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Is a cage size 150cm*75cm*75cm good for 3 parrotlets?

Karnkate

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I’m thinking of upgrading the p’lets cages. Even though they get along, right now Mali and Josegh live in the same 60*90 cage (I don’t know the exact width) and Sudlhor lives in his boxy 40*40*40 cage. Sudlhor’s cage is definitely too small whereas the big brothers got a lot of height that left the floor space mostly unoccupied.
Unoccupied as in they only come down for food and the foot toys remained untouched.
There’s one company in Thailand that offers to do any cage any size that you want, so I just want to ask for ideas first.
 

taxidermynerd

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The current cage sizes sound really small. I would buy the biggest cage you can afford. That's your best bet. According to google the average parrotlet wingspan is 9.5 inches (24.13 cm) and the rule of thumb is you want the width of the cage to be AT LEAST 1.5 times the wingspan. So with 3 birds, let's say all 3 have a wingspan of 9.5 in, you'd want a cage at least 42 inches wide (106.68 cm). But as always, bigger is better. (forgive my brain, I'm used to inches rather than centimeters) @Mizzely posted an excellent resource in a thread not to long ago, it'll quote it here-
I have linked this before but doing it again

Wingspan Info | Natural Inspirations Parrot cages

Budgies and lovebirds have similar wingspans.

So this calculator will work for both

Budgie Cage Size Calculator - (Parakeet Cage Calculator)

View attachment 294904 View attachment 294905
 

Karnkate

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The current cage sizes sound really small. I would buy the biggest cage you can afford. That's your best bet. According to google the average parrotlet wingspan is 9.5 inches (24.13 cm) and the rule of thumb is you want the width of the cage to be AT LEAST 1.5 times the wingspan. So with 3 birds, let's say all 3 have a wingspan of 9.5 in, you'd want a cage at least 42 inches wide (106.68 cm). But as always, bigger is better. (forgive my brain, I'm used to inches rather than centimeters) @Mizzely posted an excellent resource in a thread not to long ago, it'll quote it here-
The current house I am living in belongs to my parents, so I can’t just buy the biggest cage on the whim :(. I have to consider whether my parents would like to have that remaining space for something or not. I think they wouldn’t mind a 150cm length cage popping out of nowhere or even a 200cm. But they will if that 200cm took the entire corner of one end of (the floor that the birds are located) of the house.
 

fashionfobie

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How old are your parrotlets? Parrotlets can be very cage territorial and can fight very severely, can lead to an emergency vet visit.
 

Karnkate

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How old are your parrotlets? Parrotlets can be very cage territorial and can fight very severely, can lead to an emergency vet visit.
They are 7 months, 5 months, and 2 months respectively.
 

fashionfobie

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If you want them to continue living together you may need a larger aviary. From what you said it doesn't seem like you can go that route. Parrotlets can get along just wonderfully or they can fight very badly, sending their friend to the avian vet. At such a young age your little ones haven't reached maturity so even if they get along now there is no guarantee that it will stay that way. I think you should consider getting separate cages, if anything to have one on the ready if your birds start fighting.

My current cages are 90 x 80 x 48 cm. Each bird has their own cage. They can interact in the common play area, but their cage is theirs. They can also be very protective of their food, unless you are the human who is bring them more :) My little males are only a few weeks apart from each other in age, they are not related but from the same place. The breeder even housed them together. Picard will bite any bird on his cage to the point of bleeding. It is his home.

I have my cages stacked, so that is an idea to save some floor area.

You are right 40x40x40 is on the small size. If your birds get hours of time out of the cage every day you can keep them in smaller cages. I do not advise this however. Parrotlets are very active and they need space. They are not going to be happy if they can't let out their energy. This species can pluck if they get bored.

Hope this helps.
 

Karnkate

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If you want them to continue living together you may need a larger aviary. From what you said it doesn't seem like you can go that route. Parrotlets can get along just wonderfully or they can fight very badly, sending their friend to the avian vet. At such a young age your little ones haven't reached maturity so even if they get along now there is no guarantee that it will stay that way. I think you should consider getting separate cages, if anything to have one on the ready if your birds start fighting.

My current cages are 90 x 80 x 48 cm. Each bird has their own cage. They can interact in the common play area, but their cage is theirs. They can also be very protective of their food, unless you are the human who is bring them more :) My little males are only a few weeks apart from each other in age, they are not related but from the same place. The breeder even housed them together. Picard will bite any bird on his cage to the point of bleeding. It is his home.

I have my cages stacked, so that is an idea to save some floor area.

You are right 40x40x40 is on the small size. If your birds get hours of time out of the cage every day you can keep them in smaller cages. I do not advise this however. Parrotlets are very active and they need space. They are not going to be happy if they can't let out their energy. This species can pluck if they get bored.

Hope this helps.
I’ll order separate cages for them instead. Better safe than sorry. Thanks for your inpur about their maturity. I’m not sure whether I should order 2 separate cages or 3 because of Mali and Joseph (the 7 months and 5 months). They seem “bonded”. Like, I see them regurgitating for each other all the time and preening each other’s feathers. Joseph likes to follow wherever Mali goes too....but that can be wrong. “Wiggle dance” !
 

taxidermynerd

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There's a youtube channel you might want to check out, it's called Flock Talk and the person who runs it has 2 parrotlets, she keeps them in a cage like this (not this exact one but something similar)-


Maybe you could look into something similar. She still lets them out for playtime together, and they can go visit each other in their cages, but when it comes to it each bird has their own cage.

Just a thought :)
 

fashionfobie

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The one @taxidermynerd posted is similar to my set up.

I’ll order separate cages for them instead. Better safe than sorry. Thanks for your inpur about their maturity. I’m not sure whether I should order 2 separate cages or 3 because of Mali and Joseph (the 7 months and 5 months). They seem “bonded”. Like, I see them regurgitating for each other all the time and preening each other’s feathers. Joseph likes to follow wherever Mali goes too....but that can be wrong. “Wiggle dance” !
My Neptune wiggles dances for everything he finds cool, he has even danced at the wild bird that gets a drink on my veranda. Even though your birds are great friends now, things can change so just keep a close eye on them. Around 10 months to a year or so they will start become adults. I think it would be best for them to all have their own space.

My two had a little tiff just the other day and feathers were flying and that was in the common play area. Normally they are also wiggle dance and grooming buddies. The biggest issue is that they don't give up. So if they want to start something they will persist until they get what they want. It works ok in a common play area because mine can fly off when they get overwhelmed. In a cage it is difficult to get your own space and injury is common with parrotlets in a shared cage situation.

I have read that even in the wild there are documented cases of parrotlet fights that end in injury and potentially death.

Can't be fooled by their tiny size! They are fierce and brave little dudes. I think this is part of what makes them so much fun for us to interact with. It is also why they are so prone to household accidents.
 
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