Public service announcement about small cage size and behavior/screaming

Sunnyclover

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Jan 11, 2017
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New Jersey
Parrots
Sun Conure - Ollie- Hatched 08/18/16*

Nanday Conure -Finley- Hatched 10/07/17*

Turquoise Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure -Paris- Hatched 03/03/18*

Black Capped Conure -North- Hatched 10/10/18
Hi. I know so of you may have already read this text on my cage tour thread but I wanted to post this story on a more serious and appropriate place to maybe have a bigger chance of helping birdkind!
I would like to bring up an interesting point I found out about cage size.
When we 1st got Fin we had a smaller (but not THAT small) cage that the pet store recommended as the perfect size for a Nanday conure as a temporary cage until we found a nicer bigger one for him. After a couple of days I could barely get Finley to get into the cage and when I closed the door he screamed and bit at the cage bars non-stop. I thought that it might be his personality and he just didn't like being in a cage. I felt bad for him but I thought he was just a "screamer" as some birds are just really vocal which didn't really bother me that much. I started training him and ignoring him when he'd scream and rewarding him when he was quiet in his cage. He usually only went in it to eat and if I run errands a couple hours a day. Then I stared having trouble getting him to even go in the cage to eat and drink and that was very unnerving. I had to rig a travel cage dish to a vertical perch on the top of the cage to get him to eat (he didn't mind being out on top of the cage). About 3 weeks after got him his new cage arrived (about 5 days ago) and we put it together with lots of toys and play top ect and the cage is much bigger ofc. Since we got that cage he barely screams in it, excitedly goes into it to eat and when we leave, no longer chews on the bars non-stop or at all and seems to be generally happy when in his cage. He is soooo much quieter too and happier. I just wanted to write this post because some of you may think your bird is a screamer or hates their cage but it's possible that even if you have the recommended cage size for your bird, the fact is that YOUR bird may require a bigger cage to be happy. If you have a so called "screamer", you may want to think about getting a bigger cage to see if it helps. Please please consider this as a source of the issues of your bird. I could even see many more behaviors in Finley that were starting like biting when I put him in the cage and running and flying away from me when he knew I was about to put him inside the cage, please stop these behaviors dead in their tracks! Hopes story helps someone else and Happy Birding!
 
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Scott

Supporting Member
Aug 21, 2010
32,673
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San Diego, California USA, Earth, Milky Way Galaxy
Parrots
Goffins: Gabby, Abby, Squeaky, Peanut, Popcorn / Citron: Alice / Eclectus: Angel /Timneh Grey: ET / Blue Fronted Amazon: Gonzo /

RIP Gandalf and Big Bird, you are missed.
Success! Thanks for the post, hopefully other members will consider this as solution!
 

Clumsyninja92

New member
Feb 2, 2018
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Surrey- England
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Green cheek conure
This kinda happened to us. We ordered a cage online which didn't exactly arrive on time. Then it came to 'the day', the pick up your new feather friend day. So the excitement got the better or us and we brought a small tempery cage from the averie we was getting our gcc from. I know he was a wee lil baby but the cage they recommended was so small! Looking back now I'd think it's more of a budgie size rather than a conure ...anyway a few days later we received the bigger cage and he's as happy as Larry in there (when he needs to be).
They should really think about altering the 'recommended' cage size.
 

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,646
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Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
Recommended cage size is something that I have always questioned over the years. And, depending on the source, I have seen it vary widely, commonly dependent on what they have available and in some cases, what they think you can afford.

Pet Stores have a long history of questionable advise. To be fair, there are truly great stores! But more commonly, the staff are functioning on hearsay or what they have overhear the owner or another employee who happened to have worked at the store a bit longer recommend.

Online Pet Supply Sites run the full gamut from staff with excellent training to others with a general knowledge of using the search tool to locate a cage.

So, unless you get really lucky, the likelihood of getting sound advise is a crapshoot.

I would recommend that you provide the size of your first cage and then the size of the cage that you have know. This will provide others an idea of what size cage your Parrot found acceptable!

