Well today Cheeky was messing about so I gave him a thin coffee stick I had from from fast food place and low and behold he goes to the back of his cage trying to put it in the wires! I was and then thinking in high hopes maybe I have an upcoming weaver! I then gave him another one and he did the same! Im elated! I dont have anymore sticks and need to get somemore. Do I get straws and or sticks? Anyone reccomend a certain kind of sticks or builder items? Im going to give him a try with some. In the past hes not shown any intrest in sticks or straws when Ive given them so Im real excited "hoping" I have a builder in my house!

Any suggestions anyone please?

Morgan is a builder as well as my moms bird Cody. Go to Wal-mart and get some wooden shish kabob sticks cut off the sharp end and there you are.

Casey is not a builder, but she loves to play with the "long stir sticks" you can get at the dollar store here. They are longer than popsicle sticks and more flexible... I weave them for her but she hasn't figured it out yet! Straws are probably easier to weave though...

Don't forget to take pictures of his master-piece when he is done!
Yea Cheeky the builder!

Along this topic but a little distracted, Does anyone know if its just the male quakers that build the nest or do the females get in on it too?

I have a female and she couldn't give a rip less about trying that stuff...she'll just chew it to smithereens instead

how exciting!
I went to one of the chain petshops and found popcycle sticks that were sitting in an edible coconut sheath that you hang in the cage on clearance otherwise just plain popcycle sticks and what others have said too will keep your fid busy for hours on end. mine likes to weave anything he finds straw rope etc.

I agree with Stella on the shiskabob sticks...I got mine at the grocery store.... If they are long, cut them in half and also the point off....

Will be waiting to see what little Cheeky is going to do....

Now that he has had his flying lesson he is ready to start building Janet....

Yea, I've thought about that too, and wondered who makes the nests in the wild.
We *think* Casey is a girl but don't know for sure, and she LOVES shreading paper, popsicle sticks... clothes! Not too happy about the clothes!

Yep the shishkabob sticks are perfect! Which reminds me I have to go buy more!!

Paco is a weaver, too. Any piece of rope or string or leather strips that he can steal from the 'big' birds' cages, goes right over to weave in and out of his cage bars. None of my female quakers have ever shown any interest in weaving.

Thank you everyone!

My Quaker Simie loves straws of any kind. Will steal them out of your cup if you leave it too close. He has a birdy masterpiece going behind his happy hut.

Can they get hurt or sick if they accidentally eat the straw? Our quakers tend to shred whatever they can get their beaks on.

Also, the guy at the local pet store said that some birds will make stuff out of lincoln logs.

Austin&Blue they tend to chew off pieces and drop it so they can chew off more..

I don't think they will eat it....

My quaker loves to play with straws. He also has a large toy with 1/4 dowels that are about 4 inches long that he tries to weave. He hasnn't gotten that talent down yet but he does try hard at it. I have his CLIMBING NET hung on his cage and I insert straws at all the intersections of the net. I also bundle some up. I do thisa in the morning or right after I put him to bed for the night. When I get home from work he has already removed probably 90% of all the straws and rods.
I linked the words CLIMBING NET so you can see a picture of him on the net working to get a straw out of it.

my daughter bought some popsicle sticks from a craft store. Kiwi now is in the mood for just dropping them. I pile a bunch of them on top of his cage and he just picks one up and drops it then goes and gets another and another, silly bird

My guys hate the straws. They will only build with the long coffee stirrers from dollerama.

Julie he saw some really nice houses as he flew over them I guess now he wants to build one! ROFLMBO! He reminds me of the movie...Pee wees big Adventure! HAHA

Go to it Cheeky....Thanks Janet....Let us know what Cheeky perceives to do....We'll be waiting....