3 Cage Pics: Which would you buy for a lovebird?

[Odysseus]

Thank you for coming in to read this post. I am stuck on trying to decide which will be best for my lovebird I have created one LONG image below for you to see my pros and cons and pictures of each of the three cages.

Any advice on these choices or links I can use to find even BETTER cages for my lovebird? Most importantly, I am interested in 20x20x20 minimum size and 1/2" or less, and really REALLY want to get at least two walls of horizontal bars. Thank you!

[Odysseus]

P.S. I just posted pics I got from my breeder of my lovebird on this thread:

Pics of my future lovebird! - BirdBoard.Com

[trtldove76]

I have the first cage. With 2 lovebirds in it!!! They love it with all their toys and they still have room to flap there wings and fly in it a bit!! They still need time out for more exercise.

It is a little hard to clean and reach all the corners from the inside floor. But nice big easy tray to do paper everyday makes it easier!

[Odysseus]

Oh wow, so you HAVE the first cage. Nice. Have you ever had a bird escape it? Has either gotten a feather, toe, or anything else stuck in it? You say cleaning the corners is hard...are you trying to reach the corners from the main door? Can't you take everything out and give it a good wash down spray with a hose? Have your birds enjoyed going up in it or mostly stayed low? How do they fly in it? I have read that at least 36"W will allow the lovebird to fly but without seeing it myself I find it hard to imagine. Are their wingspan just small enough for a few flaps right to left?

Thanks for responding and hope I am not asking too much with all my questions! :)

[Odysseus]

P.S. The biggest CON for me with that cage is the vertical bars. Do you find that your lovebirds navigate the walls pretty smoothly for being vertical bars? There are some horizontal bars and I was curious if those horizontal bars were close enough spaced for a lovebird to grip one with beak while standing on the lower one.

[PowerBBS]

Originally Posted by Odysseus

Oh wow, so you HAVE the first cage. Nice. Have you ever had a bird escape it? Has either gotten a feather, toe, or anything else stuck in it? You say cleaning the corners is hard...are you trying to reach the corners from the main door? Can't you take everything out and give it a good wash down spray with a hose? Have your birds enjoyed going up in it or mostly stayed low? How do they fly in it? I have read that at least 36"W will allow the lovebird to fly but without seeing it myself I find it hard to imagine. Are their wingspan just small enough for a few flaps right to left?

Thanks for responding and hope I am not asking too much with all my questions! :)

Wow you have some great questions there. I like how you've explored the "escape artist" of these birds. As they truely are escape artists. I can say from the experience I have with my three love birds is that they will use ALL of the cage, high and low. I do find that more often they use the high side of the cage more often though.

Those feeder cups, you may want to get ones with covers/hoods to keep the bird(s) from pooping into their food and water while climbing around the cage. In our cage, we actually bought cups that we put higher in the cage for the birds to use (there by making our seed catcher in-effective tho - and trust me, we have a mess to clean daily). Trust me, the little clown bird I call a lovebird will climb and play everywhere in there.

We have on order now, cups with hoods that will protect the food and water from "bombs" from above. I sure can't wait for them to arrive.

Our seed catcher is merely a mesh white netting that goes all the way around the bottom 1/4 of the cage. We make sure we wash it gently every week to keep it from getting nasty or dangerous to the birds(s). We picked it up at a local PetCo for only a few dollars.

There's mixed thoughts about having a lone lovebird rather than a pair. My thoughts are, if you are going to plan on spending ample one on one time with your little friend then you can suffice with one. But if you end up not spending enough time interacting with him, you may want to consider adopting it a friend/mate as well.

My advice to you about your bird is consider the predicament from their point of view. Would you be happy living in that space for the rest of your life? Of course the almightly "what can I afford" comes into play and for most of us, we end up getting less than an ideal cage. In that situation, get the largest cage you can afford that will house your new friend. Our birds love the wooden swing (just the simple one you would buy for your budgie if you had one) the most. They climb, jump and swing on it daily. They actually fight to see who gets to be on it. Ladders, perches (wooden and rope), mirrors, acrylic toys (acrylic toys seem to last longer if they're not too small).

My advice is to get a cage that has at least a three (or more) inch gap between the bottom of the cage and the waste disposal tray. This will keep the feces a respectable distance from your feathered friend hopefully and allow you to choose "more affordable" types of cage liners without having to worry about your feathered friend chewing on it.

The note about cleaning is a good note. We clean out our cages at least once a week with a good thurough cleaning. (of course we change the lining, food and water daily) Cleaning the toys to get the feces and other debri off them as well. We do exactly what you imply when it comes to cage cleaning - take it outside with a hose. We do follow-up with an antibacterial soapy rag and hot water as well and then wash it all off again and wait for it to dry before we put the bird back into the cage.

