BO-9 TO BO-11 GOURDS

[Berndog]

Hello All,
Six of my 10 gourds are s&k bo-9 gourds,Next year i would like to up-grade to bo-11 gourds,which are roomier for my martins.My ? is w/the bo-11 i do believe they have a dark interior,would this spook my present pair next year since their present gourd is "white"Thank's in advance...Berndog

[John Miller]

No. And all gourds are petty dark inside when the access port is closed. I think martins bond more to a housing location -- exact spot -- than to a particular housing type. But sometimes they might be more cautious when arriving if you changed say from "gourds" to a "house." As these gourds look very very similar on the outside, I doubt the martins will think as hard on it as you and I at the moment and just go right in.

John

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

I agree with John, it will not make any difference about the inside color. My suggestion is to put up the kind of gourds that you wish to have, the martins will happily accept what you put up for them...good luck

[Carrera Mike]

I have both 9s and 11s. The Bo-11 Plus are what i want to slowly convert all of them to. They have have that black inner liner that gives better temp insulation specially from heat. Big and deeper space too for them inside. Their caps too are way easier too to open and close. I have one right now hanging with the rest of all of my 9s.
They didnt occupy it this year. I think it more of its positioning in the rack than what it looks like to the Martins. Ill move it next year to the position of the ones where they nested this year and see if they use it.

[Berndog]

Thank's guys

[JL Murray]

If you are changing your bo9's for bo11's to have more room you will not gain anymore room because i believe the black inner Gourd on the bo11 is the same 9" inner diameter as the Bo9, the only way to gain more room is to use it without the black inner gourd.

You do gain when it comes to keeping the nestling cooler with the way the bo11 with the black inner Gourd helps to offer insulating property's.

My personal belief about the Gourd being black on the inside helps is that I believe it does as it makes it easier for the Martin's to hide their young...

That's my 2 cents worth anyway...

[Carrera Mike]

If you are changing your bo9's for bo11's to have more room you will not gain anymore room because i believe the black inner Gourd on the bo11 is the same 9" inner diameter as the Bo9, the only way to gain more room is to use it without the black inner gourd.

You do gain when it comes to keeping the nestling cooler with the way the bo11 with the black inner Gourd helps to offer ..

I respectfully disagree. I have both and the 11 is definitely much larger inside even with the black liner.

[Winger]

I/we are not experts like some of the other's that have posted. I just thought I would share with you...

We have 48 BO 11+. Last year (2013) we had 4 cavities that fledged between July 7th - July 15 (late for our area). Temps were 92 degrees - 98 degrees (and VERY humid). All of the "babies" (21 total) lived and fledged. I feel it is very possible that it was due to the "dark" interior cavity of the gourds with the "cooling/insulated" space between the "dark" interior lining and the actual "white" hard plastic gourd. Note: We are using cooling caps, tunnels & proches.

Wish you the best! Tammy

[JL Murray]

If you are changing your bo9's for bo11's to have more room you will not gain anymore room because i believe the black inner Gourd on the bo11 is the same 9" inner diameter as the Bo9, the only way to gain more room is to use it without the black inner gourd.

You do gain when it comes to keeping the nestling cooler with the way the bo11 with the black inner Gourd helps to offer ..

I respectfully disagree. I have both and the 11 is definitely much larger inside even with the black liner.

Measure them both and you will see that that black inner liner for the bo11 is around 9" to 10" that to me is not worth the cost of changing them out just to gain an inch.

imo... the only way i would see it being worth switching is if you specifically wanted the Bo11 plus because it stays a bit cooler in hot weather.

In my personal opinion the newest Big Bo Gourd is a better choice out of all the S&K gourds... but to each his or her own...

[Carrera Mike]

If you are changing your bo9's for bo11's to have more room you will not gain anymore room because i believe the black inner Gourd on the bo11 is the same 9" inner diameter as the Bo9, the only way to gain more room is to use it without the black inner gourd....

Jl,

Your statement above is what Im pointing out that's inaccurate.

[~Ray~Gingerich]

Those gourds have some very nice features but it needs improvement... #1 the lids #2 the plastic looks like moldy cheese after a few years of use

[JL Murray]

Berndog checkout S&K's new improved Big Bo Gourd, as I said you will not gain much more room at all inside a Bo11 with the inner liner, and as Mikes pictures show it looks much larger on the outside but is not hardly much bigger on the inside than the Bo9 when using the liners... And not worth spending the extra money for just that reason alone, But it is YOUR money so do what YOU wish.

The New Big Bo Gourd that S&K has now will easily outlast the Bo9 or Bo11 ....IMO, So if you are determined to switch from the Bo9 to another S&K Gourd, The new Big Bo would be a great choice....Again IMO.

