small cage? && Diet..

[Emmilyy]

Hello, so i recently got a new cage that was meant to be for my sisters parrotlet, but the wires were too far apart so we had to move Cookie to it instead. I felt really bad about it because its probably close to one third of the size of his last one, :( .

I know that the bigger cage you have for your conure, the better, but is a small cage okay if they get anough out of the cage time? ..

he doesnd spend much time in his cage, im at school from around 8 - 4:30 every week day and every other of those days he has his cage door left open to come out if he wants and then when i get home he spends around 2 hours hanging out with me and then i feed him some fruits and veggies in his cage and he take turns with his door open with the parrotlet (They cant be let out at the same time )

On the weekends he again takes turns with the parrotletw ith their door open and the cance to come out if they want pretty much all day, other then the 2-3 hours i spend with him on those daays, (only 2-3 hours cause he still seems to want to be in his cage room with Toc) and when we're not home they usually either take turns out again or both stay in their cages...

He's put in his cage around 9 every night and the light are turned out until the morning ( 8 during the weeks, 10 on weekends)

I know GCC's like big cages with lots of toys and room to play, but he doesnt really spend much time in his cage, and he NEVER plays. he doesnt seem to like any toys i give him or anything.. when he is in his cage he usually spends the time eating, or snuggling in his happy hut...

Is the smaller cage okay for him with the ammount of out of the cage time he gets?

Also, i have a diet question...

His previous owner had him on seed, and gave him LOTS of sunflower seeds apparently because thats pretty much all he wants to eat. At the moment he's still eating some seed with peppers and dried banana in it and i mix some oats into it(they like it as a treat?), but i also give him a variety of fruits and vegies every evening... (He doesnt eat much of the veggies and fruites, though, but he does like tomato, apple, strawberries, and oranges. I'm trying to get him to eat some peppers, potato's, lettus and carrots... im not having much luck, though. I want to get him on some pellets, but im having trouble finding any, and i wouldnt know what kind is good to feed him regardless.. and theres no avian vets around here to go for advice. Anyone here know what pellets are good and how i could get him to try them? he wont eat anything new in his bowl unless he's sitting on my shoulder and see's me eating it, but i dont think i really want to munch down on some pellets... :P

Any ideas?

[catschair]

I am sure you will get quite a few responses, since folks have strong opinions, but while you are waiting, you might want to try the search feature on the top blue bar. You will find a lot of great information about diet, conversion to pellets, cages and out of cage time.... Thanks for participating!

[dawnkyung]

Hi Emmilyy,

I'm sure your little guy will survive in that cage, but I'd recommend saving up to try to get him something bigger! Even though he doesn't seem interested in toys, you never know what he does when no one's watching. Try some foot toys on the bottom of the cage too, Aki loves those. I'd also recommend leaving the radio on for him if you can while you're not home.

I had Aki in a cage that I felt was too small for about a month and she did OK. How big is the new cage?

As for pellets, I use Zupreem fruit blend, but a lot of people like Harrison's. You should be able to find some kind of pellets (kaytee or zupreem) at petland or even petsmart, I would think. I'd imagine that almost any kind are better than a full diet of seed!

[Emmilyy]

I am saving up for something bigger, the new smaller cage was just necissary to separate him from the parrotlet hi previous owner housed him with... I'll try leaving the radio on, but he doesnt really get lonely as the parrotlet is still in a cage next to him. (we;re slowly separating them..) Ill look for some toys for the bottom, do you think some little balls with bells in them would be okay? ( like the cat toys?) ..

Umm.. im not sure of the size of the new cage... ill try and get the demensions later... I was definatly planning on getting a new cage for him once we have him successfully separated from toc, the parrotlet, but at the moment we wouldnt be able to fit a bigger cage in the room we're using while they are separated. but when he can come into my room i would like to get him the HQ flight cage, it looks like a good one. :) .. i'm just not sure how long that will be, or if i can even get that cage where i am...