One of your thoughts may be, "Where do I put those birds when I'm cleaning the cage?" So a second standby/temporary cage may be a good idea - but that's your choice of course.

One final thing you may want to look into is a removable bottom cage piece that you can take out and wash independantly from the cage and liner pan. This way you can wash this daily to keep all bottom poop droppings away from your bird. I think this is a good idea in the prevention of your bird becoming ill.

Like I say, just ask yourself, would I be happy spending the rest of my life in this.... and get the best you can afford. Those are my cage suggestions. I know it seems generic info, but I think it may help you decide. Oh and as for horizontal vs vertical bars, my lovebirds climb up and down them all. In fact, they seem to prefer sliding down the vertical bars more than the horizontal. They seem to not do much on the horizontal bars (our cage has both horizontal on the sides and vertical on front and back). But that's just my birds. I can't talk about how yours will prefer.

[trtldove76]

No I have never had toes or anything stuck in the cage. They have no problems scaling the sides.

Yes you can use a spray hose to get those spots. I live in Alaska so can't just take it outside. I do put it in the bath tub once in a while! But what I do mostly is spray vinegar and water let it sit then wipe it down and rinse.

As far as flying they really don't fly but they hope with their wings open from perch to perch and there is plenty of room to flap wings.

As far as were they hang out in the cage.. My sunshine sleep perches high and my Felisha has always slept on the bottom of her cage. But during the day they use all of it! foot toys on the bottom swings at the top. And they are always playing!

I have a lot of toys in there right now. When I had less I left half of it open and they would fly from the bottom to the top!

My birds get several hours out to play everyday and they are full flighted.

I hope this helps if you have any other questions please let me know!

Edit: With the open cups I don't have any perches above them so I am not getting the poop in problem. However it is a great Idea.

Originally Posted by Odysseus

Oh wow, so you HAVE the first cage. Nice. Have you ever had a bird escape it? Has either gotten a feather, toe, or anything else stuck in it? You say cleaning the corners is hard...are you trying to reach the corners from the main door? Can't you take everything out and give it a good wash down spray with a hose? Have your birds enjoyed going up in it or mostly stayed low? How do they fly in it? I have read that at least 36"W will allow the lovebird to fly but without seeing it myself I find it hard to imagine. Are their wingspan just small enough for a few flaps right to left?

Thanks for responding and hope I am not asking too much with all my questions! :)

[Odysseus]

Originally Posted by PowerBBS

Those feeder cups, you may want to get ones with covers/hoods to keep the bird(s) from pooping into their food and water while climbing around the cage. In our cage, we actually bought cups that we put higher in the cage for the birds to use (there by making our seed catcher in-effective tho - and trust me, we have a mess to clean daily).

We have on order now, cups with hoods that will protect the food and water from "bombs" from above. I sure can't wait for them to arrive.

Thanks for the advice. I am planning on using 10oz stainless steel dishes instead since they won't scratch and allow any bacteria to grow in the scratches. Those clamp on the cage and I can put high or low. Mostly I will focus placing them away from perches and toys that will allow those kind of bombs. Perhaps there is a lid available...but if the placement is too hard to keep from those accidents I will just do my best to clean regularly. I will have plenty of time in the day to check on it and clean accidents.

There's mixed thoughts about having a lone lovebird rather than a pair. My thoughts are, if you are going to plan on spending ample one on one time with your little friend then you can suffice with one. But if you end up not spending enough time interacting with him, you may want to consider adopting it a friend/mate as well.

Fortunately, I work at nights when my wife returns from her job so I will be able to be with my bird almost 8 hours a day. When school starts again next spring an average of 4-5 hours I will be at class before work starts. So that time period the schedule will change more and have my bird alone 3-4 hours before my wife gets home.

My bird will likely be heavily attached to me, but will enjoy my wife. Sure, the birds personality could turn completely opposite and the bird will choose who he/she likes. We will roll with whatever the bird needs. But, on average it will have more than enough time with us and won't need a friend.

The only time a friend will come will be when my wife breaks down with jealousy and wants a bird of her own! :)

Toys and other items you mentioned are already being ordered so I am glad you offered a nice confirmation to my decision to buy those things. Thanks for making me feel that much more confident on my preparations for my buddy's play things.

My advice is to get a cage that has at least a three (or more) inch gap between the bottom of the cage and the waste disposal tray. This will keep the feces a respectable distance from your feathered friend hopefully and allow you to choose "more affordable" types of cage liners without having to worry about your feathered friend chewing on it.

