Today Charles (my budgie) and I redecorated his cage in honor of his brand new, custom made swing from Grey Feather Toys! This may sound weird, but he loves this swing so much that it nearly brought tears to my eyes. He used to have one similar to it a long time ago but when he and Theodore (my other budgie and Charles's best friend/cage mate who sadly passed away in May) chewed it down to reveal galvanized wire inside, I knew it had to go. I have never since been able to find one that was stainless, until I thought about contacting GFT for a custom one. The new one is now 100% stainless steel. And boy has he missed this style swing!! I've tried every other kind-- ring swings, natural branch swing, tons of perches, even other tire-style swings (that he opted not to roost on because they hung too low)-- but he never, ever chose consistently to sleep on any one type nor show much interest. He prefers the tire-style, but it must be high up near the ceiling so that he can roost as king of the cage. smile
As soon as I put this swing in his cage, he immediately hopped on-- which is a pretty remarkable feat for him, considering that he is usually very fearful of new things. But he happily preened away on it!! And when I went to cover his cage tonight, he immediately hopped back on and started grinding his beak. I haven't seen him so pleased with a sleepy swing since the old one that he shared with Theodore. I am sooo overjoyed that he is finally satisfied. I know this probably doesn't sound very "special" or tear-worthy to anybody else, but he hasn't seemed this happy since Theodore was around and I am soo relieved right now.
Onto the rest of the cage: here it is!
You might not be able to make out all of the toys, but if you can, you will see that Charles is a BIG fan of Grey Feather Toys. Currently his cage features a swing, boing, horse toy, stainless steel pail toy, stainless steel bell toy, bunny toy, shredding toy, and probably more, all from GFT. (And we have a ton more of their toys in storage and around the room!)
One inside view of the cage from the front door
Another inner view from the side door-- and Charles preening on his swing!
Charlie up high on his boing
I decided for the first time to put a boing inside his cage. I used to have it hanging outside and he adored it, but I took it down to make room for other things. I don't want him to miss out on it entirely, though, and since his cage is very roomy for one budgie, I decided to put it on the inside. He's enjoying it very much! It's also from GFT
Overall I am very pleased with the new setup, and Charles seems to agree. He has a variety of perching surfaces: a cotton rope swing and boing, a sandblasted manzanita corner perch and branched perch, a ribbonwood perch, a willow perch, a cholla perch, and a cajeput perch; three food bowls; one small water bowl and one large bath; and LOTS of toys for shredding, snuggling, chewing, beaking, and more. Woohoo!