• Welcome to Avian Avenue! To view our forum with less advertisments please register with us.
    Memberships are free and it will just take a moment. Click here

Can I see your cage setup for your African Grey ....

AlexGrayBird

Meeting neighbors
Joined
5/4/19
Messages
35
Location
Southern New Jersey
Real Name
Patrick
I will be bringing a male baby CAG home in a matter of weeks. I have spent hours online looking at cages. The prices are astronomical. I've just spent thousands on this CAG, and I honestly can not justify the pricing of parrot cages that I am seeing. The African Grey is a medium-sized bird. It is not a Macaw or a Hyacinth Macaw. With that said, I just can not justify placing this parrot in a massive cage, which I do not have room for in my home in the first place, and secondly he just doesn't need. So, I would appreciate seeing your Cages, dimensions and set-ups you have for your African Greys. Thank you all so much in advance.
 

BertAllen

Rollerblading along the road
Joined
7/9/18
Messages
1,183
Location
Ontario
Real Name
Dave
Now having posted that Tinker is not a huge CAG at 425 Grams. His cage is 24" x 36".
I paid $750.00 CDN for it.
He is also out flying about for at least 6 hours a day.

20180926_120016.jpg
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,367
Location
Reino de España
Just remember that the birds cage is his home. It is a one time purchase (if you buy a good quality cage).

Have you checked to see if there are any second hand cages avail.?
 

AlexGrayBird

Meeting neighbors
Joined
5/4/19
Messages
35
Location
Southern New Jersey
Real Name
Patrick
Now having posted that Tinker is not a huge CAG at 425 Grams. His cage is 24" x 36".
I paid $750.00 CDN for it.
He is also out flying about for at least 6 hours a day.

View attachment 303250
Wow. Now that is a beautiful cage. I wish I had the space (and the money) to afford and house a cage of that size, but I do not. The cage I have chosen for my CAG is
24" x 24" x 35". It is a Playtop cage. It is essentially the same size cage that I have my Senegal parrot in, but hers is only 30" tall, and I feel is way to large for her, but she is happy in her cage, and it meets all her needs.
 

AlexGrayBird

Meeting neighbors
Joined
5/4/19
Messages
35
Location
Southern New Jersey
Real Name
Patrick
Just remember that the birds cage is his home. It is a one time purchase (if you buy a good quality cage).

Have you checked to see if there are any second hand cages avail.?
I wouldn't know where to begin to look for second hand cages, but thank you for the suggestion.
 

AlexGrayBird

Meeting neighbors
Joined
5/4/19
Messages
35
Location
Southern New Jersey
Real Name
Patrick
Just remember that the birds cage is his home. It is a one time purchase (if you buy a good quality cage).

Have you checked to see if there are any second hand cages avail.?
I wouldn't know where to begin to look for second hand cages, but thank you for the suggestion.
 

hrafn

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/17/16
Messages
3,875
Location
Canada
Wow. Now that is a beautiful cage. I wish I had the space (and the money) to afford and house a cage of that size, but I do not. The cage I have chosen for my CAG is
24" x 24" x 35". It is a Playtop cage. It is essentially the same size cage that I have my Senegal parrot in, but hers is only 30" tall, and I feel is way to large for her, but she is happy in her cage, and it meets all her needs.
That cage is the bare minimum for a cockatiel, nevermind an African grey!

If you can't afford a proper cage, a CAG may not be right for you.
 

Zara

♥❀Livin´ in Lovebird Land❀☼
Super Moderator
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Avenue Concierge
Joined
1/8/18
Messages
31,367
Location
Reino de España
and I feel is way to large for her
No bird cage is too large.

A 24 by 24 is scraping the barrel for a cockatiel. It is no good for your Grey.

Do you not have a local buying selling website? Google it, ¨second hand cage xxxxx¨ (location). Have you checked facebooks market?

You should really have thought about a cage before buying the bird. They can be quite costly, but that is what owning a larger bird entails. It´s all part of the package.
 

AlexGrayBird

Meeting neighbors
Joined
5/4/19
Messages
35
Location
Southern New Jersey
Real Name
Patrick
No bird cage is too large.

A 24 by 24 is scraping the barrel for a cockatiel. It is no good for your Grey.

Do you not have a local buying selling website? Google it, ¨second hand cage xxxxx¨ (location). Have you checked facebooks market?

