DIY a parrot breeding box

When your pet parrots are going to breed, they need a nest that they can hide in and feel safe to have eggs to hatch. We usually place a nest box inside the cage or affix the nest box to the cage if the cage is not big enough. We call this nest box as a breeding box. The breeding box is very simple and easy for us to make it by ourselves.

Know the design of a parrot breeding box

There are two popular types of parrot breeding box: “:” and “..” as below diagrams:

Parrot breeding box of type “:”

Parrot breeding box of type “..”

From the above diagrams, we can see the basic theory of a parrot breeding is to have two chambers, one is activity room or just a channel, the other chamber is for breeding. We put nesting materials, such as rolled oats and/or wood flakes, into the breeding room as a soft bedding for the birds and eggs. There should be a door to the breeding chamber for us to inspect inside. The entrance hole should be aligned with an opening of the bird cage when affixing the breeding box to the cage with two sets of bolts/gaskets.

Actually the breeding box can be small with only one chamber and be placed inside the cage. But the breeding box with two chambers and the breeding chamber is further inside the box will make the parent birds feel safer, and the lighting and noise will affect the breeding birds less than in the box with only one chamber.

Usually type “:” is more popular than type “..” because the nesting materials in box of type “:” is not easy to be push out by the birds.

DIY the breeding box

Do the calculations and measurements.

Determine the size of the breeding box according to the size of your birds.
Calculate how many pieces of plywood are needed for a breeding box.
Measure and mark lines on a large piece of plywood that we can cut along the lines to get the exact wood pieces to assemble the box.
Also remember to mark the holes on specific wood pieces according to the diagram. The hole on the breeding chamber should be high in the middle position in case the baby birds climb out of the box.

Cut the wood pieces and make holes.

Make sure the cuts are clean without splinters that may hurt the birds.
The wood piece with entrance hole should also have two bolt holes to be drilled. Two bolts and gaskets will be installed to affix the box and the cage together.

Build the wood pieces into a box with a hammer and nails.

Hammer the nails entirely into the wood pieces, no any tip exposed to hurt the birds.
The nails should be stainless steel or nickle plated in case any possible lead poisoning.

Affix the box to the bird cage.

Remove some wires of the cage with a metal cutter to have an opening to align with the entrance hole of the box when they are affixed together with the bolts and gaskets.