I replaced 12 Bo9's and Bo11's earlier this year because the pop on/off lids were giving me problems getting them off due to my gout, Also the necks on the Bo11 gourds (not the Bo9) got to were they would let the gourd turn in heavy winds and I had to super glue the neck of them to stop that, easy fix so no biggie there.

I now have only 30 each of the THG's & TVG's because I can remove the screw on/off lids much easier on them, I do plan to put up a few of S&K's new Big Bo Gourds next season on one rack as they are a tough gourd and i want to see how they last compared to my Troyer's ...

Now there is my 2 cents again.........lol

[Winger]

JL--I AGREE THAT THE BO-11 LIDS CAN BE DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH . THIS PROBLEM IS EASILY SOLVED BY APPLYING A THIN LAYER OF BABY OIL TO THE INSIDE OF THE LID OR ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE GOURD. THAT WAY, THE LID WILL SLIDE NICELY UNTIL YOU HEAR A SNAP. DONE..

WHEN OR IF THE NECK BEGINS TO TWIST, IT MEANS THE BODY HOLDING SCREWS HAVE BECOME SLIGHTLY LOOSE. JUST TIGHTEN AND DONE. I AM ASSUMING THAT YOUR SCREWS WERE NOT STRIPPED .

HOPE THIS HELPS

[JL Murray]

JL--I AGREE THAT THE BO-11 LIDS CAN BE DIFFICULT TO WORK WITH . THIS PROBLEM IS EASILY SOLVED BY APPLYING A THIN LAYER OF BABY OIL TO THE INSIDE OF THE LID OR ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE GOURD. THAT WAY, THE LID WILL SLIDE NICELY UNTIL YOU HEAR A SNAP. DONE..

WHEN OR IF THE NECK BEGINS TO TWIST, IT MEANS THE BODY HOLDING SCREWS HAVE BECOME SLIGHTLY LOOSE. JUST TIGHTEN AND DONE. I AM ASSUMING THAT YOUR SCREWS WERE NOT STRIPPED .

HOPE THIS HELPS

Tammy I tried to tighten the screws and could not get them to tighten down anymore thsn they already were, so I just squirted some super glue along were the neck fits into the Gourd that fixed that problem nicely, I had had these Bo11s up for 4 seasons and had not took them down over the winters so iceing may have caused the neck to get loose.

[Berndog]

Thank you all so very much for the valuable infomation !!!!Berndog

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

JL, I agree that the new improved BigBo gourd is an excellent choice. The BigBo gourd does not have any deterioration problems, it lasts forever. The newly designed tunnels with the anti-entrapment guard is an excellent design, and the very best in my opinion..

I think but am not positive, that some of the gourds that were ruined by the UV rays were made in China, but they are no longer being sold.

[JL Murray]

I also appreciate that the New Big Bo Gourd V2 still has a textured outside, Because for people such as myself that have trouble with our hands keeping a grip on things, that really makes it much easier to hold onto them.

[Bill Hyde]

To Berndog et al,
This is a very interesting thread Some of my personal favorite opinion sharers have weighed in. Emil and JL always seem to have their facts straight and readers should give them credit for sharing their wisdom with us. Thanks for the photos and carefully expressed postings from everybody. But apparently not everyone agrees with each other
This has made me realize that I don't know nearly as much as I thought regarding S&K gourds; and, like so many other landlords, I guess I try to think deeply about my choices before I make purchases. To that end, I have some questions to ask. Does the new Big Bo v2 still have the access port on the back, opposite the entrance? I believe I'd prefer having it at 90 degrees from the entrance so I can access the access port better. And if one prefers a gourd with a black interior, why not purchase the one made of black plastic and then paint the outside with white Fusion paint? This gourd is less expensive and you don't lose any interior size if that is important to you.
For a few years now I have been experimenting with interior baffles that interrupt the line of sight from the entrance to where the female hides her eggs and hatchlings. The way I make the baffles now does not interfere with a martin's movements in or out of the gourd and, if he/she prefers, there is enough space to sit inside the gourd and get a good view of the outside.
Oh, and the martins seem to prefer clinger entrances and Ultimate Tunnels; and I prefer to put the access port lids on with the the tabs up. (Birds can't read anyway, so I might as well make it easy on myself.)

[jr 2]

would you not have too install vents in this new bigbov2 gourd;;I am thinking about trying some of them;;I have the bo11 p now and I think the black liner acts as a subfloor and I have the vent caps and tunnels;;jr2

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

Bill, the way that S&K molds the gourds, the access hole has to be in the back of the BigBo gourd. If you have some, and if you really do prefer to have the access hole on the right side, you can simply add a 2nd access hole. Its neat to have 2 different looks at the babies.