Cage for a GCC

[skygoneblue]

Hello all,

I'm bringing home a baby GCC in a few weeks, and I'm looking for a cage. From what I've read, this appears to be a good size.

Medium Dome Top Style Bird Cage with Stand

Does anyone have any experience with this cage, or see any red flags for a first time owner? I appreciate any feedback.

 

[jenphilly]

That is pretty small for a conure, they need a really busy cage with lots of toys to keep them entertained and busy and they need plenty of space and room to flap their wings. A flight cage is a great choice and its really reasonable. Here is one that we would suggest. The conures in our home are probably in huge cages, but honestly the biggest you can get is your best investment.

AE Cage Flight Cage Powder Coated 32 x 21 - FLIGHT & AVIARY CAGES by Bird Paradise

same thing on ebay a little cheaper... they both have free shipping.

A E Flight Cage and Stand Perfect for Cockatiels Parakeets All Small Birds | eBay

 

[skygoneblue]

Thanks for the suggestion! So what about this cage is small, of you don't mind me asking? A few places that I've checked said that about 20" square is good for them, and this one is 17" by 22". Is 20x20 more of a bare minimum?

 

[jenphilly]

20x20 would be a small cage too, but thats my opinion... Our green cheek conures are in cages that are 36x24 stacker cages and the sun baby is in a 30x24x26 double stacker cage. A 20x20 cage would be a decent starter for a baby, but I doubt you would want to invest for a couple cages. I think the 17" is just too narrow, most green cheeks are quite active and you will want various toys and will need room both width and depth to give them plenty of climbing space as well as toys.

My daughter is on the forums too, Riddick07, she is actually using the cage I recommended to you as a temporary cage for the new bare eyed cockatoo she just adopted from the rescue. We had the cage upstairs (empty), it had been used for her two cockatiel girls for years. Here are photos of the cage setup for Folger, so you can get a good impression of the size with toys and a bird (tho a bare eyed is bigger then a green cheek obviously, it still gives you a good feel for how well this cage works for space and toys). The only drawback on the cage is that the feeder cups are inside the cage, so if you get a female and she gets territorial about her cage you'll need to take measures to work with that.

Hope this helps you a bit!!





This is the double stacker that Loki (sun) and cockatiels share... Loki top and cockatiel girls in the bottom...

 

[skygoneblue]

The pictures are great, thank you!

My wife is kind of particular about any kind of mess getting outside the cage, so that's why we overlooked these ones that you're using (no seed guards). Do you find that food gets out of the cages a lot with them? Or do you have another trick to prevent that?

 

[Dinosrawr]

Hi Skygoneblue! Congrats on your new GCC!

Speaking from experience of an extremely small cage (18"x18"x22"), I highly recommend getting something MUCH larger unless you plan to keep your baby out all day. My green cheek is very active, and that cage was far too small for her to even move around, let alone enjoy her toys. Her tail feathers constantly hit other perches or the bars, and I felt like I was smothering her and cramping her into a tiny space. The cage I bought now is expensive, but worth EVERY penny. It also has seed guards, and they do make a huge difference! I love them. It's so easy to clean (cleaned it last night, took me 15 minutes to wipe everything down and change the papers and I do it every other day). It's also easy on the eyes and Avery makes full use of her cage. Here's a link (it's Canadian):

[ame="http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B002YLSSOI"]Prevue Pet Products Medium Dometop Bird Cage, Black Hammertone:Amazon[/ame]

I would highly recommend this cage to anyone. I would love to go bigger, but it's difficult to find the appropriate bar spacing with seed guards and a larger size.

 

[riddick07]

For me the seed guard takes up too much space and I hate the look. Birds are naturally messy creatures and will make a mess when they come out of the cage so for me it just didn't make sense to pick a specific cage with a guard. For you that may be different! If your wife hates messes then you might have a problem when it comes to a bird:54: I have given up caring about the mess and just vacuum whenever I do the major cleaning. Ivory my mothers cockatoo literally wings her food bowl across the room and only when it has fresh messy food in it However, the mess of one bird is different from the mess of the 8 in my room and my mothers 2 in the living room

If you really want a guard Dinosrawr definitely recommended one that would work!

 

[jenphilly]

I actually laughed when I read seed guard... I don't mean that in a bad way, just that only manufacturers of bird cages want you to believe seed guards REALLY work... They may catch a few things, but honestly, unless the seed guard is a 3' radius around the cage, won't make that much difference.

Your best bet is to put down a mat or such under the cage that is easy cleaning and just be prepared to vacuum multiple times a day. I laugh that so many photos Victoria (Riddick07) posts of her birds, you can see the vacuum... and never in the same spot... It seldom gets put back into the closet, I use it that often.... and even then only when Ivory is in her cage and covered does the floor not get messed up. Someone posted on the forums a question, what do you sacrifice for your birds, my first thought - a clean floor!

One green cheek won't make a huge mess, but it will be enough (seed guard or not) that you will need to vacuum at least once a day, especially if you are in an area where ants can be a problem. I put down newspaper on the floor under Ivory's seed bowl and favorite hangout spot for easier cleanup, but that is more for poop then food. And yes, all birds fling food... Conures may be small, but they pick up food with their feet and eat, and when they are bored with whatever that item is, it gets tossed or dropped... and nutriberries bounce and roll pretty dang far!

I would not recommend sharing this with your wife if mess is her worry... let her fall in love with the little guy first, then hopefully she will be more inclined to just clean up behind him then be a problem about having a bird... its been my logic with having a kid... gave up years and year ago trying to convince Victoria she can put her dirty dishes into the dishwasher... I am so gonna pay for that... but she knows its true.

 

[skygoneblue]

Love it!

We stopped in Petsmart briefly last night, and my wife was standing near a Jenday and Sun Conure that were sharing a huge cage. She fell for the Jenday in a matter of minutes after it followed her around the perimeter of the cage, doing a quick side-to-side dance while looking at her.

I'm sure it won't take long for our new baby to break down her defenses once he/she is home.

 

[Terry57]

I have seed guards on some of my cages, and some I don't. I find some of my birds can throw stuff right over the guards, and others aren't that good at it yet
We currently have our crimson bellied conure in a cage like this, but are going to replace it with something bigger as he is growing out of it.

[ame="http://www.amazon.ca/HomCom-Metal-Parrot-Decorative-Removable/dp/B00CGUWLDQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394570523&sr=8-2&keywords=bird+cage"]http://www.amazon.ca/HomCom-Metal-Parrot-Decorative-Removable/dp/B00CGUWLDQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1394570523&sr=8-2&keywords=bird+cage[/ame]

That cage that jenphilly posted with the too in it looks like a great choice!

 

[skygoneblue]

What about something like this? It looks pretty spacious!

Prevue Pet Products Wrought Iron Flight Cage with Stand F040 Black | eBay

 

[jenphilly]

Love it!

We stopped in Petsmart briefly last night, and my wife was standing near a Jenday and Sun Conure that were sharing a huge cage. She fell for the Jenday in a matter of minutes after it followed her around the perimeter of the cage, doing a quick side-to-side dance while looking at her.

I'm sure it won't take long for our new baby to break down her defenses once he/she is home.

don't worry about mess, the baby will have her wrapped around his little talon in no time Especially a green cheek baby, they are so beyond cute and adorable, just little snuggle bugs and funny playful. The turquoise green cheek converted my husband. Monster loved wrestling with my husband and would roll down my husband's chest or roll up in his tee shirt like playing hide and seek. They need to be that cute and wonderful in the beginning cause they can be real brats when they hit puberty!! But by that point you're so hooked you just work thru it and wait to come out the other side!

If you posted elsewhere, I may have missed it, but since I'm babbling here... what type of GCC are you thinking of? There are so many beautiful color choices!

 

[jenphilly]

my daughter just pointed that you had put in your profile about turquoise green cheek... sometimes just the obvious goes zooming by!!! Excellent choice, they really are pretty, I was not a big fan of Monster's colors when he first came home, but admit, he has grown on me tremendously and love his color contrast with the little pineapple girl

The cage you posted is a great option, if anything, taller then you might need, but its definitely a good option! If you find one a bit shorter with more storage on the bottom might be a good space saving option for where you store food container, extra toys, etc. But if that one works for you for pricing, its a great choice! Plenty of room to even make levels.

Looking forward to seeing your final setup and the new guy exploring!!

 

[skygoneblue]

Hah yep, this is a picture of the one we picked out. We liked that he/she was mostly blue.



Thanks again for all the cage advice. I'm sure it's a fairly common question, but obviously a pretty important one too. Our little one would be pretty cramped if I hadn't asked!

 

[jenphilly]

awww... at that age they are so ugly they are beyond cute!! Its amazing how they start and what they turn into!!! Even as tiny babies, the conures always have that smiling look about them.

Looking forward to more pics of him. Have you thought of names yet or did I miss that too...

 

[skygoneblue]

Hah exactly. They look like something out of a sci-fi film gone horribly wrong!

We are having a DNA test done to sex the baby, then we'll figure out names.