# Nest box questions



## Set (Mar 14, 2011)

So my mother's actually agreed to let me breed the birds. This isn't a spur of the moment thing or something we're taking lightly; I've pretty much been researching since before I got Lilith, and though I wasn't 100% when it would happen, now seems to be the perfect time with them already mating up a storm. 

But I really thought the nest box would come with some sort of instructions? :blush: I have no idea how to attach it to the cage. I have a double flight with breeder box doors, and the box has screw holes in it. Is it just a matter of screwing the box to the cage (with bird safe screws/bolts)?

I'm also concerned that they might try to life the top up. It's not fastened in any way, but I've never seen a nest box that has any sort of locking lid. Maybe I'm giving my birds too much credit, but should I put something on there just in case to keep it closed? Or should it be heavy enough that they won't be able to lift it?

And to think I thought the box would be the easy part


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

There are two types of nestbox: those that are designed to be hung inside the cage and those that are designed to be hung outside the cage, with the parents entering the nest through an open door in the cage. The difference between these two types is in the location of the screw holes. The "in the cage" nestbox has screw holes on the back side of the box; the "outside the cage" type has the screw holes on the front side of the box.

And yes, you just screw the box to the cage. It's safest to place the screws so the rounded top is facing into the cage and the pointy end is sticking outside the cage. You need two big flat washers for each screw (one washer inside the cage and one outside) so nothing can slip through the cage bars. With my big cage, the screw holes don't line up quite right with the cage bars so I use a screw in one of the holes, and I pass a leather lace through the other hole and tie it securely to the cage. I like to have some extra security so I attach a platform perch underneath the box to serve as a shelf carrying part of the weight. 

I haven't had any problems with birds lifting up the lid. I don't think it's actually possible for them to do it. The top of the box is pretty much out of their reach even with 3 inches of bedding in the bottom, and the walls are too smooth for them to climb. If you're worried you could put something on top of the lid to help keep it down, but I don't think it's necessary.

P.S. Once the nestbox has been installed, it's helpful to the parents and babies to arrange a perch in front of the door so they can get in and out easily. Like this:









You can see a bit of leather lace up near the top of the nestbox door.


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## tielfan (Aug 31, 2008)

Here's a picture of Buster acting flustered because I "borrowed" the babies and put a pillowcase inside the nest so he couldn't go in and get upset because the babies weren't there. He was trying to pull the pillowcase out and doing a fairly good job of it.

But the humor value isn't the reason I posted this picture. If you look at the bottom of the box, you can see the shelf perch supporting the box and also the way to place the flat washers. In this case the pointy ends of the screws are sticking into the cage because there's no other way to do it with this shelf perch. But the screws at the top of the box are pointing in the other direction.


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