You should really have thought about a cage before buying the bird. They can be quite costly, but that is what owning a larger bird entails. It´s all part of the package.
I'm Sorry, I don't mean to make a problem here, but I just don't see it. I know the size of a CAG, and this bird will be just fine in the cage I have selected, considering he will be out of the cage more then he is in the cage, plus he has the playtop . Larger cages are just out of the question financially and space wise. The cage will fit where I have plans to put it. I will continue my search for a more spacious cage for him, and keep my fingers crossed that I win the Lottery in the interim. I've owned many parrots since the 1980s, including conures and cockatiels, and lovebirds. The search will go on for a larger cage, but not much larger. The bird will be living in my home ....I will not be living in his.
 

Kodigirl210

Rollerblading along the road
Joined
10/13/18
Messages
1,403
Location
Cali
24”x24” is not a large enough cage for a CAG.

I will be the first to admit sometimes I’m not the most tactful person around and this isn’t going to come out in any way that you like but it obviously needs to be said.

Let me repeat 24”x24” is not big enough for a CAG. If you can’t afford the cage, you can’t afford the space, then I’m going to take a wild shot in the dark and say you’re not going to pay for vet care unless the CAG is at death’s door.

A CAG in the minimum needs a cage that is 32”x23”x48”. They also need a quality high performance pellet for the first two years, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, treats and chop. They have specialized dietary needs and that has to also be taken into consideration when purchasing food.

I do buy my pellets from Amazon so it’s $45 for 20lbs but that’s the only luck I have. I spend anywhere from $25-$50 a week in fresh food. Most of which will get wasted.

It needs to be offered even if the CAG only eats one teaspoon each. Every day they should be offered 50-75% pellets, 25-30% fresh veggies and fruit and 5-10% seed. The food should be refreshed at least once but generally twice a day. Minimum amount offered ends up being around 2-3 cups of food.

They need annual checkups as well as intermittent visits because something happened. It’s $60 to walk in the door. If you get out of vet with a bill less than $250 it’s time to thank every lucky charm you can think of.

You will need to buy a suitably sized rolling perch and you will also need to buy toys, perches, mineral blocks, cuttlebones etc for inside the cage and outside the cage, on the perch or on the floor such as foot toys.

I bought my CAG knowing it had some issues with her feet but that snowballed into a lot of other things and I’ve since spent a couple thousand on her care. And believe me when I say I’m not unique. CAGs are little kids. They stick stuff in their mouth they shouldn’t and they find stuff your forgot you had for the last 6 years.

So if you choose to go through with the purchase of your CAG, then I suggest you start laying aside money for everything else that will be needed-starting with a proper sized cage.

Otherwise you will end up with a neurotic Grey that plucks/self mutilates, bites whatever comes near, and can’t be handled because in your lengthy experience as a CAG owner you know that pfftt 24”x24” will be more than enough.


31838CDA-10B0-4359-9452-571780BB117D.jpeg 49402F52-5DFA-4014-8A5D-DFCD6428BA71.jpeg ED87194A-EAFE-40C1-881B-0596B0A79948.jpeg
 

Fuzzy

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
10/30/10
Messages
4,331
Location
Jersey, Channel Islands
Real Name
Roz
24" x 24" is small - my Pionus' cage is bigger than that. Hope you can find a bigger one for your new Grey. Agree that cages do take up a lot of room. I had to get rid of most of my furniture to make room for all the cages and playstands.
 

AlexGrayBird

Meeting neighbors
Joined
5/4/19
Messages
35
Location
Southern New Jersey
Real Name
Patrick
24”x24” is not a large enough cage for a CAG.

I will be the first to admit sometimes I’m not the most tactful person around and this isn’t going to come out in any way that you like but it obviously needs to be said.

Let me repeat 24”x24” is not big enough for a CAG. If you can’t afford the cage, you can’t afford the space, then I’m going to take a wild shot in the dark and say you’re not going to pay for vet care unless the CAG is at death’s door.

A CAG in the minimum needs a cage that is 32”x23”x48”. They also need a quality high performance pellet for the first two years, fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, treats and chop. They have specialized dietary needs and that has to also be taken into consideration when purchasing food.

I do buy my pellets from Amazon so it’s $45 for 20lbs but that’s the only luck I have. I spend anywhere from $25-$50 a week in fresh food. Most of which will get wasted.

It needs to be offered even if the CAG only eats one teaspoon each. Every day they should be offered 50-75% pellets, 25-30% fresh veggies and fruit and 5-10% seed. The food should be refreshed at least once but generally twice a day. Minimum amount offered ends up being around 2-3 cups of food.

They need annual checkups as well as intermittent visits because something happened. It’s $60 to walk in the door. If you get out of vet with a bill less than $250 it’s time to thank every lucky charm you can think of.

