Help me pick a cage

[aircube]

hi, i am looking at playtop cages, and some of them are very nice, but most seem to be narrower and taller? Is this good or bad? I would have thought that birds would like a very wide cage so they can fly back and forth, but a lot of cages seem to be quite vertical.

Heres the two that I am looking at for my new P'Let:

The green one is 18Wx18Dx38H (the acctual inside cage dimentions) total height is more like 62 inches

the Grey one is 24Wx22Dx42H with an overall height of about 65inches

Any sugestions or comments??

Thanks

[jodeg]

It's only my opinion, but I think both of these cages, while pretty, are too small for active Parrotlets. The cage should be more wide than tall. Don't make the mistake that I (and others) have made and buy a nice cage you later find out is too small, and then have to turn around and buy another larger cage!

Have you read some of the threads on this forum about the HQ flight cage? It's the cage that many of us on this forum have and love! I have three P'lets and three HQ cages!

Please try searching the housing section for the many discussions about these cages. If you can't find the information, post again, and we'll help you. I think we were discussing it just the other day, and this subject comes up quite often. There were several links to where the HQ can be purchased.

Here's my setup. They are each in separate cages, but can see each other, and chirp and play and nap and eat at the same time! They have supervised playtime together during the day.
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/jodeg/000_1143.jpg?t=1252551991

Hope this helps! If not, let us know!

[aircube]

Wow, are there any birds in there? lol. It looks like you have a ton of gadgets and chew toys etc in your cages. Are Parrotlets birds that like to play and walk around more than fly?

I have a 36w x 18d x 24h glass aviary right now. the front is made up of two glass doors for easy access for cleaning and handling. Maybe I should just use it. Its all glass so viewing and cleaning is fantastic. nothing to hang or clip anything on though. That said I like to keep things fairly natural, right now its full of branches, wood chips and rocks etc.

Or I have access to one that is similar to yours, please see pic. But at 31w x 18d x 36h it too is taller than it is wide.

[Petie's_Mom]

The first 2 cages, the bars are too wide for p'lets. The last one is like the HQ cage that is very popular on this forum. The taller cages are for birds with longer tail feathers but in my opinion are still too small for any bird.

[ParrotletsRock]

The last cage you showed is only slightly smaller than the HQ and would make a good cage for your p'let...good luck.

[aircube]

Thanks, what is the opinion on glass aviaries? Yey or neigh? Or are they best for smaller species like finches?

[ParrotletsRock]

I have no experience with the glass ones.. Wouldn't it be hard to clean? P'lets tend to throw a lot of their food and I think it would make a mess of the glass. Sure sounds pretty tho would love to see a pic of it. You could hang toys off of the branches and perches .

[chapala]

I don't like solid (glass or acrylic) fronted cages because I think it cuts the bird off from the room and interaction and also blocks ventilation. Cleaning is more of a problem, and I've heard that acrylic scratches easily too.

[aircube]

It does cut down on chirp volume, so i'm sure it blocks him off from us as well. Maybe bad during the day, but good at night? I'm guessing he feels very safe and warm in there, but yes, prob would cut-off a social bird.

The glass is really easy to clean. Just open the front and wipe out with warm water. I've alway found my cage tough to clean. What do people use to clean cages properly?

I caculated the interior volume of the HQ flight vs the 24x22x42 from my first post, and they are the same size, volume-wise. But i guess like "jodeg" mentions, the HQ is wider and offers more play room. So does 6" wider make a huge difference as oppose to deeper and taller? Do birds like to go horizontal or vertical?


Seems everyone online loves the HQ flight, I can see why, its a large 1/2" bar cage with a no-nonsense design. And I suppose you can always put your own play-centre on top.

By the way "jodeg" I really like your collage of pets in your message signature. You really have beautiful parrotlets, love the little dachsie too. We have a male black and tan tweenie halfsmooth half wire, and a red female smooth miniature, they're such happy little souls.

[jodeg]

Ha! Ha! They love to play, walk, run, jump, climb AND fly -- they are very busy and active birds most of the time. They do have what I call "Nap time" during the day, but they sure like to play!

I'm not crazy about the glass or acrylic cages either, because I think it cuts the bird off from you.

I just love the HQ cages, as you can see! With the flat top, you can put playstands on top also. The picture doesn't show it, but to the left and right of the cages, there are several playstands, both hanging from the ceiling and on a bookcase. They use all this stuff when they're out for playtime and zooming around the room. What fun!

I guess I'm just partial to the HQ cage -- it's the best cage for the money in my mind. Their home is their castle!

Thanks for the compliments on my flock -- both feathered and furred! Our Daschund, Oscar, is fairly good sized. I keep him thin to help his long body cope, but he still weighs about 22 pounds. The furry one, Essie, is about 11 now, but we found her when she was about a year and a half old. The vet thinks she's part Daschund! We love dogs around here! :D

[rickfam]

Wow--lucky birds to be able to live at your house! You have a beautiful setup.

[Jinx n Noodle]

I guess the only thing that I have against glass/acrylic cages is that my birds love to climb all over their cages via the bars, and the glass/acrylic kind of limits that.

And for some reason, mine have never used the playstands on top of the cages. They've always prefered the wood playstands that I have vs the metal ones on top of the cage (which usually only has one perch anyway and they like to climb all over, thus multiple branches works best for mine).