New bird owner, acrylic cage

I will be getting a baby sun conure in a couple weeks and am preparing her home .

I have a local shop that is seemingly trustworthy and they specialize only in parrots, big and small. While they don't sell or breed them, they carry just about everything else.

For the past X years, they have custom-made acrylic cages that really look incredible. There are about 1/2" slots up the sides of the cage and the top for mounting stuff/circulation.

My question is the droppings tray -- in 'normal' cages, I am used to seeing a metal grating separate the bird from the tray. But in this acrylic cage, there is no such grating -- the bird could hop right down into the tray for play, etc.

Should I be looking for a grate of some sort? Assuming the tray is cleaned each morning, is this not a big deal?

Thank you,
*Phil

I am not a fan of the acrylic cages... one for the very reason you mention. I also do not think they provide nearly enough circulation, but that is just my opinion.

Also if you've seen birds in their cages, they are like little monkeys and climb all over the bars, so the acrylic pretty much eliminates that exercise and activity. And you won't have nearly as many options for putting perches in all different directions.

I would also expect the acrylic to get scratched and marred up, so as pretty as they may look today, don't think they would hold up nearly as well as a standard metal cage.

Just my opinions... sorry, don't think that was the question you were asking, but not having a grate is just one of the things I would question on an acrylic cage...

Suns are such busy little birds. My Mangie uses her bars to excercise and climb and explore. I would think an acrylic cage would limit that. And trust me, morning poops from sun conures are amazingly huge. I can imagine the mess that would be on the bottom and then on the bird even after a few hours. Mangie hops around the bottom of her cage often. I'd hate to have her stepping and rolling in her droppings.

Excellent, thank you both! I'm interested in hearing more, if anyone else would like to add their $.02?

Hi dangerwit,

I'm only putting in my two cents because you asked. Whatever direction you go in, congratulations on your new bird

In my opinion the acrylic cage is made to benefit humans and not the bird. Visually it is more appealing and a lot of people are drawn to that. Unfortunately it takes away from the bird's quality of life. Why limit their life just so we can see them better in an (admittedly) nice looking cage? In the end, we limit our birds already when we put them cages. I think a nice java tree next to the cage is a lot more pleasant visually and certainly increases the bird's quality of life.

I am also not a fan of acrylic cages. My conure climbs all around using the bars, and he would so miss that if he was in an acrylic cage. I have a cage I am not even using at the moment that has an acrylic front and bars on 3 sides because it is so hard to clean. Very pretty, but I don't find it very practical, unfortunately
Just my .02

im not a fan of acrylic cages. a big issue will come up when your bird molts. they produce more dander and dust when they molt, and an acrylic cage will trap that all in with the bird and can cause respiratory problems and even allergies to the bird from it. the bird can have allergic reactions to its own dander in these cases.

I don't like them either.

This is the way I see it. I wouldn't like to be in a small room without ventilation having feathers, etc flying around, so my bird probably wouldn't like it either.

Well, this is certainly eye-opening. And Grinder, as it stands, I actually DO have a giant java tree sitting next to her cage right now, stop peeking into my house! I do plan on moving it though since it will be her portable playset while I move about the house.

Anyway, I have been assured that the airflow is measured and supposed to be excellent (it actually has slats on all sides except the bottom and the door).

I did ask about the exercise portion, and there 7 slats up each side, about 1.5" apart. I was assured the birds can still maneuver throughout the cage using their feet on the slats.

I've attached a photo of my setup. Please take into account:

1. the cage base is about 27" square (the main rope is bent several times, but looks straight), but I'll verify that
2. I'm also planning on some more toys (apparently, she like to play with toys with her feet like a kitten!) as well

I love all this help, thank you everyone for taking time to help new folks like me out. If the acrylic is that bad, I am lucky enough to be able to afford a second cage and use this as a sleeper.

*Phil

Honestly..that cage looks too small and more decorative than a practical, comfortable home for your new baby.

Your bird will really enjoy climbing all over cage bars. My conure will grab some food from her bowl, scale the walls of her cage and hang upside down and eat her dinner that way. It's very fun and cute to watch and it encourages them to exercise and play.

I'd use that as a sleeper, or a temporary traveling cage, and invest in a nice big cage with proper bar spacing, and a grate to keep your bird out of any mess.

Also..you are going to have a hard time cleaning that cage and keeping the plastic pretty. With bars you just have to wipe them down and it looks clean and brand new every time!