You will need to buy a suitably sized rolling perch and you will also need to buy toys, perches, mineral blocks, cuttlebones etc for inside the cage and outside the cage, on the perch or on the floor such as foot toys.

I bought my CAG knowing it had some issues with her feet but that snowballed into a lot of other things and I’ve since spent a couple thousand on her care. And believe me when I say I’m not unique. CAGs are little kids. They stick stuff in their mouth they shouldn’t and they find stuff your forgot you had for the last 6 years.

So if you choose to go through with the purchase of your CAG, then I suggest you start laying aside money for everything else that will be needed-starting with a proper sized cage.

Otherwise you will end up with a neurotic Grey that plucks/self mutilates, bites whatever comes near, and can’t be handled because in your lengthy experience as a CAG owner you know that pfftt 24”x24” will be more than enough.


View attachment 303264 View attachment 303265 View attachment 303266
I'm going to start off with informing you right off the bat that I do not appreciate your tone with me at all. And I do not appreciate the fact that you Assume that I will not provide proper Veterinary care for this CAG. How Rude and how dare you ! I have taken my Senegal and 2 Gouldian Finches to my Avian Veterinarian on a regular basis since I got them, so for you to attack me and tell me that I will not provide Veterinary care for this CAG unless it is at deaths door is an absolute insult. You have alot of nerve. And I'm going to leave it at that.
 

AlexGrayBird

Meeting neighbors
Joined
5/4/19
Messages
35
Location
Southern New Jersey
Real Name
Patrick
24" x 24" is small - my Pionus' cage is bigger than that. Hope you can find a bigger one for your new Grey. Agree that cages do take up a lot of room. I had to get rid of most of my furniture to make room for all the cages and playstands.
Everyone has their own perception of what is large and what is small. I'm sitting here with a 24x24" cage right next to me, and it is not by any means small. A 12x12" cage is small. I will continue my search for a Used Bird Cage that meets your above requirements.
 

Nikomania

Rollerblading along the road
Vendor
Avenue Veteran
Celebirdy of the Month
Mayor of the Avenue
Joined
8/9/13
Messages
4,015
Location
San Diego
CAGS are extremely interactive with their toys inside their cages. They will hang and twirl on hanging items, and also love to flap their wings at times. All 3 of my CAGS have large cages and use every single square inch of their real estate. Getting a smallish cage will do them an injustice. Just my chime in;)
 

Kodigirl210

Rollerblading along the road
Joined
10/13/18
Messages
1,403
Location
Cali
No one should consider getting any animal let alone one as intelligent and articulate as a CAG or any other parrot if they can’t/won’t provide for them or can’t/ won’t care for them properly.

I am not ashamed, nor embarrassed or anything else. I know exactly who I am and exactly what I’ve sacrificed. I always, always think of my kid and fids before myself. So do most people who are members here.I paid whatever was necessary so the correctly sized cage would fit in whatever space I needed to make available, and also paid for the proper food and paid for the proper care so my CAG would have the best life possible no matter what. That doesn’t make me special at all, it makes me in the very least humane and at the very most responsible.

Yet even with everyone giving the same advice/answer here it continues to be ignored.

Why?

Because it’s never been about asking advice, or learning to provide, it’s not about the giving up of anything/everything to have a CAG come into someone’s life for all the right reasons-this is all about wanting the CAG to give up anything/everything so it will fit exactly in the tiny little box it’s going to be crammed into and then trying to justify it.

As a future consideration to those who don’t want an answer to a question - then please don’t ask. ;)
 

BertAllen

Rollerblading along the road
Joined
7/9/18
Messages
1,183
Location
Ontario
Real Name
Dave
Since this is a baby a 24 x 24 cage will be just fine till you can get something not less than the one I have for Tinker.
Not sure how big your gray is, but some in the stores around here are 500 grams at 18 months old. Tinkers parent were not huge grays so I thinking he will be on the small side as well.

If your CAG is going to be able to fly and allowed to venture around the house supervised he will get all the exercise he needs.

I had tinker in a 24 x 24 for the first little while as well. Teresa went for the bigger one because with all the big toys it seemed crowded to her.

Keep looking as I'm sure you will find a good used cage in your area eventually.
Good luck with the search.
 

hrafn

Rollerblading along the road
Avenue Veteran
Avenue Spotlight Award
Joined
9/17/16
Messages
3,875
Location
Canada


This is my Kamara's cage.
Older picture so the setup now is different, but this conveys the size of it compared to her. I actually consider it a little too small, but she's disabled.
 
Top