Seed Guard

[EmberSanja]

The cage I have doesn't have a seed guard, so I was looking into some and found a cloth-like one that looks easily ripped, which I know isn't good to have around birds since they can eat it and it can kill them. Like this: http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=CmcDYyG_lU5jZLYyQpAPqxYCwCv--ibMF7_eemaMBv6PumZYCCAkQBCCrr_ocKARQ-dO6ofj_____AWDJptqN_KSIFqABmcTl7QPIAQeqBCNP0KL0Yf77OZ7KBmpdH2aeVtszO7MAEtDGVIAo9kYW8jVQc8AFBaAGJtgGAoAHz7uaEpAHA6gHpr4b4BKn8d247LPA17IB&ctype=5&ved=0CAoQuS8&ei=yG_lU9vKLIz-yQSH0YLQCw&val=ChBmMjVjOTkxMjU1Yzk5Y2Y2EPLdvJ4FGgjzvd1QtHNvGCABKAAw95DAt9vNzOZYOPLdvJ4FQL7flZ8F&kd=0&sig=AOD64_1GLKEhWn4yu5ir_1QQJz3mjXHlYg&adurl=http://www.pricefalls.com/product/Seed-Guard-Nylon-Mesh-White-Small/7304949%3Futm_source%3DGoogleShopping%26utm_medium%3Dcpc%26utm_term%3DPLA-SC%26utm_content%3D74679292351%26utm_campaign%3D unsafe and I should avoid, yes?

[Wolf]

I don't particularly care for the one that you found and pictured, but at the price, if it fits you can replace it easily enough when it begins to wear or if it rips. I would think that for this type ( mesh ) after market seed guard that you really only have two real options and that is either a nylon mesh or a metal mesh. Both of them are the same basically as the mesh found on screen doors or window screens. This type of screen mesh can be purchased from a hardware or building supply store in an animal resistant variety and if you can sew a little you could easily make your own seed guard.
For my cages I made a seed deflector out of wood, left untreated so that it is safe if my birds chew on it. Seeds hit it and bounce back into the cage, fall through the bottom grate and into the litter pan.

[EmberSanja]

It's not that exact one, I just wanted an example. The one I was looking at is three times the price, ah! From a local pet store. I was thinking about just making some (apple tree without pesticides) wood thin and sliding it into the slight spaces between the plastic bottom of the cage and the bars so it's at an angle that the seeds would hit it and slide down. The difficult part would be convincing my dad to take one of the branches off our old apple tree and cutting it, heh.

[Wolf]

That is pretty much the idea behind the seed deflectors that I made for my cages, but mine are mounted totally on the outside of the cage. Mine are made of 1/2" X 6" untreated birch cut to fit my cages. If you could explain to him what you want ,I bet he could make them for you.

[EmberSanja]

We'd really have to make sure it's an okay wood for the bird though and I don't know what kinds of maple we have around here I know the apple tree would work but my father is a very high strung man who thinks of most things as his and wouldn't let me use any branches from it unless they naturally fall, but then they have a relatively high chance of carpenter ants/other unwanted and potentially harmful bug. I don't quite recall but I believe pines weren't an okay kind of tree, and we mostly have maples and pines. I can check if elms are safe and go into the woods to get a few branches, or ask my dad what other kinds of trees are in the woods and check with the safe list. There should be enough time (if quakers are legal, we can get one in two or three months) but I don't know how well the wood would work with my cage type and whether or not it would be easier or safer to use something sold specifically as a seed guard.

Complicated!

[cml]

We'd really have to make sure it's an okay wood for the bird though and I don't know what kinds of maple we have around here I know the apple tree would work but my father is a very high strung man who thinks of most things as his and wouldn't let me use any branches from it unless they naturally fall, but then they have a relatively high chance of carpenter ants/other unwanted and potentially harmful bug. I don't quite recall but I believe pines weren't an okay kind of tree, and we mostly have maples and pines. I can check if elms are safe and go into the woods to get a few branches, or ask my dad what other kinds of trees are in the woods and check with the safe list. There should be enough time (if quakers are legal, we can get one in two or three months) but I don't know how well the wood would work with my cage type and whether or not it would be easier or safer to use something sold specifically as a seed guard.

Complicated!

Hello, see this list for safe wood (and food, plants etc, its a great resource):
http://www.parrot-and-conure-world.com/ ... birds.html

Elm is safe.

[EmberSanja]

Oh, thank you so much! I actually have that list saved on a document in my email, but the fair is today and we've been babysitting so I've been too busy to check. Now I can ask my dad about it

Thanks again!!

[Pajarita]

I know a lot of people use seed-guards but, in truth, I don't see why they are needed with parrots. Canaries and other passerines that are natural seed eaters do get seed free-fed so I can see why somebody would want one on their cage (canaries are always and forever riffling through their mix to get the ones they prefer first) but parrots should never be free-fed seed and should instead, get just a measured portion, enough to fill their crop, at night so, in reality, there is no waste and hardly any seed hulls anywhere but inside the cage (where they should eat their dinner). You will find that the big problem is not the seed hulls but all the food they throw all over the place -now that's a mess (I have to scrub the walls in the birdroom once a week, religiously!) and there is nothing you can do about it because their throwing food around is a instinctual behavior directly related to their ecological niche. You can't train them out of it and you should not even try.

[Wolf]

I hear that. The deflectors that I made work really great, but they actually serve more as a poop deflector/ catcher than as a seed deflector. My birds like hanging out on their cages and they do their best to poop over the edge where they won't have to step in it and this is where my deflectors prove their value.

[EmberSanja]

I was thinking of using it like Wolf, and I just realized the cloth ones wouldn't really help with that anyway So wood it is! I found some branches on the ground by the apple tree and since it's the only tree in that area I'm positive they're apple branches. Is the bark essential? The branches are kind of old and missing most of the bark. There are also dead branches attached to the tree I should be able to cut off so I can always use those if bark is important