Congrats on your new conure!

P.s. if you are concerned about how a cage would look in your living space, and don't want it to look crowded, I'd get a lighter color cage, like a white or cream. We have a small living space and I was concerned a big cage will really clutter the space up, but by getting a lighter color, and keeping the area organized around it, it really isn't very intrusive looking at all! Just in case you're worried about the 'decorative' side. Plus when you put in all the colorful toys and ladders and swings, and see your bird interact and have a good time, it'll look so awesome!

Thanks kiwi. The cage is 24 x 20 x 24, so it's smaller than I thought. I think it needs to go back or stick around as a sleeper. I'm honestly extremely annoyed and disappointed with this shop owner, as I asked him several times about the size, and he assured me it was enough for stretching and fun times.

I was hoping to make cleaning a little easier, I'm not overtly concerned with the appearance of the cage in the house, it's all good.

If anyone else would like to share their thoughts, I'd love to see them. So far, it has been a very good learning experience for me and I hope others who follow the same path as I did.

A conure needs as large a cage as possible with lots and lots of fun stuff to keep him/her busy... there is no way they would have as much activity in a plastic cage. And I do not believe regardless of fans or anything you could add that you could reach the same air flow that you have in a regular cage.

It would make a great travel cage!

Here is a recent link about cages for a conure. There are some pics of our cages.
http://www.parrotforums.com/cages/42378-cage-gcc-2.html

Thanks everyone. I've seen that link jenphilly, and that is a slick cage. I dug further and found other recommendations as well in this forum. I'll be getting a bigger metal cage based on what I've been reading here.

*sigh* I guess it's a learning experience. Thank you!

dangerwit said:

Thanks everyone. I've seen that link jenphilly, and that is a slick cage. I dug further and found other recommendations as well in this forum. I'll be getting a bigger metal cage based on what I've been reading here.

*sigh* I guess it's a learning experience. Thank you!

Click to expand...

I definitely understand that the metal cages aren't as attractive, but they do provide a more suitable home for a bird. They have, however, come up with some much more attractive options with the metal cages in recent years. I really like this style-

https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...ei=KOQwU82VKsv_oQSL34D4Ag&ved=0CPQBEKYrMAg4FA

And we actually have this cage for our bird, and the scalp top both looks nice, and he LOVES the open top. I leave the cage open all day for him, and he's always sitting on top-

Scalloped Top Bird Cage GA82620 - Stainless Steel Bird Cage - FREE SHIPPING!

You can also decorate *around* the bird cage to make the overall area more attractive as well as provide you some function all while your bird still gets the function it needs from it's home (the cage) and you don't have this totally out of place metal thing stuck in your living room. A pretty rug (not an expensive one though, as it WILL get stained and ruined after a few years but WILL protect your flooring too) under the cage, a nice full-wall decal behind (will also protect your wall from flung food), with some planters on either side with nice looking FAKE plants (real ones are often toxic) give a pretty look to your birds area without actually affecting your birds needs. I keep Kiwi's area pretty spruced up, and it makes the cage blend in more

Good news you have an awesome travel cage!!!

No worries dangerwit..just so you know I have two other cages prior to my current one. One I bought on eBay thinking it was perfect. Of course it wasn't...completely impractical! The second one I bought in denial of getting such a huge expensive cage and thought I could make it work. But nope...when I saw kiwi In there and how darn active she was it was immediately apparent she needed more space.

You're very smart to do more research so at least you have a nice travel cage, and your next one will be the right one. Good on you!

My final thanks to everyone. I ended up getting a bigger metal cage (around 30" x 24") for my sun conure and I'm feeling much better. I'm taking the acrylic back for a refund, and will use the money saved to buy some more toys and a more portable travel cage.

Apparently the baby (who is still weaning at the breeders) likes to roll on her back and play with toys with her feet a lot, so I guess I'll be trying to find toys good for that.

Thank you everyone!

I guess I'm the only one that likes acrylic cages? BUT only the ones that I can walk into to clean. I run a fan on top of the cage to circulate the air. Acrylic can be a pain to clean!!! But in one that you can walk into, it's much more easier to clean then ones you can't walk into. If you built one you can drill holes along the sides for even more circulation. That's what I did before and it worked out well. I would only use it for smaller birds as I don't think acrylic cages works well with bigger birds.