Upgrade her cage? and if so, how? when?

[GreyNickels]

So when I heard about this grey, I asked a million questions, and while the former owners probably meant well, and obviously loved their bird, I think they were just uneducated. They told me that she came with her huge cage. I asked what size that actually was.. and they said 2' x 3'. I'm thinking "okay, not huge, but acceptable" and when I actually get there... this thing is 22" x 30" and only 36" inside height *IF* I take the grate out.

My green cheek conure lives in a bigger cage than my Grey does.

However, this is the cage that she has been in for 8 years. I don't want to over-do it with changes with her. She obviously handles change pretty well. She get a little nervous or apprehensive when we take her new places, or surprise her with new things (my son rushed into the room with a new toy rifle, and she took off and flew to her cage, but when we left it leaning against the wall for the day, she was fine with it. I think it was just that he rushed into the room with it)

She is also obviously now feeling comfortable enough to start pushing boundaries and testing us. She insists on going into my bedroom which won't be allowed. I can't see her from the rest of the house when she goes there. I have to walk around a corner and down the hall to check on her, so we started shutting the door. She knocks on the door, and today she even used my best Sunday dress that was hanging from it, to try to climb the door.

I hate not letting her out of that tiny cage most of the day, and I don't mind so much wandering around the living room floor, but she keeps insisting on either hiding under my lazy boy, or trying to get into our room. Today, when my husband tried to get her to step up from our bedroom floor she gave him a pretty good nip, the first one in 2+ weeks.

It kills me to see her pacing in circles in that tiny cage. She has 3 hard wood/ plastic toys, and two different foraging toys in her cage, plus we give her several new shreddable 'floor' toys each day because she likes to play on the floor, and while she does play with all of them, I feel like she prefers to get out and roam the house to playing with her toys.

I think this is the cage we would like to get her. Plenty of room to roam when I can't supervise. Or at least the most cage space I have room for at the moment. I'd love to get one of those walk in aviary type cages, but alas, we don't have that much room at the moment lol

King's Cages - Avian and Pet Bird Cages, Supplies, Food, Toys, Perches, Aviaries, Pluck No More

Sorry this had gotten so long winded, I'm at such a loss as to how to transition her to a new cage. My husband wanted me to set up the new one in the living room somewhere and just let her come and go from it as she pleases for a while when she's allowed out to roam. But that would mean I would have to buy completely all new perches and everything, I wouldn't be able to take the perches she has now and put them in the new cage.

Money is making me cringe now LOL She had absolutely nothing but a couple of apple branches, and three pumice type perches. We have spent so much just on toys and perches, and vet's visit, and food.

I probably should have known that "comes with a huge cage, lots of food, and extra toys" wasn't necessarily what my idea is LOL

so... yea... sorry all of my frustrations kinda came out in that post.

 

[DexMom]

That cage is gorgeous and a very generous amount of room for Pippi. It will be like moving to a palace. I think the idea of letting her investigate it on her own (maybe with a bit of encouragement, like putting some super yummy treats inside and placing her in there with the door open so she can stay or leave on her own terms) is really good. Maybe place a ladder from the floor to the cage door so she can easily climb up to check it out when she's feeling curious. If you have a perch or two from her current cage that you can move over, and some familiar toys, that would give her something familiar when she "visits." After a day or two, if she seems comfortable hanging out in there, try closing the door for a few minutes at a time. She'll be comfortable in there before you know it.

 

[SailBoat]

What is the best cage size is more a matter of what the cage will be used for. We have a 23 x 32 and that is a large cage for a DYH Amazon who only uses it when sleeping during the day or playing and eating on top of it. Since we have an 'open cage' policy, the door is never closed. So, for us and our Amazon, this cage is more than large enough.

I understand that most members likely do not have an 'open door' policy and that changes what size is large enough. However, as cage size increases the placement and cleaning of them becomes a single room reality, i.e. rarely are doorways in homes large enough to roll large cages though.

The 23 x 32 cage that we have can be rolled into the shower or out the front door for detailed cleaning and when rolled out the front door, time to dry in the warmth of the Sun.

The cage you have selected is truly a very nice one. Please ensure that it has rollers so that you can move it into the room to clean behind it. With large cages like this, surprisingly, the door size becomes 'very' important. The larger the door the better.

Introducing new things to most parrots require some level of on-site time for the bird to be become use to it. However, I am a strong believer in getting the parrot involved in unpacking and assembly whenever possible. It greatly reduced introduction time and commonly by the time it is assembled, the parrot is already on it or playing with it.

 

[Holly the U2]

the bigger the better, depends on your budget & amount of space you have in your home