When a Fairfield County residential client approached us with a unique renovation request, we were eager to take on the challenge. The request? The client’s African Grey parrot needed more space. While renovating her beautiful North Stamford home, she wondered if a special room conversion could take place to fit the needs of her tropical friend. Unlike anything the team had done before, the parrot room project has taught us much about the niche habitats of the African Grey parrot.
African Grey parrots are extremely intelligent animals and, like us, they get bored easily when they don’t have enough to do. This makes our client’s parrot room idea a great one. With an entire room to explore and exercise in, she will be able to provide her pet with more than enough stimuli in its habitat.
Another requirement of these striking, brilliant animals relates to temperature control. This is what, from a construction standpoint, added a few extra steps as we implemented climate control bells and whistles. We first integrated WarmboardsTM to provide low-maintenance, HVAC cost-reducing temperature control in this room. Warmboard Inc. is a cutting edge radiant heat solution manufacturer that specializes in heating panels and heat tubs for residential homes. Their products are frequently used in residential master bathrooms to provide an extra layer of warmth and comfort for humans post-bath or -shower.
In this project, however, our use of Warmboard floor paneling and tub installation will instead provide our feathered friend with a home that feels close to what it’d experience in the wild. African Grey parrots are happiest in warmer climates that mimic their native West and Central African habitats. While our client may prefer to keep her home thermostat closer to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, her pet prospers in a high-70’s environment. Thanks to Warmboard, this African Grey won’t ever be shivering.
We installed the Warmboards beneath shelter mats which will be covered in tile, allowing for easy cleanup. The next step? We built in sun tunnels, which are mini skylights to help regulate the parrot’s circadian rhythm and provide difficult-to-replicate UVB rays. According to Lafeber Vet and corroborated by our client, African Grey parrots are particularly susceptible to hypocalcemia. This is a syndrome directly related to calcium content within the bird’s blood, a deficiency that can be mitigated by providing the pet with adequate Vitamin D. Vitamin D acts as a prohormone in African Grey parrots as well as in other birds, reptiles and mammals. Without Vitamin D’s synthesis of specific prohormones in the bird’s body (or in ours!), it cannot absorb calcium and will likely suffer from ill effects like hypocalcemia. UVB rays are the best and purest source of Vitamin D, so without them, a residual calcium deficiency could be in the works.
It is therefore generally recommended that these birds receive somewhere around 6hrs of UVB rays daily. For most busy pet owners, providing this to their birds isn’t quite as convenient as they’d like it to be. Our client’s life is about to get a lot easier, however, thanks to sun tunnel integration. While this project is still in the works, we are excited to share more niche elements of this unique project as it nears completion.
Whether you’re seeking residential home or vacation home renovations, commercial constructions or anything in between, M&M Constructions will provide the best and most thorough build experience in projects both traditional and custom-tailored to a client’s (or their pets’!) vision.