Red Belly cage too small?

Hi! I'm going to be welcoming a Red Belly into my life soon.

I have a cage right now (given to me) that's about 15"x 18", which seems a little small to me. Would it be wrong to have her in the small cage temporarily while I seek out a larger one? (2 weeks max)

I've heard a lot of mixed responses in terms of maximum/minimum cage sizes.

Can anyone give me some insight?

Thanks!

it would be ok for ONLY 2 weeks she really needs a larger one for long term. cages should be almost twice the wingspan wide and three times the height of bird. With lots of toys and natural wood perches congrats on your soon to be birdie!

That's great advice; thanks so much!

I feel silly-- I just found an online resource that I could have read without bothering anyone here!

BirdCagePortal.com - Pet Bird Supplies, Parrot Supplies, Cages & Bird Products - BirdCagePortal.com - Bird Cage Size Guide | Bar Spacing | Chart

What's the bother...if we weren't interested in answering questions, we'd probably be off doing something else, like knitting, watching soaps or doing crossword puzzles.....

Take a look at how many lookers there are to some threads, as opposed to the answers that are forthcoming.....a lot of us forget that someone answered our questions when we were just learning.....

The big thing to keep in mind is bar spacing. My personal opinion is that bigger is always better, but if the bar spacing is too wide it could be dangerous. As a (proud) red belly owner I would advise they are real acrobats and very busy. Mine likes lots of foraging toys, perches, and tunnels he can run through. His favorite thing to do is pulverize soft wood and chew cardboard.

I really dislike the "cage guidelines for species" because I often don't agree with their guidelines.

I prefer 32 x 23 cages for medium sized birds (larger conures, poicephalus, psittacula and pionus species on up to african greys, eclectus, amazons and smaller cockatoos) rather than the 24 x 24 or smaller cages.

Each of my parrots has a flight cage on a stand with castors on the bottom. I personally would not keep a red bellied parrot in anything smaller because they are active busy birds that love to climb. explore, play with their toys ect . all mine use every inch of their cages and they have enough room for toys perches, things to climb, and plenty of room to spread their wings and flap to their hearts content without hitting their wings on the cage. Two of my cages came from ebay and the third one I bought at a local bird fair. The more active they can be in their cages the better for them. All of mine have flat top cages. I agree with Monicame that the cage sizes recomended for species are usually inadequate IMO

Thanks you guys for sharing your first-hand experiences!! This is so helpful!

Your welcome and I bet you are going to love your new redbelly. They are really great parrots and easy to live with and very affectionate

When my Noble macaw Mihijo was a baby after I took him home I was still living with my sister while I was closing on my first home purchase. The timing of taking my baby parrot home sucked because I could not set up his brand new cage in my sisters town home. Mihijo had to live in a cockatiel cage until I could move us into my new home. This was only for about 3 weeks.

While I was at home the bird was out of the small prison. He was only in there to sleep and while I was at work. I use to come home during lunch to make sure he was eating enough and to let him out of the too small cage. As the baby parrot became more active he use to roll himself up like a burrito with the bottom newspaper and I would come home to a very dirty parrot with crusted poop on him. Twice a day he got a bath because of his paper play.

I agree this situation was not the best but we made it though without ill effects on my baby Noble macaw. I think you should be okay with the temporary cage until you can get what you want for your red belly. As a baby they can be pretty clumsy and a smaller cage might be advantage until they get use to you and get better with control of balance and strength.

I'm really excited, aliray! I get to bring her home on Saturday

Thanks for the encouragement, noblemacaw!
I was giggling to myself at the thought of your baby rolling up in newspaper (It was probably frustrating to clean up, but still--how cute!)
I plan on having her outside of her cage as often as she's comfortable with until the new cage comes in the mail. (It's 36 x 26, not huge, but definitely more comfortable that the little one I have now.)
Hopefully the new cage I ordered gets to me sooner rather than later!!

awww congrats!!!! Im sure you are sooo excited

I am, MarciaLove!!! My poor family/friends are so sick of hearing me ramble/rant/bubble over with excitement about little Jada (that's the name the seller has given her)

I can't help it! I've waited for so many years for the right time to own one, and now I finally can!

I can't wait to see pics and I love the name Jada, how cute.

Hope the new cage arrives soon! I bet she'll love it!

And Saturday! So close! I bet the wait will be killer until you have her! LOL