DIY table perch

[Percival]

As a university student I find that bird accessories can be a little bit expensive, and in Edmonton more specific items can be hard to come buy. So, as an activity for myself I decided that I was going to make my own table-top perch to do training with Percy.

Supplies needed:
- peg board
-dowelling rods
- screws
-edge dowelling
-screwdriver
-non-toxic wood glue
-sand paper

The peg board is for the base, and is pine so it takes the least treatment in it's processing and one side has a very smooth finish making clean-up quite easy. An alternative would be to get a piece of scrap linoleum and line the bottom with that.

I cut the base 24cmx24cm, sanded the edges and corners down, then glued the edging dowelling down then used a heavy textbook to press it down to allow it to set for 30 min. If there is any wood glue oozing from the sides that needs to be wiped away with warm water if it is still wet, or sanded off if it has dried.

Next I drilled a hole in the centre of the base, and through both ends of a piece of dowelling cut and sanded to 30cm. Next a second piece of dowelling was cut to 30cm, and a hole was drilled through the middle of the rod to form the actual perch. Using a screw and wood glue the perch was attached to the main rod. Once this had dried and set I mounted it to the base using a final screw and wood glue. Once the glue had dried I tightened the screws to ensure that there would be no wobble, however the screw through the base would not lie flush with the peg board so I had to mount little feet onto the bottom of the whole thing. I chose to do three feet in order to ensure that there would be no wiggle even if the feet weren't exactly the same height.

And here is the finished product!


And Percy enjoying the view:


In total this project took me about four hours. It would probably be quicker if you were more inclined to projects like this. I've never made anything before so I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.

Let me know what you think!

[cml]

Looks great!

[laducockatiel]

Percy looks like 1 happy bird!

[LPolliard]

Simple is best. With this design clean up is as easy as replacing the newspaper that already came folded to size. You could use medical tape instead of cordage to make replacement even easier when soiled. Total cost is around $5 and all parts can be purchased at Home Depot.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/eerjswj3a9he5eu/2012-09-06%2017.36.24.jpg

[CaitlinRice413]

[independentminded]

Awwwwww...Isn't that sweet! Glad Percy's enjoying the view from his new perch! Cool!

[independentminded]

Percy looks like 1 happy bird!

Yup! He sure does!

I made something similar for my Congo African Grey Parrot, Aziza. I purchased a java wood T-Stand for fifteen dollars, and then, went to Home Depot, where I bought some ordinary, untreated pinewood for mere pennies and then had somebody there cut it the wood into the dimensions that I wanted...for free! They were nice enough to drill a hole in the center of the board that I chose, as well. I used some small nails, and, on the sides, I nailed all four side strips to the regular pine board, screwed the Java wood T-Stand into the center of the drilled hole, and then tightened it on with a washer and the hex-wing-nut that came with the T-Stand. It's worked like a charm, and Aziza enjoys it!