Stainless Steel California cages?

[kateBird]

Hi everyone,

I hope I can catch someone who knows their Cal Cages....I found someone selling a California Cage (Santa Barbara), which this person believes is stainless steel. I searched on the California cages website and I could not find one cage that they make out of stainless steel.

My question is, could this really be a stainless steel cage that this person is selling? he said that he thinks its an older version of the santa barbara cage shown on the website because it doesn't have the snap buttons. (he says it cant come apart, besides the castors and the play top).

any confirmation? bad news?

thanks

kate

[Lisa B]

I have one of the original Californina Cage company cages when the company was just starting out. It is a wonderful cage. They used to take custom orders, and made mine, a macaw sized cage, with 3/4 bar spacing for my tiels. I ordered it from a bird show in the early ninties, and it still looks brand new. However, since then many knock off companies came about...all boasting the California Cage Companies name...but infact, they are not associated with the Company at all. There was some legal thing that went on, and I dont recall the outcome.
Be careful of people using the name. I'm not sure if Cal Cage company is ACTUALLY the California Cage company. My friend told me several times she had a california cage company cage...when in fact, it was not like mine, and read "CAL cage."

I would call the company to enquire about thier stainless line.....that will give you all the answers you need.

I found a link, I believe to be the original people I got my cage from because of the location, and the custom parts ordering. http://www.pacificaviara.com/
there is a number to call there if you look through the tool bar for the site.

[kateBird]

Thanks for the info, Lisa! :)

DUH...never thought of contacting them. I did go to the website you suggested and wrote them an email. if i dont hear from them, i will call them.

the stuff about 2 companies vieing for the name "California Cages"..how irritating is that?! i will definitely keep that in mind.

thanks a bunch!

kate

[The Outlaw]

Lisa is correct about problems with California Cages. I loved their old ones and don't care for the newer ones. In fact, it was when California Cages and a disgruntled ex-employee opened a competitor store with a similar sounding name that the confusion started. I think it put King's cages on the map because the quality of the King's cages has remained constant. I prefer the older California Cages because they are so sturdy, don't seem to rust and have actually traded brand new cages for old California Cages. They are more difficult for birds to destroy, the powder coating was great (of course stainless isn't powder coated) and the wheels were excellent.

However, if you are considering a large cage, the break down feature of the King's trim moldings to get my cages through doorways. That totally sucks. If I had the money to buy new stainless cages, I'd probably choose either California or King's cages. I see new competitors on the horizon with amazing deals, but there is stainless and there is STAINLESS. Having built hot rods for decades, if the quality of the stainless is substandard, you can STILL get rust. The other advantage to buying from a well known vendor is that you can get the proper dishes and perches for a long time. I have had problems getting replacement crocks for a number of my knock off cages. Buyer beware.

[Lisa B]

your welcome!