n2fisher

I just had PVC 101 tonight. I have ordered 30 slip-T's for PVC; it came in today. the size was huge -- looked like 1 inch inside diameter. Both my previous playstands have been using 3/4 outside diameter pipe, and Gandalf loved it .. could fit his beak around it easily and move about it. Turns out I was using CPVC or some such .. there are TWO different plastic pipes, both labelled 3/4". One appears to be 3/4" inside diameter, the other is 3/4" outside diameter!! The 3/4" inside diameter pipe (PVC), labelled on the pipe as 3/4, is almost 1" outside diameter. I just did a quick test .. put four pipes together. He loved standing on it; seemed very comfortable. Doesn't have the vetrap on it yet, but I'm sure it will just make it more comfortable. BUT .. he tried several times to get his beak around it, to try to pull himself up to the next level, and it was too wide for him!!! I sure hope when I get the vetrap on it that he'll be able to grab on with his beak and pull himself from level to level! Anyone else find this out, and if so what size PVC do you use? I suppose I could go down to 1/2" PVC, which should have an outside diameter similar to the 3/4" CPVC, but .. I'd already spent $50 on these slip-T's, and really didn't want to waste that.

Great news! I've got my fittings coming in tomorrow theoretically from that site. I'll have to head over to lowes to pick up the pipes and some other odds and ends.

I've heard, and used, the idea of using a stick (or short pvc pipe) to help train the bird to step up .. it's offering something that can't get hurt when he bites it. Get him comfortable stepping up on that, then make it shorter and shorter until he steps up on your hand. When my brother-in-law first gave Gandalf to me I used this technique. Are you a bird owner otherwise and this is a new bird, or is this your first bird? A lot of my issues when getting comfortable with Gandalf was my own fear of being bitten -- as I became more comfortable he bit less; now he won't bite at all.

Sounds great! Look forwards to pics and stories of how well your bird does with it!

Yeah -- the online directoories for most of the stores appear to be very poorly organized for things such as pvc connectors. Phone may not even help; it may take an actual trip to the stores to check out what they have and prices. I know when I walked through lowes/menards/etc the last time I was doing this I was completely lost -- they had all kinds of pvc piping, of different makes and models. I just looked around until I found the cheapest ones they had. Didn't need no high pressure or anything like that.... Good luck on your search!

Curious: What do you do about the floor in the bird room?

Another thought -- is he comfortable with the toys that are on the stand? Perhaps if not you should introduce those to him in his cage or however you do it before trying to introduce the whole thing. Or take the toys off and let him get used to it bare first. Curious why you added food/water bowls to it .. I know a lot of stands have these, but .. playstands are playstands, not things that the bird is going to be on for hours on end, aren't they? Gandalf will let me know if he needs food or water by being "uppity" .. I'll take him back to his cage and he'll go over to the waterbowl. It seems like an unnecessary addition to me. Am I missing something?

Wow -- that looks great! What's the second bar up -- it looks like wood, the brown one? The um poop catcher doesn't look large enough -- my Gandalf will probably miss it a lot. Don't give up on it -- your bird will love it once he gets acclimated to it. Just give him time to get used to it being in his environment. I would suggest putting vetrap on the topmost vertical and horizontal bars, as Gandalf tends to like high things, so he'll probably be up on top of the toy hangers that you have a lot of the time.

No, they look like standard PVC T fittings, where the pipe won't go all the way through. Found another site, slip T fitting for $1.04 each. Provides for shipping to Canada. Other items are a bit more expensive, but it might be worth paying $10 or so in shipping to avoid making so many cuts in the pipes. http://www.creativeshelters.com/Fittings/PVC-Structure-Fitting.aspx Most of the fittings that I've found say "slip", meaning you SLIP the pipe into the fitting, attaching it with glue as needed. I.e., not threaded.<br><br>Post edited by: n2fisher, at: 2008/07/30 07:34

Hey Broomer -- found a site that has VERY cheap pvc connectors! http://www.dripworksusa.com/store/pvc.php 40 cents for a 3/4" T 32 cents for a 3/4" elbow Doesn't seem to have the "slip T"s that you've found elsewhere. I'm having a hard time locating them because most sites refer to the normal PVC as "slip" connector; wish they had called that T something other than slip! Don't know what shipping to Canada would be; but it might be worthwhile for you to check them out. NOTE: I obviously haven't purchased anything from them; might be best to call them. Norm

I got one of those sandstone type mini-perches that I put on the door of the cage .. SOLVED my nail trimming problem completely! I didn't think it would, but .. I used to have holes all over my hands, but no more. I took him to a vet twice for nail trimming before I discovered this. It's a green ugly thing .. but now, since it opens with the door, my signal that he's coming out of his cage is "Get on the green" .. I say that and he'll go to the green sandstone thingie; I open the door, and have him step-up to my hand.

