Photo by Jamieleigh Location: Orlando, FL Shown: Blue throat macaw "Jinx" in aviary with zip tied manila rope

Recently I got asked how to secure down water bottles inside bird cages so that the birds wouldn't break them free and drop them to the ground. Now currently, I don't use water bottles full time, I normally just use them for when I'm traveling but I had this same issue with using manila rope in my bird aviaries.

I was originally using lots and lots and lots of zip ties, like shown in this picture with Jinx. Jinx, however, found it more fun to undo the zip ties than play on the rope... which was super annoying for me because that rope is thick and heavy and not fun to re-put up ALL the time. He literally had the rope down in seconds. I'm pretty sure he was laughing at my efforts.

Finally Dave came up with the idea of using something our birds COULDN'T dismantle.

Photo from McMaster-Carr Shown: Hose and tube clamp 

These hose and tube clamps are amazing. We now use them to hold up the manila rope in our aviaries and these things have not been broken down by our birds. In fact, our birds don't mess with them at all. Now, we use them on something we don't plan on changing often at all until the rope is no good but that's probably months at a time. Water bottles is a bit of a different story depending on what kind you get and how easy you make it to fill it but these clamps WILL work and are bird proof which I say from experience of using them!

In fact, I wish I had photos to show of them being used in our aviaries at home but alas, I did not take any when I went home and I don't have any of when we made the change.

You can get the clamps or read more about them here. (They even come in stainless steel so you don't have to worry about the safety of your parrots.)

Article by Jamieleigh Womach. She has been working with parrots and toucans since the age of 17. She isn’t homeless but is home less than she prefers to be. She travels the world with her husband, daughter, and a flockful of parrots whom she shares the stage with.