I live in New Brunswick, Canada, and i dont think we have any petland's or petsmarts around here... we have a Pets unlimited and a Pet-cetera... and a few home owned pet shops around so i'll have to look at a few more of them.. i dont think many of them know what they're doing at all when it comes to birds, they feed them all seed diets and im not sure if they stock pellets, but ill find out! . I know seed diets are bad, and i've been trying to get them on different fruits and veggies, but it will take them awhile to get used to it, i think. fingers crossed!!!

[hollyhawkz]

An absolute minimum sized cage for a small conure is 20"wide x 20"deep x 36"tall, if that helps you know where you are at. Bigger that that is better yet.

Check out craigs list and kijiji for used cages in good condition.

When you head in to Moncton, here are some stores you could check out.....

Local business results for pet stores in or near Moncton, NB, Canada

Pets Unlimited - (506) 386-8780

Pets Unlimited - (506) 854-7387

Noble Aquarium - (506) 854-2000

Grooming Palace - Grooming Palace : Pet supplies & Grooming : Toilletage, ProNature, Chiens, Chats, Eleveur, Training: - (506) 388-3003

Wag N' Wash Inc - (506) 388-9274

Brenda's Bowtique - (506) 855-4575

Global Pet Foods - Global Ryan's Pet Foods - The Health Food Store For Your Pet - (506) 859-8595

Case Pet Services - www.casepetservices.com - (506) 381-8797

Best Friend Pet Spa - Pet Grooming - Best Friend Pet Spa - (506) 852-9639

Nestle Purina Petcare - (506) 859-9118

This one is in Bathurst and has birds...
Bills Pet Paradise - 191 Russell St, Bathurst - +61 2 6331 5688

[Peanutbutter]

For cages: yeah I agree w/ prev posters. Save & upgrade.

PetSmart carries roudybush pellets in most of their stores. I choose those over zupreem because the roudybush is cooked at a lower temp to preserve the nutrients. (or something like that)

Zupreem natural is better than the fruity ones... the natural undyed don't make the poop a rainbow of colors. :)

Seed should be a part of the diet, just a small part though. Great job intro-ing fresh foods though!

[Emmilyy]

Yeah, i think he's doing okay in his cage for now, im obviously going to upgrade him in the future, as soon as i can.... I want to get him a nice flight cage, but the pet stores around here, (fredericton.. ) dont really have any so i might have to find some place to order one... Or, if i cant find a good one for him, i could always find a smaller one with the right bar spacing for the parrotlet and switch them, but i'd still have to save up for that... Like i said, though, he doesnt spend much time in his cage.. Today i let him out around 10 and he's been with me all day ( took a shower for the first time, wasnt too happy about it ;P ) until a few minutes ago when i put him back in his cage (with the doors open so he's probably hanging out on his play gym on top.. )

Im going to have to keep looking for some pellets, though... theres only 4 pet stores around here, (I think) so there's not that many places to look...) and Monctons a few hours drive so i dont think i could head over there everytime he needs some more food...

Ill keep looking :)

[hollyhawkz]

You can put seed in the freezer and it does not hurt the seed or the vitamins and minerals. We buy a few bags of the soak seed because it is so far away and freeze it, as well as the regular seed/pellet mix and nutriberries. That way we only have to go twice a year for soak seed.

I found this on Kijiji.... It's a good deal for the type and size.

Cage For sale (Located in Woodstock)
Price: $150.00
Ad ID: 108846578
Visits: 77

Address: Woodstock, NB, E7M
Location: Moncton
Date Listed: 22-Feb-09



I have a white 24x22 cage for sale with seed guards and playtop. NO perches, as I took out the one wood perch and put my own rope perches in. Used but in great shape. Selling because I upgraded to larger size.


Images

[catschair]

I buy most of my bird food on the internet; that way the UPS man gets to lift all the heavy boxes

[Emmilyy]

hah yes, that does look like a good cage! i will definatly look into it. I just have to work to save money now, maybe i can talk my parents into throwing in some money, :) and like i said, if i cant save enough money for a good sized one for Cookie ill just get the parrotlet a new one...

And freezing seed is a good idea, les trips to the pet store.. Its sunday so the pet stores are closed for today. but tomorrow or tuesday i'm gonna get my mom to drive me to some of them to look for some pellets. I'll try to find some Zupreem or Harrison's...

Any advice on how to switch them over to the pellets?