Which is better? A tall cage? or a long cage?

[leslieg]

I'm looking at a new cage for my budgie. He's a regular budgie, not an English, and just a little guy, but very active. I don't have space for a huge flight cage, although I'd love one. Given a choice, would it be better to get a tall cage, or a wide/long cage? My little one plays a lot on the floor with his ball, so I think long/wide would be better. I'm considering getting a second budgie, so the cage would be for two.

I found one that is is 26"x14"x36", and one that is 30"x18"x18". (LengthxDepthxHeight) Which seems better?

Also, for bar spacing, I read that 5/8" is the maximum for a budgie. Is that for a little wild/American budgie, or an English budgie? It seems awfully large for my little petshop budgie.

Thank you,
Leslie

 

[Mizzely]

I would probably stay with 1/2" for the bar spacing.

As for long vs tall, long everytime. Think of it this way - a bird is not a helicopter. It moves primarily horizontally, just like we do. If someone gave you a room to live in that was 5 foot by 5 foot, but with a 20 foot ceiling, how much of that "giant" space would you really be using? Wouldn't you rather have 10 foot by 10 foot with a shorter ceiling?

I wouldn't go with any cage less than 18" deep for any bird. The 30x18x18 is a good size, though not sure for two birds - you might need a flight cage size for 2.

 

[vmashley03]

I would say that a longer cage would be better than a tall one (when looking at cages I tend to disregard the height and just look at length and depth measurements). I also think that longer cages are easier to set up with perch/toy placement.

 

[MorganW]

I have a cage that is L shaped for my English budgie. It is a cockatiel cage so it is pretty big for him and he enjoys the taller part more than the wider part but could be just him

 

[Mizzely]

I have a cage that is L shaped for my English budgie. It is a cockatiel cage so it is pretty big for him and he enjoys the taller part more than the wider part but could be just him

This is likely due to the fact that birds instinctually wish to be higher up.

 

[Bokkapooh]

ALL birds love, just LOVE HEIGHT. So height is important for a bird. But length and width are much much better for a bird if you had to choose height vs length. Always choose length, because you can elevate a cage to make it higher up off the ground so the height need is fulfilled and yet he still has the length and width of the cage for proper exercise.

 

[Tinta]

Long cages are better. Just place them on a dresser or shelf or something so the bird gets the height they want without losing great space.