Re: scared of playstand. It took me a while to get Gandalf used to it. At first he was scared of it and wouldn't touch it. I changed the color of the vetrap on the stand, and placed it by his cage for a couple of days (not sure if the change of color helped, it made me feel like I did something) I took a spare piece of pvc wrapped in the new color, and had him step up on it several times .. it was about 6 inches long and my hand covered most of it, so he only saw a little piece of it. I uncovered more and more of that piece, and got him comfortable with the pvc with vetrap around it. He eventually would do it with a longer piece. I then tried him with the stand again, placing the stand right next to my chair, and getting him closer and closer to it -- eventually he just went right over to it and had a good time on it. As with any toy with a grey, it just takes him seeing it and getting used to it in his environment. Some of the toys that I bring home from the pet shop he won't go near the first few times I try it in his cage; I have to put it in his field of view for a while. At least that's what worked with mine ... perhaps your has a more deep seated fear of pvc than mine did. Oh -- I had him step up onto bare pvc after he was comfortable with the vetrapped one, so he got used to the feel of the bare pvc as well. Now he loves just sliding down the bare pvc vertical support (of course, his goal there is to get me to pick him up ...)<br><br>Post edited by: n2fisher, at: 2008/07/29 19:13

I found elsewhere that you drill a hole near the end of the PVC large enough to put the cord in, then use hotglue to seal it. Sounds like some kind of crimp-on would work as well, if you can crimp it inside a 3/4 pipe. Probably not reasonable. Guess I'll be buying a glue gun. This looks interesting!! So where do you fine "polycord" that won't hurt greys? Reading over on birdboard .. may find answers there.

Ahhh .. so basically you wrap it around the flex PVC in the sphere. Sounds reasonable -- how do you attach it so it doesn't come off? Gandalf LOVES pulling off the vetrap on the stands that I made him. I have to replace it periodically, but clearly rope wrapped around it would work better. Not sure how to attach it in a way that won't hurt his feet.

Ouch! Prince inflation in Canada? What are you using the polycord for? Not sure what you do with it. I presume you've looked at Mika's playstand elsewhere on this board. I'm looking to build something similar to that one.

My CAG is very happy with 3/4" pipe with vetrap around it. I dug out my supplies from the last time I was building .. have a receipt in it dated Dec last year; 41 cents for a 3/4 tee, $2.69 for 10' of 3/4 pipe. I don't see this project costing anywhere near $300. As I said, I checked Menards, Lowes, and True Value previously; haven't seen the slip-T's, so you may have to skip those and do the extra cutting. I as well found them online for $4 or so. Not worth it!! Even a "warehouse" site sells them for that much!

I've put together two PVC stands .. your basic floor stand with one horizontal bar. I haven't glued them, just pushed them together tightly. Lets you rearrange it as needed. I've used 3/4" and 1/2" tubing on the two stands -- the first one had 1/2 for the base and vertical, and 3/4" across the top, letting Gandalf have a good size perch. The second one was all 3/4" .. a bit sturdier. The second one was designed to fit in the bathtub, so Gandalf could "shower" with me -- complete failure as he clearly told me he didn't like it. (I'd tried taking him in the shower on my arm previously, he wasn't real comfortable, so I thought that having a stand in there might help). Didn't work .. he just didn't like showers. (see my post on bathing my grey for my later success with him) The second one I also tried putting different levels on it -- putting a T on one side and going up a variety of levels (I first tried about 8 inches, then shortened it to 4 inches, and tried other combinations). He didn't like it one bit .. he sat on the other side of the stand. I could put him on the upper level, but he quickly got down to the base level and moved away from that side. So .. these two stands that have been shown here look exciting to me; I'll probably copy the other one and make one like it. I've never seen the "sphere" concept nor do I quite understand what he would do with it -- looks to be a bit of an overkill for a third attempt at something Gandalf might like. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/african-grey/86094-mikas-new-playstand.html is the other stand that I'm going to try to build ..

I've put together two PVC stands .. your basic floor stand with one horizontal bar. I haven't glued them, just pushed them together tightly. Lets you rearrange it as needed. I've used 3/4" and 1/2" tubing on the two stands -- the first one had 1/2 for the base and vertical, and 3/4" across the top, letting Gandalf have a good size perch. The second one was all 3/4" .. a bit sturdier. The second one was designed to fit in the bathtub, so Gandalf could "shower" with me -- complete failure as he clearly told me he didn't like it. (I'd tried taking him in the shower on my arm previously, he wasn't real comfortable, so I thought that having a stand in there might help). Didn't work .. he just didn't like showers. (see my post on bathing my grey for my later success with him) The second one I also tried putting different levels on it -- putting a T on one side and going up a variety of levels (I first tried about 8 inches, then shortened it to 4 inches, and tried other combinations). He didn't like it one bit .. he sat on the other side of the stand. I could put him on the upper level, but he quickly got down to the base level and moved away from that side. So .. these two stands that have been shown here look exciting to me; I'll probably copy the other one and make one like it. I've never seen the "sphere" concept nor do I quite understand what he would do with it -- looks to be a bit of an overkill for a third attempt at something Gandalf might like. http://www.greyforums.net/forums/african-grey/86094-mikas-new-playstand.html is the other stand that I'm going to try to build ..

