Buying a cage is mind boggling...

[BirdieMama]

Clancy is getting a new cage. I've been shopping since I got him and I'm ready to place an order. There are so many choices and so many brands. This is my first purchase of a cage so I have some questions for you experienced cage purchasers.

1. Are there any brands that you will NOT ever purchase again due to quality or safety issues?

2. Colors...I am not interested in choosing a color for room decor. I'm interested in choosing a color for ease of cleaning and for Clancy's well being. Does the color make a difference to the bird? Are lighter colors or darker colors better? Does the color of the cage have any effect on the birds moods?

3. Play top or dome top? Clancy can be a little aggressive. He currently has a play top and he mostly just sits up there. He doesn't really "play" on the play top. Would the style of cage help with his agressiveness? Would you move him to a dome top?

4. Ease of cleaning - I change his papers every day and wipe up any obvious droppings. Once a week I take everything out and wipe the entire cage down and then hose down the slide out trays and grates. I cannot afford a stainless steel cage right now so what is the next best material for ease of cleaning?

5. Nuts and bolts - I've seen cages advertised as "bolt free". How much of a difference does this make?

6. I realize that size matters. I'm shopping for a 40X30 cage. Does the height matter that much? If so, what is the minimum height for an Amazon?

Anything else that I should be thinking about?

Thanks for any advice you can give me!

 

[Prince Toasty Buns]

I like HQ cages and the Avian Adventures brand.

If you are not set already on the size, I would go bigger (if you have room) and get the Double Macaw cage, with or without divider. I prefer charcoal black or hunter green as the birds show up better behind the darker colors. Like flat top or play-top, don't like dome cages. 40X30 with an inside height of 4-6 ft. is good IME but 80x40x6ft. high approx. is much better. I rarely need to take cages apart so the nutless HQ is fine for me and when I do need to take apart = very easy and quick to do.

 

[Spinderella]

1. Contrarily, I would ONLY purchase a cage from the following manufacturers: Avian Adventures, A&E, HQ, Marvelous, Prevue, California, CagesByDesign, Freedom, Majestic, Mango.

2. Colors... In my opinion, cage color is a personal choice. I don't believe the color of the cage will have any effect, negative or positive, on your bird. Like someone on this board so perfectly put it before; bird toys are only colored to appeal to the humans purchasing them; the birds could care less. But I have had customers tell me that they prefer to buy dark colored cages because they swear light colored cages are harder for the birds to see out of. (Compare a picket fence to a chain link fence)

3. Play top or dome top? If he doesn't play on the playtop, you mine as well not pay extra for the play top. If all he is going to do is sit while up there, you might as well just invest in a cagetop perch and save the $50-70 and get yourself a dometop or a straight top. Or you could get a combo of both:

Split Level Playtop Cage Bird and Parrot Cage

4. Ease of cleaning - Other than a Stainless Steel which you said you're not in the market for, the only other cage material besides the wrought iron/powdercoated is the new King's Aluminum Cage line:

Aluminum Bird Cages | Aluminum Parrot Cages | King's Aluminum Bird Cages | King's Aluminum Travel Cages

Which are allegedly as rust-resistant as stainless steel, and lighter weight than wrought iron. *See Question 1*

5. Nuts and bolts - I have never had a nut/bolt-free cage, but I have had customers tell me that they are not as sturdy. THEN AGAIN, I've had just as many customers tell me they love their bolt-free cage and that it was just as sturdy as a regular cage. I guess it depends on the brand. (A&E bolt-free cages were the sturdy ones, the complaints were on the Avian Adventures bolt-free cages) Unless you plan on moving your cage to other rooms of your home or in & out of your home a lot, I think a regular cage would be fine.

I, too, prefer the Double Macaw Cage:

http://www.parrotworld.net/Huge-Double-Macaw-Cage-p/6432.htm

Which is only $687 [That includes shipping] after your 5% off discount (shown in sig)

 

[Sharon]

I've just ordered three Avian Adventure cages...

 

[tammie]

Personally I prefer a lighter color cage because the dust and poop doesn't seem to show up a much.
I have both playtops and domes, and I never use the playtops.
I would stick with the brands noted on the other posts. I do have a marvelous cage that I like also and it's sturdy enough for a busy mechanical minded goffin.
JMO

 

[Lobby]

We've always purchased cages in person but our next cage will most likely be off the 'net. Goofy seems to go through cages pretty fast, this will be his third cage in 10 years. Is that fast, how long should a cage last?

At our local bird fair the only brand of cage that they have now is Centurion which I've never heard of before.

 

[birdlady]

My favorite cages are the kings european cages...love them and they wipe clean so easily, doors are huge and open flat....good solid heavy cages.

I know someone had a bad experience with customer service recently, but I have never had that problem.

 

[Brigidt36]

I love the playtops, but all my cages are dome top cages, my fids love having their sleeping perch as high up in the cage as possible. I like all the light the dome tops let in, the last playtop I had seemed to make the cage seem smaller and it was a lot darker. I had to take out the poop tray from the play top to let the light in. Years ago I went with a dark cage for my zon....big mistake. Max is a dusty bird and the dust showed up so bad on the darker finish. Because zon's are such long lived birds and I got tired of replacing cages, I went SS and I'm glad I did. No dust, no rust and he'll probably have that cage the rest of his life. Mine is the completely collaspable Featherland cage (they come in all sorts of sizes and color and SS) and I love them. They clean up easily, I can move them from room to room and outside easily and I can fold them up if we move. I searched for months and months for cages and got so confused and frustrated. I would have preferred seeing the cages in person, but my choices were limited with the stores we have here. Good luck with your search.

 

[Carol S.]

Alot of the decision depends on your budget. I personally like Avian Adventures and HQ cages. They have a smoother powder coat that I find easier to clean. A&E is supposed to be good but the powder coat is alot more bumpy and I think harder to clean.

Some people don't like the playtops because it blocks light into the cage. You can always add perches and stuff to the top of any cage.

I have black, tan and white cages and I love the tan (sandstone). It just goes with everything and it does not show the mess half as much as the others.

One thing you did not mention is a shelf under the cage. I only have this on one of my cages and I love this feature.

Just my 2 cents. I love buying cages, its a bit of a problem, I have 4 spare cages in my basement

 

[Bokkapooh]

1. Are there any brands that you will NOT ever purchase again due to quality or safety issues?

I like HQ cages, although many will claim Zinc Toxicity are in HQ and AE cages. I will say this, I will NEVER BUY ANOTHER AE CAGE AGAIN! They are poorly painted, its horrible to clean and the bars just see so flimsy, even for macaw sized cages! And they are about the same price as a HQ. I would say the European models of Kings Cages, and King Cages are probably the best top quality, but I have no King's Cage, so I have no personal experience with them.

2. Colors...I am not interested in choosing a color for room decor. I'm interested in choosing a color for ease of cleaning and for Clancy's well being. Does the color make a difference to the bird? Are lighter colors or darker colors better? Does the color of the cage have any effect on the birds moods?

I think every color BUT black is the best color to choose Black is dreadfully dark and just so shadowy! Although I have to admit I read somewhere saying that LIGHTER colored cages are known to have MORE zinc in them do to the paint.

3. Play top or dome top? Clancy can be a little aggressive. He currently has a play top and he mostly just sits up there. He doesn't really "play" on the play top. Would the style of cage help with his agressiveness? Would you move him to a dome top?

I would suggest a DOME top. To prevent aggressiveness, you need to have multiple play areas away form the cage. So several adequate size play gyms will help a lot. The more territory the bird has that is spaced out, is known to be a more gentler bird. Because it doesn't feel it should defend just one area, as that one area is his OWN one and only space.

4. Ease of cleaning - I change his papers every day and wipe up any obvious droppings. Once a week I take everything out and wipe the entire cage down and then hose down the slide out trays and grates. I cannot afford a stainless steel cage right now so what is the next best material for ease of cleaning?

HQ cages has have a nice coating on them, and they're easy to clean

5. Nuts and bolts - I've seen cages advertised as "bolt free". How much of a difference does this make?

If your bird is a smart fellow and likes to take things apart, a cage with bolts and screws to put the cage together will quickly fall apart as the bird will take out the bolts.

6. I realize that size matters. I'm shopping for a 40X30 cage. Does the height matter that much? If so, what is the minimum height for an Amazon?

The minimum height is the biggest cage you can afford that has the biggest height to it (same with length and width). But with that said I would say 4 and a half to 5ft of INSIDE height is good

Anything else that I should be thinking about?

Thanks for any advice you can give me!

(I applied above in BLUE to your questions

Here is a 40X30 HQ Dome Top cage
HQ Big Bird Cage - Presented by BirdsComfort.com

Here is an AE 48x36 Dome Top,

Extra Large Dome Top Cage - Presented by BirdsComfort.com

Here is an AVIAN ADVENTURE cage:

Avian Adventures Grande Dometop Bird Cage - Presented by BirdsComfort.com


http://www.parrotworld.net/Split-Level-Parrot-Cage-p/pc-6928d.htm

 

[Bokkapooh]

If you are not set already on the size, I would go bigger (if you have room) and get the Double Macaw cage, with or without divider..

Absolutely, the double macaw is great!

And here is a nice Double macaw cage

http://www.parrotworld.net/Huge-Double-Macaw-Cage-p/6432.htm

I like this split level better, its much bigger

Split Level Parrot Cage