Bird Care - How to Select a Cage

Hi I am Susan from FeatherHeads. We have been talking about how to care for your parrot. Today we are going to discuss how to select a cage. There are many cage choices from Table Tops to floor models that we are showing you right here. There are cages with skirts like this, or this one has skirts but we are not using them at the moment. There are also different choices to be made, whether you want a Dometop or a Playtop cage. The cage you choose depends on the size of the bird you have and obviously where you need to place it in your home. First thing you need to do is decide where you want to place your cage and measure carefully. Typically, you will need the cage size available in space, or shall also need room for any skirts, you will also need room for access to feeders and you will need access to the bird. Usually a wall behind your cage is one of the best choices; the birds have a feeling of security with a wall behind them.

You also want to choose carefully the bar spacing of your cage; this particular cage has a half inch bar spacing. This would be suitable for birds such as Cockatiels, Lovebirds, Conures -- my little Conure demonstrating it here. Usually the rule of thumb is, a bird should be able to stretch his wings out fully in his cage. Remember, you are also going to have inside the cage food bowls, toys, watering system, whatever you choose. So, it fills up fairly quickly depending on what you choose to put in. Another nice feature for most of us with a parrot is to be able to access the food from outside the cage. This is particularly helpful if you have someone coming in to feed your bird while you are away. The doors here open from the outside; the bowl can be removed and then placed back in the cage all without ever letting the bird out, or hopefully being bitten.

You need to think about the size of the cage you are going to use; typically the rule of thumb is, the larger the better. There are some exceptions to that. Sometimes larger cages do not have suitable bar spacing for smaller birds. A Conure for instance, shouldnt have bar spacing over about three quarters of an inch, whereas an African Grey or a Yellow Nape or the small Cockatoos, those type of birds can take bar spacing up to from three quarters to about seven-eighths to an inch. This particular cage is seven-eighths of an inch. It is roughly 24 x 34 inches. It has a very large access door which is very helpful when you are trying to reach a bird who is not necessarily in the mood to come out. It also has a playtop which makes it very convenient if you have your cage in an area where you want to allow the bird to be out and part of the family, but someone is not going to sitting there holding him the whole time. It also features something which is very nice, are toy hooks. Parrots have a very short attention span they are like a two-year old. You cant expect them to sit long without something to do.

This is an ideal cage for so many sized birds. Also when you are choosing a bird, you should be thinking in the back of your mind, also what size cage its going to require. Some of the larger Macaws require a cage that is at least 28 x 40 inches. That cage means it gets bigger in volume; not only is it longer this way, six more inches doesnt sound like a lot. When it is a huge volume of cage - and most of the Macaw cages go all the way down to the floor that is much bigger in your living room than you can imagine. So, do give that some consideration before you decide on what type of bird you are getting. You need to be able to house them adequately. Most of us have to be at work during the day, the bird needs to be entertained; so when you choose, keep all of those things in mind. Now we have been talking about how to care for your parrot, we have talked about the kinds of cages you need, we are next going to talk about how to outfit your cage.