You are using 1.25 inch PVC piping? Seems very thick -- do you have a larger bird? Where did you find that slip connector? (obviously online) Do you find a local source for those, or are you going to order online? I've shopped Lowes, Menards, and True Value and didn't see anything like that; that looks like an IDEAL connector, as it will add to the strength of the device to not have all those short cuts!

Mel -- Gandalf has never flown, other than a diagonol line from the side of his cage to the floor, or from another perch 3 feet or so down to the floor. We like to say that we've never told him that he can fly. I had him clipped about 6 months ago, but I don't think I'm going to do that anymore. It changes how he looks too much for my taste. I guess the feathers have grown back in enough that I should start to be worried again, but .. he's been out with me many hours and has shown no tendency to fly away. I usually try to hold him while going outside with him (you see my thumb over his toes), but he's sat outside last year for hours with me on a simple stand -- no leash -- while I sit in a chair with my laptop, working. I bought a "flying harness", but haven't taken the time to figure out how to get it on him yet; the video that came with it said it takes many hours for the bird to get comfortable having it put on him. http://www.birdsupplies.com/The-Aviator-Bird-Harness-p/puv001xx.htm Does anyone have recommendations on an easier harness or leash?

Can you post a full-size pic so I can look at it in more detail? When reduced to fit this forum you can't look at details -- what kind of connection is at the bottom; how the blue circles are attached; etc. Don't know how to get you my email address if you simply want to email it to me.. Sorry for all the questions -- can you tell I'm excited about this stand? Does Mika get up on the top perch at all? I'd presume so, since greys love height, just curious how much time s/he spends up there.<br><br>Post edited by: n2fisher, at: 2008/07/26 19:07

How did you attach the swing to the top bar? I've built a few real simple stands, but nothing like this. Quite a good job you did! All those clocks in the background worry me -- he can't reach them and destroy them? It appears that Mika can get down to the floor with it -- does he (she?) go down to the floor at all? Did you use PVC glue, or just push them in hard? I worry about PVC glue around Gandalf, but .. I guess I could do it outside. He loves watching me while I'm building one. I haven't glued any of mine together yet -- it also lets me pull them apart and put them together in a different format if need be. I'd be curious how it works out long-term. Gandalf loves chewing off the Vetrap tape that I've used. He hasn't liked different levels, so I haven't tried a multi-level one like this. Most of the time when he's on the stand he's trying to get over to me .. he's learned that if he slides down to the floor I'll pick him up, so he'll get cuddle time. So I basically gave up on the stand. With your ideas I'll try again and give him some toys to play with on it. Thanks much for posting this!!<br><br>Post edited by: n2fisher, at: 2008/07/26 19:06

One more photo .. my wife took some great shots! By the way -- his feathers really do feel different today than they have previously. He obviously really needed the bath; bathing in his waterbowl just wasn't getting him as wet as he could be. He's clearly much cleaner than he has been in his four years of life!<br><br>Post edited by: n2fisher, at: 2008/07/26 18:43

The link won't let me in unless I logon. Can you post the picture here?

All the talk about supervising cats/birds .. my bird cage is in the living room; I never let the bird be out with the cat unsupervised, but .. sometimes when the bird is pecking around the bottom of his cage looking for things that he dropped, the cat will come to the cage and put his paw up on the bottom. Now Gandalf (my Grey) could very easily jump over and give the cat a very bad sore, perhaps taking off a toe or something. From all appearances (they have lived together for two years) it hasn't happened and probably won't happen, but i worry sometimes what happens when I'm not home. The cat is of course naturally curious about this other entity that lives within its home, so he wants to see it. I'm sure the bird would win in any fight. FWIW: I had leopard geckos in the past .. one got out once, we couldn't find it, a day or two later I hear this terrible sound from the cat .. I ran upstairs from the lowest level of my trilevel .. the gecko has the cat backed into a corner! I was SOOO pleased to get the gecko back I didn't think much about it, but .. that's the opposite of what I would have expected .. the gecko should have been cat food. This is a different cat, but .. says that our pets interact in ways we don't expect.