timneh cage help

hi...we are getting a timneh gray in a couple months..a weaned baby...we're looking at used cages....i'm thinking bar spacing any bigger then 3/4 is too big...also...are all the bird cages today coated with a coating that makes it a safe cage for an african gray? are large conure cages ok? i see on the net cheap cages that say "our most popular african gray cage" for about 350.00...but when i look up used cages it just looks like there are plenty out there that are better for the same price or even less...i'm sure like with many animals a lot of folks get an exotic bird and find its not what they want or can't care for it so these cages end up for sale...there also seems to be a big different's in what size cage people believe to be best...so cage size...bar spacing...flat top or rounded top...what type of coating....we aren't looking for a corner cage..i also think stainless steal may be too expensive for us.....thanks for any help....billy

Hello Billy, not sure where you might be looking for used cages at, but your assumption as to why a used cage might be available is probably right, as would be that the bird may have died, though the seller may be reluctant to advise you as to the cause of death.....

Something you'll want to consider about used cages is that because of the way many are constructed, your good deal may well bring home an invasion of bugs.....when buying used cages, it is usually wise to disassemble the cage and carefully treat/disinfect/sterilize it before letting your new bird in it or even before bringing it into your home.....another consideration is that if a previous bird died in the cage, in some cases, the pathogen that killed the bird could very well continue residing in and/or around the cage for 60 days, 90 days or even longer, especially if the proper disinfectant/sterilizing agent was not used, so without knowing what you are disinfecting/sterilizing against, you may well be wasting your time...or need to disinfect.sterilize with two or more agents...but be very careful with mixing chemicals/agents.....

You asked about coatings.....many cages today are powder coated...a type of paint that is applied dry, using electricity to activate it and actually melt it to the cage metal, a much more durable finish than using using liquid or solvent based paints.....

Keep in mind that when washing cages with soap & water, the various tubings need to be thoroughly dried before putting the cage back together, to help prevent rusting because finish coatings are applied to the outside of the metal, not the insides of the tubings.....

Here are several links for cleaning, disinfecting & sanitizing:

Cockatiels, How to clean and disinfect a cockatiel and pet bird's cage birdcage.

http://www.peteducation.com/.cfm?c=15+1794&aid=2837

How to Disinfect Your Dead Bird's Cage | eHow

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ff1rzesec0bxzzw/Cleaners & Disinfectants.doc?dl=0


Good luck.....

thanks...things to consider for sure....down the road a year or so we might want to change our cage to an even better cage...we want to bore a hole in our floor to allow our conures as well as the african to travel between the downstairs and up stairs through a channel...so eventually we are looking to have two lower cages as well as two upper cages..i may have to build this entire set up myself or may buy the cages and just build the channel to connect them...our plan is to spend a lot of time with our timneh gray so that change isn't that big of a deal to him..for now we just need a cage for our african gray...we have a deposit on a male in hopes the male might be more outgoing ...a little easier with new people...we still have months to investigate all this as our timneh is not even 3 weeks old and we want him completely weaned....i would like to get the cage soon so we can move on to setting it up properly.....thanks....billy