Protege Cage?

[maxorific1]

Hello everybody! I would like to begin by saying that I am new to this forum and will soon be getting a parrotlet for myself. I have been looking for a good cage. My decision seems to be down to the HQ flight cage and the Avian Adventures Protege. I know the HQ has more room, but I like how sturdy and easy to clean the Protege is. Can anyone help me with this decision? Thanks a lot.:)

[jessief423]

The HQ is easy to clean for me. I put paper towels above the grate that way poop doesn't dry to it. My p'lets don't go down there too often.

[maxorific1]

Hey thx for responding. Another thing I just noticed is that the protege has 5/8 in spacing and the HQ has 1/13 in spacing. Any opinions on 5/8 spacing?

[Phoenix-cry]

I like both of my HQ cages cause they seem to stand the test of time, I mean Saba's cage is nearly ten years old and not a drop of rust! The paint isn't chipped or anything. As for spacing as long as it is 1/2 or smaller I think yer good to go.

[Phoenix-cry]

Oh and as for the grates, I hate the grate so I took it out and on the p'let's cage I places the taller seedguard on the front to cover up the 1 inch gap that it let. Without a grate my birds go and play on the bottom of the cage and forage for food and play with foot toys down there. So I'm all about removing the grate.

[maxorific1]

Isn't it bad to remove the grate because they eat spoiled food and walk in their poop? Why do you hate the grate?

[jessief423]

I took the grate out when mine were babies because they couldn't walk on it very well, but the gap was big enough for them to get out, so I rigged it with card board for a few weeks till they could easier walk on the grate. I think I could clean the grate easier if I had a big brush to scrub it with, because right now I use a toothbrush or my steam cleaner and that takes forever! The bar spacing should definitely be 1/2 inch or smaller though. I don't remember what the specs on the protege said.

The HQ is a safe bet, most of us have it and from my understanding no one has been dissappointed. Their is SO much room and with hanging platforms you can make a lot of the space usable. Mine love theirs and even when I had single p'lets they enjoyed all the space just as much.

[waterfaller1]

I place newspaper in the tray, and cover the grate with paper towels which I change often. I don't like using grates either, they get messy fast. In my macaws' double cage, I removed them.

[chapala]

If you have the room for the HQ cage, it is substantially larger than the Protege, and the bar spacing is 1/2" which is safer for Parrotlets. On the HQ cage, both the tray and the grate slide out easily, so I'm not sure why the Protege would be easier to clean. I don't like to clean the grate, so I put newspaper on top of the grate in layers. Easy to remove one layer of dirty papers once or twice a day, keeping the cage bottom quite clean. I like the HQ flight cage very much for Cello!
Reta

[jodeg]

I have two HQ cages, one for each Parrotlet, and I LOVE them! They are easy to clean and the birds have lots of room. Lots of places to hang toys, plus I added a "patio perch" (a shelf) to each cage, which gave me more places to hang stuff.

I use the grate because my birds are all over the cage all day, including the bottom, and the grate keeps them out of their poop. I find it fairly easy to clean too. I just put it in the bathtub. A little warm water softens everything up. I don't have to do this too often, because I give it a quick wipe down every morning. Poops come right off with a moist paper towel.

Lots of POOP talk for so early on Sunday! lol!

Anyway, don't think you can go wrong with the HQ cage!

[Phoenix-cry]

I change the paper twice a day so there is no chance of spoiled food and the poop doesn't build up. I don't like the grate cause in the wild they would have a chance to be on the ground and truly spread their feet out and on a grate they don't really get that chance. Also it just gets messy and is hard to clean.