I’m looking to upgrade my cage. What size and kind of cage does everyone use? What are some specific things to look for when buying a new cage? Thanks for any recommendations!
You posted in the eclectus section so im going to assume you’re asking for an eclectus?
I had a 40x32 cage until recently. We upgraded to 48x36. I’m quite happy with the size of the cage for my boy.
I've got two large double cages, each 2m x 1m x 2m. Each cage has a divider so birdie can be coralled on one side while I clean the other. We suffered a theft of our lovebirds some years ago, so the cages have stainless steel chain padlocked around them to prevent that happening again.
Rosetta learned early on how to open the snib lock on her feed-door and squidged herself out into the world one day, so I use acrylic seedmaster feeding stations and the feed-doors are also padlocked. Rosetta couldn't exist in a smaller cage and I wish I could provide her with a larger one. She's very active and athletic and enjoys her rope swing and her dangling rope. She likes to fly about her cage, to jump on her pizza box trampoline and to hang upside-down from everything.
Barney and Madge thrive in the larger space as well. While they've been a bonded pair since I got them as babies, they still have an occasional little spat. Therefore, I make sure that every item in the cage is duplicated to avoid arguments. The Beaks are nowhere near as playful as Rosetta but they do enjoy being able to fly a few beats in their cage and to hang from a perch and flap for exercise. This wouldn't really be possible in a smaller cage.
I always make sure that there is space in each cage to allow flight from one perch (natural wood) to another. This allows me to place each cage's swimming pool strategically so that no perch overhangs it. Therefore: no poop in the pool.
Years ago, I bought a fancy mouse with dreadful bumblefoot from being kept in a wire-floored cage. This is why I lay heavy cardboard on my cage floors so the birds are not having to walk about on cage bars. Also, it prevents the loss of toys through the floor. Rosetta likes colourful plastic rings, which she wears round her neck and then flings them off with gay abandon. She gets really, really stroppy when one of her necklaces falls down through the cage floor and onto the tray beneath!
If money were no object, I'd prefer to keep my birds in a large aviary, but sadly it is and I can't.
My lot spend a fair amount of time on the floor, because that's where they drop their foraging toys and the sprays of grass seed we give them. They also like to chat with the dog, who snoozes in a particular sunny spot beside the cages.
It never ceases to amaze me how cleverly both the Beaks and Rosetta (and even the Lovies, tbh) manage to *avoid* pecking up poo from the cage floor. They must know it's bad, because they go to great lengths to avoid it. IME, most animals actively avoid eating poop, unless it's necessary for their biology (eg. lagomorphs and rodents etc etc).
Some birds naturally like to spend more time rummaging around on the ground than others. I know most of the large Australian Cockies do. My friend, Umar who lives in Pakistan, tells me the (native) Alexandrines like to sun themselves on the ground and spend lots of time each day fossicking about for grass seeds and fallen fruits etc. This surprised me, as I've always viewed the parakeet types as birds of the treetops, spending most of their time in the heights of the trees.
I've been considering for a while now whether I should offer my birds a digging tray, perhaps with a small crop of millet in it. 'Setta is a rummagy, fossicky kind of person and I bet she'd enjoy poking around in some dirt.
I have an HQ side by side for Basil and Paprika. It?s quite large.
Before this and Paprika, Basil had an all acrylic cage that was 48x24x36 inches.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk