Cage Color and Macaw Beaks

[Abu Colo]

Hello Parrotheads,

We are getting Colocolo a proper cage, and are deciding on a 30x30 corner cage (Flyline). The cage gives a diagonal space of 42 inches, although our flightless bird does not seem much of a flapper. Now we know a proper macaw cage should be larger, but we really only want it as a sleeper and to keep him out of trouble when he's alone - otherwise he is free roaming. Currently he likes to sleep in his tiny carrier cage, so almost anything is an upgrade over that.

The question: A white cage fits our decor, but it seems macaws will scrap the paint off over time - is this a problem for anyone? I wonder if it will be safer and look better over time to get a darker cage that won't show as much wear.

Second question: The bar spacing is a quarter inch compared to the recommended inch to an inch and a half for macaws. I can only imagine this is to help them pass their beaks through and climb around. Anyone have any thoughts or experiences?

 

[itzjbean]

My thoughts are... the cage is too small. Most blue and gollds from top to bottom are over 30 inches. That means that he will likely be touching the bottom at all times. Is it something like this? The smaller version has 1/4' bar spacing you're talking about, which is WAY TOO SMALL for a mac!!! the X-large version would fit him much better and it has wider bar spacing.

If the cage only has 1/4 inch bar spacing it leads me to believe it is a cage NOT meant for any type of macaw. More like.... a couple budgies, or a conure. The bars need to be pretty dang sturdy to hold up to a strong macaw beak. Your macaw will likely break out of the cage as the bars may be pretty flimsy. I would highly recommend thinking of a larger cage with proper spacing. King's cages work great and don't rust or chip. I do like white also but have never had a big mac so am of no help there.

You also have to think about times when you can't be with your mac, for instance bringing a significant other to the hospital, etc and having to be away for a period over several hours. That means your macaw will be in a smaller cage. it's always a better idea to buy bigger when you can.

Get the largest cage you can afford (for the instances you can't be with your mac, I promise your mac will appreciate it!!!) and like I mentioned the King's cages work great too, like this one!

 

[Abu Colo]

Thanks, Jackie. Even the largest macaw cages do not fully fit the bill (I know I'm punny). The largest King's Cage corner cage (GC14022 Corner Cage 54"W x 42.5"D x 72"H) does not even have proper spacing (3/4 inch as opposed to a full inch or larger). Even the cage you suggested does not meet the recommended 36 x 48 for large macaws. Regardless of the spacing, I seriously doubt even a Hyacinth could bend a cage fencing enough to escape. Someone correct me if macaws are King Kongs with wings, but I will return to my original hypothesis that the spacing recommendation is for climbing rather than security.

Regardless, we appreciate the berating and the brand suggestion.

 

[BeatriceC]

All of my cages with smaller bar spacing also have thinner bars, none of which would hold up to a macaw's chewing habits. If I put a macaw in any of my cages except the actual macaw cage, they'd snap the bars off within hours at most.

 

[bill_e]

My first thought when you brought up the smaller spacing was broken toes. First, I don't own a Macaw but I've had parrots for 42 years and watched them climb around in the cage. A Macaw with long toes and a large footprint needs large spacing so that when he moves his foot to reposition it it doesn't get hung up in the narrow spaced bars. If the spacing is too small and he get's startled or just decides he wants to get somewhere fast it is possible, and more likely the smaller the spacing, that one or more toes will get hung up.

I did a quick search on Google and found a couple of corner cages with 1" spacing in the $699-$899 price range. let me post the links....I know nothing about these cages, blame Google.

https://birdcages4less.com/page/B/PROD/PA5745
https://www.amazon.com/Extra-Large-Corner-Cage-Black/dp/B0018CK2UC?th=1

 

[chris-md]

THey are king Kongs.

I agree, I wouldn’t even put my eclectus in a 30x30 cage. Your boy needs 36x48 at minimum. You’d ay a sleeper and to keep him out of trouble when he is alone but how often is he alone, exactly? If he has to be alone for 12 hours, a 2.5’x2.5’ cage just isn’t going to cut it.

 

[Inger]

My parrotlet’s cage is substantially bigger than that. You probably know that parrotlets are the SMALLEST parrots kept in captivity.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Kiwibird]

How many hours a day does your bird spend cage (excluding when he's asleep at night)? If your bird would spend more than 2 or 3 waking hours tops a day in a cage, it needs to be significantly bigger.

We have had this "Poipu palace" cage for our amazon for several years. It would probably do for a macaw who spends A LOT of time out of their cage, though a bit bigger would be better. The white finish has held up well, it's a nice looking style and while I am unsure about macaw beaks, the bars are quite thick and not tack-welded. They also have a larger size as well that may be worth checking out:

https://birdcages4less.com/page/B/PROD/PA5710

And the larger size:

https://birdcages4less.com/page/B/PROD/PA5711

 

[Abu Colo]

Colocolo is probably unsupervised for five hours a day at most, and that is not every day. Mostly we are concerned about what he might try to chew and swallow left alone. Again it is understood that macaws need a very large cage, but it is also very difficult to find cages meeting all the recommendations for size and spacing and those that do are very expensive for a lot of people. Even many of the cages that people have very nicely recommended fall short.

I have taken a liking to some of the cages featured on Dr Foster & Smith, which seem reasonably priced:

https://goo.gl/7KAhmK

https://goo.gl/nF8tmw

https://goo.gl/SCfsdL

 

[SailBoat]

I'm with Kiwi's mom's, choice of using BirdCages4Less!

The only different I have is:
- Full height front door!
- Standard flat top cage with 'safe play top' (no cage top opening)
- Standard (boring) shaped cage that is sized to roll out the front door of your home with only the seed catchers removed.

 

[Abu Colo]

We ordered the cages. Expect pictures.

 

[Terry57]

Looking forward to seeing which one you ended up ordering

 

[Abu Colo]

Behold:

Colocolo inspecting his new cage with satisfactory approval. Dragonfly also squeezed in through the bars to marvel at it and landed next to him on the cheap default perch (No! No! No! No!). It's good to know he can fit through the bars without being stuck, but Colocolo does not like sharing his perch. The place was a mess, but this was the best picture of Colocolo. I later filled the cage from my plentiful supply of branches. Some new toys are arriving soon.

Colocolo then wanted to inspect Dragonfly's new cage, which will probably be home to a new cagemate soon. ?

We're still deciding on furniture arrangements in this side-by-side comparison of our two Pervue cages (Empire in dark grey and Park Plaza in light grey "platinum") in our cozy diwan and its happy birds.

 

[bill_e]

Looks good, what cage did yu end up getting?

 

[Abu Colo]

The Prevue Empire Cage in "black hammertone" (46 x 36 x 78.2)
& the Prevue Park Plaza Cage in "pewter" (18 x 18 x 49).