what do you think about this?

[Vera]

I saw this video, looks like the birds have a huge aviary made from (plexi?)glass, with lots of ropes, toys and wooden perches in it.
really love this idea for my parrotlets. could make them such an aviary that fits on a dresser (size wide 219 cm x depth 46 cm), i could make it as high as needed.
what do you think? can the birds be happy in such a cage?

 

[nellysmom]

I think as long as there is some air flow and they obviously have a lot do keep them busy it should be fine

 

[karen256]

Plexiglass is safe as long as there's plenty of ventilation. You'ld want lots of holes for ventilation and to attach perches, and probably a standard wire top for extra ventilation and hanging toys. It has some downsides though: it's very expensive, it can look messy faster, and it can eventually get scratched up and look bad. Also the birds can't climb on it for exercise, so you would need a slightly larger cage than you would if it was wire, and plenty of ladders and swings and things to climb on. But, less mess makes its way out of the cage which can be nice.
I made a travel carrier with some plexiglass sides - it's small so I used 1/8" plexi and that's still quite expensive. A big cage would need to be made of thicker plexi or it would sag under its own weight... it's not the easiest material to work with.

 

[MyAussieFriends]

My concerns would be airflow and maybe keeping it look clean.

 

[expressmailtome]

In addition to air flow issues, Plexiglas like materials hold heat. They can become very hot, very quickly. This can not only cause heatstroke, but can cause a bird to breathe much heavier while trying to cool down.

Matt

 

[Vera]

thanks for the replies!

airflow and heat are good points of consideration.




I think airflow is easy to get right, it has an open ceiling and when this is combined with holes in the plexiglass sides, i think the airflow will be fine.

but the heat.... if it is placed indoors and isn't placed in direct sunlight, do you think this will get too hot during summers?

 

[karen256]

It just depends on how many holes or other open areas there are.
Parrot Island used to make some really nice acrylic cages which used slots cut into the sides rather than holes which looked better and allowed better airflow. All they seem to sell now is carriers (probably the big cages were too impractical to ship). But you can see how the slots work in the carrier: Parrot Island Carrier
Acrylic/plexi is brittle and hard to cut neatly, so I don't think adding slots like that would be practical for just one cage (you would probably need to buy special tools). Drilling holes is the much easier option, as long as there are enough the cage will work out ok.

 

[Vera]

I have to think this through. Maybe it is a good idea to make the back and sides from plexiglass and make the top and front from black powder coated mesh .
with closed sides and back it will keep the mess inside. the mesh top and front give enough air circulation... or maybe.... make plexiglass front windows and plexiglass back and make the top and sides from mesh....
this will give a better view inside the cage.....

 

[Jaguar]

A few small intake/outtake fans (maybe 120mm pc case fans?) would help a lot with the ventilation issue. My biggest concern is it would get dirty FAST. One poop would smear allllll the way down to the floor.

 

[Vera]

do your fids poo on the walls? I've never seen my parrotlets do that.
but if they did..... I think I'd rather have the poo on the inside of the cage than on my walls......

 

[Jaguar]

do your fids poo on the walls? I've never seen my parrotlets do that.
but if they did..... I think I'd rather have the poo on the inside of the cage than on my walls......

I've found poo multiple feet away from the cages... I also have to use a putty knife to scrape fruit chunks off my walls and floors

 

[Vera]

LOL. I have experience with scraping fruits and veggies off the walls, but the poo usually falls down

 

[karen256]

Acrylic cages look messy faster because they keep more mess in (which is good as long as you clean often). Food gets splattered on the sides ect. and if you scrub too hard when cleaning, you can scratch the acrylic and it won't look very nice.