Yeah that is a great point. I know I want that...but not sure if over the internet I can tell if any of these three have adequate spacing. If needs me I will adjust the cage for a better distance. I work at a newspaper so have an unlimited supply of paper. So I will MAKE SURE the bottom is far enough my bird won't be able to get it and tear it up like he SO SO SO badly wants to. :)

One of your thoughts may be, "Where do I put those birds when I'm cleaning the cage?" So a second standby/temporary cage may be a good idea - but that's your choice of course.

Ooo...ok. I should probably do that. As of now, I plan on making the cleaning during times I can have my wife watch after my buddy. Or I will have to do what the Alaskan poster below said, clean the cage indoors and in that case will just have my bird with me on a shower perch watching or nearby.

Oh and as for horizontal vs vertical bars, my lovebirds climb up and down them all. In fact, they seem to prefer sliding down the vertical bars more than the horizontal. They seem to not do much on the horizontal bars (our cage has both horizontal on the sides and vertical on front and back). But that's just my birds. I can't talk about how yours will prefer.

That is interesting. The MOST interesting was this they seem to prefer sliding down the vertical bars. I never considered that being something they would enjoy I thought it was an effect of the bars being vertical and something they might not WANT to happen but because of the vertical bars they have it happen.

I was worried that horizontal footing would make them so much happier. But, with your opinion I am wondering if I shouldn't worry so much and just rebuy a better cage if my bird doesn't take to sliding. I can always use the cage for temp reasons.

Thank you SOO much for your time in responding!!

Originally Posted by trtldove76

Yes you can use a spray hose to get those spots. I live in Alaska so can't just take it outside. I do put it in the bath tub once in a while! But what I do mostly is spray vinegar and water let it sit then wipe it down and rinse.

Ahh ok, that is great to hear. Now I know that size of cage is possible to clean in the bathtub. That will be nice for the winter here in Utah since the hose is frozen most of the time. I thought I would just take advantage of warmer middays when I can and clean indoors differently when needed. Looks like I can just use the bathroom tub for that, and I appreciate the idea!

As far as flying they really don't fly but they hope with their wings open from perch to perch and there is plenty of room to flap wings.

That's what I am thinking too. I think that is all they will do...and as for my buddy we will start out clipped as he gets used to being with me and with him. Once I feel fully confident that his environment is safe and that he knows me well enough to come...I think I will let my bird be fully flighted.

As far as were they hang out in the cage.. My sunshine sleep perches high and my Felisha has always slept on the bottom of her cage. But during the day they use all of it! foot toys on the bottom swings at the top. And they are always playing!

I have a lot of toys in there right now. When I had less I left half of it open and they would fly from the bottom to the top!

Haha I can't wait to see what my bird prefers. I can't wait to watch him/her play! Thanks for that info...I would go with the low CAGE #3 if the high space was truly wasted. Sounds like it WON'T be at all! :)

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME! :)

[Odysseus]

<<THINKING OUT LOUD>>

Looks like it really comes down to CAGE #1 and CAGE #2.

CAGE #1 isn't as bad with escaping and snagging my buddies extremities as I had thought. It is priced real low and yet isn't CHEAP, it appears to be just a good deal. And the vertical bars aren't as much a con since some birds apparently seem to enjoy sliding on them. I just never considered that, and with the playful Lovies...I can really understand why they would enjoy it. Hmm...

CAGE #2 Is MUCH larger, and has only one door. Appears to be a solid door without much opportunity for my bird to hatch an escape plan. I plan on using different food dishes than those typical and pictured with cage #1, so this cage not having doors for them is fine and doesn't bother me.

Cage 2 is NOT powder-coated though. It could be a positive if the "galvanized before welding" - as described by the company over the phone - is a metal that isn't harmful to my bird in anyway. I might prefer not worrying if my bird would chew on the powder coating or not. With the playpen and toys and everything, the LOOK of the cage un-powdered and all is really a moot point. It doesn't bother me either way.

It is less about looks and more about my bird, and there is LOADS more space in CAGE #2.

I don't care about that price difference and both can come asap.

Are there any other concerns or opinions SPECIFICALLY concerning CAGE #1 vs. CAGE #2?

[4HAND]

Hi,I have conures, not lovebirds but two features I can't live without in a cage are a large entry door and removable bottom grate.Also,even though they may indeed enjoy slidding down vertical bars I have found It's harder to attach certain types of toys and perches to them.I think the bird will be happy in any of those cages,but it's frustrating to have a bird step up in the cage and grab onto the doorway on the way out.It is so much easier to clean a removable grate!
Tena