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Is 1" bar spacing too big for an Alexandrine?

Merrobun

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Pretty much as the title says,

I'm getting a new Alexandrine baby around Christmas, and I'm a busy bee setting it up. Unfortunately, I live in New Zealand, so the most popular cages are hard to come by, which leaves my options pretty limited in terms of brands/shipping.

The largest cage I've found here with 3/4" bar spacing is 38.9" long and 24.4" wide which doesn't seem anywhere near big enough for the Alex to be comfortable for work hours.

I want to get a larger cage that is sized more for African greys, Cockatoos, etc. but they all run 1" bar spacing, I'm just paranoid that the Alex may get her head stuck in those bars when I'm not around if it is too big. I can keep her in a smaller cage while she's young.

Any ideas on how to make wider bar spacing safer for them or any cages that ship to New Zealand? I've looked second hand and they're all the same brands as well and not in great condition.
 

Sarahmoluccan

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I would go with 1 inch scaping being too big. Unfortunately smaller birds finding nice big cage with appropriate bar spacing can be a challenge. I wish the best of with it.
 

Merrobun

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I would go with 1 inch scaping being too big. Unfortunately smaller birds finding nice big cage with appropriate bar spacing can be a challenge. I wish the best of with it.
Unfortunately, seem to be finding that is the case :( their long tail combined with their small body size makes it really hard.

Google says they can have 3/4" - 1" but it's hard not to be paranoid.

I've found the attached one which is 0.78" (slightly smaller than an inch) with 37" length and 29" width, do you think that would work? My only other options are going down to 38.9" long and 24.4" wide or getting a larger one with 1" spacing.

Sorry for the awkward measurements as they're originally in cm/mm.
 

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Shannan

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You might look into flight cages for the smaller birds as they tend to be longer than they are tall. It may not be a true "flight" cage for your alexandrine but it may offer more room to crawl around the cage while giving you the smaller bar spacing. We have an A and E double flight cage for our conure and my gray would have loved the cage.
 

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I wouldn't go with a flight cage. My Jardine's has a big beak too and he would find it really difficult to climb the bars if he couldn't use his face!

Another option would be to see if you can connect two cages together by leaving off the facing panels
 

Merrobun

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You might look into flight cages for the smaller birds as they tend to be longer than they are tall. It may not be a true "flight" cage for your alexandrine but it may offer more room to crawl around the cage while giving you the smaller bar spacing. We have an A and E double flight cage for our conure and my gray would have loved the cage.
We do have the normal A&E 30x20 flight cage and the stacked cage available here, I was originally looking into it for my tiel. It does seem wider than the other ones I could find but it's online only so I haven't really had the chance to compare. Maybe I'll try and get the actual cage dimensions from the company and hope :confused: wish this could be easier hahaha.
 

Merrobun

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I wouldn't go with a flight cage. My Jardine's has a big beak too and he would find it really difficult to climb the bars if he couldn't use his face!

Another option would be to see if you can connect two cages together by leaving off the facing panels
Sorry, I might be having an idiot moment here but why wouldn't he be able to climb the bars with his face/beak? :eek: I thought flight cages were just bigger cages but I'm obviously missing something lol.

I will have a look into combining cages and see if thats possible!

I know someone else with an Alex lined their cage with a mesh wire but I'm not sure how safe that would really be.
 

Merrobun

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Sorry, I might be having an idiot moment here but why wouldn't he be able to climb the bars with his face/beak? :eek: I thought flight cages were just bigger cages but I'm obviously missing something lol.

I will have a look into combining cages and see if thats possible!

I know someone else with an Alex lined their cage with a mesh wire but I'm not sure how safe that would really be.
Mesh wire for the bar spacing to clarify :ashamed1:
 

Mizzely

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Sorry, I might be having an idiot moment here but why wouldn't he be able to climb the bars with his face/beak? :eek: I thought flight cages were just bigger cages but I'm obviously missing something lol.

I will have a look into combining cages and see if thats possible!

I know someone else with an Alex lined their cage with a mesh wire but I'm not sure how safe that would really be.
Flight cages are 1/2" or smaller bar spacing generally, and often in the realm of 30x18 to 32x21 for LxW. He has a hard time navigating the smaller bar spaces because he uses his big beak to climb. Might be a him problem :lol:

But they also have smaller bar gauges and could be broken more easily by larger beaks.
 

Merrobun

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Flight cages are 1/2" or smaller bar spacing generally, and often in the realm of 30x18 to 32x21 for LxW. He has a hard time navigating the smaller bar spaces because he uses his big beak to climb. Might be a him problem :lol:

But they also have smaller bar gauges and could be broken more easily by larger beaks.
Oh I see! What spacing do you use for him? Didn't think of them not being able to fit their beaks to climb.

I have definitely heard of Alex's breaking thinner cage bars (amazing how strong their beaks are :confused:) so it is a worry of mine which is why I'm more inclined to want the cages for larger birds if I can find spacing that works.
 

Mizzely

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Oh I see! What spacing do you use for him? Didn't think of them not being able to fit their beaks to climb.

I have definitely heard of Alex's breaking thinner cage bars (amazing how strong their beaks are :confused:) so it is a worry of mine which is why I'm more inclined to want the cages for larger birds if I can find spacing that works.
3/4"; It's a discontinued King's Aluminum.
 
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