It has always been my recommendation to select the largest cage one can afford! The only limiting factor should be the bar spacing and bar diameter. A mega MAC cage for the largest of MAC's would not be a good cage for an Amazon, since the bar spacing maybe too wide! Side Note: If your Parrot's head will fit between the bar spacing, that is very dangerous!

The current owner of our home, has no want for a cage other than food, water and on occasion, a nap spot. I leaned this the hard way, as he was likely an engineer or mechanic in his prior life, as his answer was simple; he would disassemble the cage!
 

T00tsyd

Well-known member
May 8, 2017
1,256
862
UK
Parrots
Green cheek conure - Sydney (Syd) Hatched 2/2017
I have made the same discovery. I re-homed Syd at 14 weeks - the previous owner's toddler was trying to kill him either smashing him with a toy or letting him out the door - anyway his cage came with him and I looked almost straight away for a bigger one. He was very happy in it straight away but after nearly a year I wanted to upgrade and got the biggest one my house would cope with. Rather than several days to make the swap he darted in it immediately and has never looked back.

The difference is that with either of his previous cages he was reluctant to return but this one he comes and goes on his own. Definitely a home he enjoys.
 

itzjbean

Well-known member
Jan 27, 2017
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2 cockatiels
A lot of people don't think about this but it makes so much sense! Suunyclover did you have a link to the new cage? Or do you have a pic of it with all the toys and everything in it?
 
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Sunnyclover

Sunnyclover

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Jan 11, 2017
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New Jersey
Parrots
Sun Conure - Ollie- Hatched 08/18/16*

Nanday Conure -Finley- Hatched 10/07/17*

Turquoise Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure -Paris- Hatched 03/03/18*

Black Capped Conure -North- Hatched 10/10/18
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I made a YouTube video here it is! I will post the dimensions of old cage and new cage when I return home later today.
[ame="https://youtu.be/hAgvHaQNyLk"]Birdie cage and stand tour - YouTube[/ame]
 

dhraiden

Member
Jul 14, 2015
603
23
Queens NY
Parrots
Green Cheek Conure (Mochi)
Gold Capped Conure (Mango)
Like people I imagine most animals want as much space to be comfortable within as possible (bearing in mind that too much space - too much open space, in any case - can be a source of discomfort, too...although here in NYC that's a problem most people would suffer from gladly...but I digress...)

With that in mind I lucked into a large Madison from PH
048081112410DS1-59-th.jpg

when I bought Mango from my local PSP. Mochi, being a bit smaller, made do with something smaller that B bought online, but not by much. But her actual cage became this,
048081315118D-77-th.jpg

(we took off those fins, they weren't really helpful).

Anyway, thinking about it, I realize that even as spacious as these cages are, the "lived-in" spots are clustered in the uppermost quarter, nearest food/water, depending on intelligent perch-placement and such...leaving nearly 3/4s at the bottom from the bars up that's essentially un-used and un-lived-in.

Over time I've tried putting toys (in Mango's case, kleenex boxes for ripping apart) but they don't really go down there, except to retrieve the odd lost Nutriberry (and even then).

It's an odd balance, between not wanting the cage to feel barren (it's their home, after all), but not wanting it wall-to-wall cluttered so there's barely room to stretch.

Mango seems (to me) to have been screaming much more than usual lately, not counting the usual times at dawn, dusk and when we come home. I've taken to leaving the TV on to dispel a bit of the quiet since I believe it's lack of stimulation thing.
 
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Sunnyclover

Sunnyclover

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Jan 11, 2017
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New Jersey
Parrots
Sun Conure - Ollie- Hatched 08/18/16*

Nanday Conure -Finley- Hatched 10/07/17*

Turquoise Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure -Paris- Hatched 03/03/18*

Black Capped Conure -North- Hatched 10/10/18
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Thank you itzjbean! They are my life.
 
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Sunnyclover

Sunnyclover

New member
Jan 11, 2017
1,646
43
New Jersey
Parrots
Sun Conure - Ollie- Hatched 08/18/16*

Nanday Conure -Finley- Hatched 10/07/17*

Turquoise Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conure -Paris- Hatched 03/03/18*

Black Capped Conure -North- Hatched 10/10/18
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