop ladder can fold up and down and slide side to side. The bottom is covered with vinyl place mats from wal-mart. It's really slick so the poop wipes right off. My father-n-law gave me a drill press over the holidays so I got a little carried away with the dowels

They're great, you should start selling.

 

Nice play gyms I really like that ones that have natural perches, different size and kinds of perches are great for tiels feet

 

Do teils generally like swings? My lovebirds adore to swing & my previous budgies have also, but Billie has made no attempt to have a swing since I put it in his cage a weekk ago.

 

My tiels never seem to like their swing when I rotate it into the cage, though my budgie and canaries used to love them. They must be more earthen-oriented, eh?

 

We fixed this little area up for Jr's play gym. My husband built the wood gym and I set up a larger basket I had for him to climb on. Know for him to just get up the courage to climb out of his cage and play!

 

Here is mine. I build more on it as I get bored.





And here is a play area I built in about half an hour.