Cage question

[lorilazerson]

We will be bring home our new CAG in about 3-4 wks and we're starting to look into cages. We need some advice. Is it better to have the bars horizontal or both vertical and horizontal? How big of a cage should we get. We're looking at some with the depth at about 24". Is that deep enough? The width and the height are about 60x40. Should we get a dome top that opens up or a flat top? Is it a good idea to have a playpen on top of the cage? Any advice is greatly appreciated!!!!

lori

[Monica]

I prefer playtops because you can put stuff on top of the cage for the bird and it's a place they can hang out and enjoy. However, dometops offer more inside room. Still, if your creative enough, you can create a gym for your bird on top of a dometop! Regardless if you get playtop or dometop, it's a good idea to have a gym away from the cage! (of course you could always look into getting a flat top cage with a removeable playtop!)

I do not recommend cages that open up on top due to the possible hazard of closing in if a perch (that keeps it open) were to get loose and fall... unless you have a *SAFE* way to keep them open!

Most people say that all horizontal bars are best, however, my budgies use the vertical bars to slide on! And they can all easily climb up the vertical bars, too! I'd say it's up to you!


The cage size you are looking at sounds just fine to me!!!! However, do note that many AG owners suggest getting a smaller cage since fabies tend to be clumsy when young! (such as a 32" x 23" x ~60") and then upgrading to a larger cage as they become adults! Of course, one can always set up a larger cage for a younger bird making it better for the young ones! The best question really, is can you fit a large cage (40x24x60) into your home, and be able to fit it back out for some deep cleaning????

[kellywess]

First of all on size, the bigger the better. I prefer playtops. Our cages have horizontal bars on the right and left sides with vertical bars on the front and the back. I would not suggest buying a smaller cage in the beginning and then up-grading as this can get costly and in my opinion very unecessary. What you need to do is place all perches, boings,toys,happy huts...etc. lower in the cage until they get used to climbing which honestly doesnt take very long. You can buy ceramic crocks to sit at the bottom of the cage until your baby gets the hang of climbing. I do agree with the cages that the top opens... too much room for error there.

[Lisa B]

I dont care for the ones that open ontop either.
dome or playtop depend on how much out of the cage time he is going to get. Dome tops will hold more, as in boings and toys. if its mostly sleep a playtop is good with other play areas as well.
I like horizontal and vertical bars in the cage.
Greys tend to do well in cages that are wider, then taller.
I have Avian Adventure cages. the Mediana model. one playtop and one dome top


The Grey Roost

[lorilazerson]

We found a cage that has horizontal bars all around it. It's by HQ cages. The only negative is it can be open on top. We could just always keep it closed and forget that it can open. Is is better though to have a combination of vertical and horizontal?

lori