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Some Perch, Toy, And Cage Questions

Marvel_ous

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On a side note, we probably won't even start preparing for an African Grey until after summer has ended, so I have a chance to evaluate my usual lifestyle and make sure I have enough time for such an emotionally complex bird even with high school work. My family's willing to pitch in, but the idea of it is for me to be the parrot's main caretaker, do the heavy lifting and dirty work, and they help with training and entertaining the Grey now and then, as well as my parents helping financially.

Nothing's set in stone yet, and right now I'm trying to figure out what budget we should realistically set. I'd rather not spend more than $300 on a cage, though could go to $400 if we had to. I'm just wondering what range of sizes you guys recommend for a Grey that would be out and interacting with the family, or at the very least in the same room as the family and out of the cage for most of the day. (My mother is stay-at-home and my father works from home, so it's very rare that no one's in the house.) Additionally, we may one day have to bring the bird on vacation with us, what setup would you recommend that's not too bulky, costly, and hard to move?

As for toys, I was thinking of buying one each of a variety of different toys (Foot toys, foraging toys, easy-to-shred toys, wooden toys, puzzle toys, and the like) to see what our parrot would prefer before we go out and buy a lot of a toy that the particular individual we rescue won't touch. Also planning to try some homemade toys, paper towel tubes, newspaper pom-poms, strips of non-glossy paper threaded through cage bars, certain woods raided from the trash bin at our local Lowes, as the employees there are very friendly and have allowed us to find scraps from their garbage before, when I got into woodcarving for a time, (Going to check for type of wood and if it was treated at all before we would give it) and maybe even stuff like whole vegetables as toy/food combinations.

Another question, is masking tape (The papery, not very sticky type) safe for parrots? Not planning on using it if there's even a chance of danger, but I heard about it from a book, and there are some cool ideas to do with it if it is.

In terms of perches, I've heard different things from different sources. Are dowel and nail-grinding perches alright as long as there's only one of each in the cage? Or should we avoid them completely? Also, does anyone know of a cheaper place to get natural wood perches? We're willing and able to afford them if there's not another way, but not spending $20 on a perch big enough would be nice.

Thanks, all!
 

expressmailtome

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MiniMacaw

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I don’t have a grey, so going off of macaw experience here...I would say no to dowels. Just not worth the risk of sore feet to me. Especially since there are so many awesome perch options out there. I know it seems expensive for perches, but you get what you pay for most of the time with quality woods/craftsmanship. I get all of mine for my medium/large parrots from Seriously Nutz. My birds also love their platform perches so I make sure to have one of those in each cage/aviary at all times. It’s a great place for the parrots to rest their feet. Another favorite of my guys is rope perches to walk across or swing from.

The amount of toys a parrot like a grey will go through will probably surprise you, so I don’t think you can get too many. I know I was surprised when I first got my macaw and I had to clear out an entire closet just to fit his toys in lol. Over time you’ll be able to figure out which materials are your greys favorite so I think a sampling of types in the beginning is a good idea.

No idea about masking tape as I’ve never thought about it. Hopefully someone else will know the answer to that. I don’t think the glue is particularly safe...I know someone once contacted a glue company (guerilla I think it was?) who said that their glue and tape products were not safe for any bird species.

Not sure about the cost of a nice cage for a grey. My severe macaws (similar size to a grey) share an indoor aviary because they’re so active even though they get plenty of out of cage time. The cages I had before for each (when they hadn’t bonded yet and weren’t caged together) were around $500. Sometimes you can find a great condition used one for a steal too.
 

Marvel_ous

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Ah, wow! Looked at Seriously Nutz's perches, looks like much nicer perches for less than similar size or smaller ones on Amazon! For some reason small, independent sellers hadn't crossed my mind, thank you! I don't think we'd be able to find space in our house for a cage bigger than three feet by three feet wide and long, though height won't matter. I'll stay away from dowels, in that case. I'll also browse used cage ads, though most in our area are either trying to sell them for more than what they're worth off Amazon, or they're tiny cages not even fit for a budgie. A lot of cages off Amazon seem too small, always around 22 x 24 x 36 inches inside (These are way well within our price range, generally between 150-200 dollars), and tbh that's the bare minimum I would consider even remotely okay. I'd prefer a wider cage, but haven't found ones right in our size and price range yet.
 

Sarahmoluccan

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I would increase your budget for a cage if you can. My personal take is investing in a good cage up front will save you money in the long run. As a mediocre cage you'll have to replace sooner. I'm not sure how much would be a good budget in the USA. In Canada sometimes prices for cages can be ridiculously over price compared to American prices
 

Marvel_ous

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Hm, probably a good idea, perhaps I could open art commissions back up, mow lawns, work around the neighborhood and save up a bit more. I really like the look of this one, and it's not too unrealistic for me to earn enough for that and still have plenty for toys, perches food, the bird itself, etc, before summer ends (With a bit of help from parents, they're willing and shouldn't have to put forward more than a hundred, two hundred dollars or so.). Amazon.com : Prevue Hendryx Silverado Macaw Dometop Cage 3155S Silverado 46-Inch by 36-Inch by 78-1/4-Inch : Macaw Bird Cage : Pet Supplies Anyone have any personal experience with this one or know of better options? Looking at the dimensions and image reviews it seems plenty big for a Grey. I'd just have to find a convenient space to fit it, maybe move some furniture around.

Can a Grey escape through dog crate bars? I was looking at them, and they seem like a good portable option for us when we need to bring the bird on vacation. Wouldn't keep a parrot in it for more than a week at a time.
 
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