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With or without stand?

annafauna

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Long story short(er-ish), I have two budgies in a large, tall cage and got two more a couple of days ago. But one (Snowy) is missing toes and has no flight feathers (I'm not sure why somebody would have clipped her wings and not the other one's, so I think it's a limb defect, but we'll wait and see if she grows any!). She gets around okay in her own way -- but she falls fairly frequently, so I'm having reservations about eventually putting her in our big budgie cage. Her sister (Ivy) is quite bossy with her, and our other two girls (Gemmy and Pickle) are the queens of bossy. I think those three girls will get along fine, once they're introduced. But I've had chickens long enough to know how relieved a bird is when it's removed from a lowest-on-the-pecking-order situation. So for those reasons, I'm thinking Snowy would do best in her own cage.

Anyway, the real question I have is whether I want this cage with or without the stand:

91WIyJuSJdL._AC_SL1500_.jpg
It's your typical 18x18x30" cage -- it's $54 without a stand and $80 with. I feel like either is a pretty good deal for a good-sized bird cage, but $26 is $26, right?

My plan, I think, is to keep the cage on a cabinet in our living room. From that place, Snowy will be able to see and hear the other budgies. But it might be nice to be able to move it around. Next to the big cage, so they can visit. Maybe take her to a quieter room to socialize with her. During the warm months, I wheel our big cage out onto our screened porch on nice days, open the cage doors, and Gemmy and Pickle treat the porch like an aviary. Unless Snowy really does wind up growing flight feathers, she won't be able to come out of her cage out there, but it would be nice to bring the cage onto the porch -- they always seem to enjoy being in the fresh air and hearing the wild birds.

So I guess the main things to know are... Is the stand rubbish? I'm curious if anybody here has it. The reviews make it sound like the shelf is fairly useless, certainly no good for storing heavy containers of food. But I wonder if it can even stand up to being used as a cart for moving the cage around. Also: How heavy/awkward is this size cage? Compared to our big cage (which obv is on casters), it seems like it should be easy to move around, but I might be overestimating my strength! Even if I'm not using the stand super frequently, will I be glad to have it when I want to move Snowy's cage?

Thanks!
 

expressmailtome

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Guava123

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I don't own the cage so I can't answer that. Do you have a bigger budget because that cage looks a little small.
 

AussieBird

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@Zara? Is this the cage you sometimes suggest?
 

Ripshod

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Make some enquiries into whether the stand is available seperately. If it is just buy the cage and see how you get along with it.
What does it matter if the shelf is useless? You're not buying it for the shelf.
Strength of construction is usually similar between cage and stand so you'll know how the stand will cope with use by the strength of the cage.
 
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Zara

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Those cages are quite light so you should be ok just lifting it off your cabinet to take it out somewhere else (though be careful going down stairs, because it is quite large).
I will say, I had a 30x18x18 cage like that in your picture (no stand) for my special needs lovebird and it was great. She since moved into a flight cage with her BF. The cage now belongs to Charlie who lives upstairs with my neighbour who must be in her 70s and has no problem lifting the cage off her table and taking it outside onto the balcony for sunshine.

Make some enquiries into whether the stand is available seperately. If it is just buy the cage and see how you get along with it.
This is a good idea.
 

annafauna

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Do you have a bigger budget because that cage looks a little small.
The fact that it's a smaller cage is the point. This is a budgie who can't fly, has difficulty moving from perch to perch, and frequently falls. It's pretty roomy, given those considerations.

Make some enquiries into whether the stand is available seperately. If it is just buy the cage and see how you get along with it.
What does it matter if the shelf is useless? You're not buying it for the shelf.
The manufacturer says it's not sold separately. I agree that I wouldn't be buying it for the shelf, but perhaps the quality of the shelf is reflective of the quality of the cart as a whole. So maybe if the shelf is no good as a shelf, the cart is no good as a cart -- just a stationary stand. :shrug:

Those cages are quite light so you should be ok just lifting it off your cabinet to take it out somewhere else (though be careful going down stairs, because it is quite large). I will say, I had a 30x18x18 cage like that in your picture (no stand) for my special needs lovebird and it was great.
Thanks! I'm sort of leaning toward getting the stand, just to have a place to set the cage if we want to move it here and there, and to give me flexibility if we rearrange the room down the road. But I'm still in the wait-and-see phase! Snowy is perching pretty well now -- on her special perches -- but I do worry about her falling in the big cage and whether the other girls will pick on her too much. She's been eating food off a platform perch because she won't/can't get down to the regular dishes, and I just imagine she'd be much happier in a cage that's fitted out just for her. But she's still getting used to the new sights and (so, so many) sounds, so maybe she'll surprise me once she's more comfortable.
 

Zara

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If you can afford the stand, I would get it. If it turns out no good then you could maybe repurpose it. There´s not too much of a price difference.

I´m sure she will appreciate the space, and it will be safer for her for now while you´re working through how well she can manage etc :)

It's pretty roomy, given those considerations.
It will be a great size for a single special needs budgie. My girl, who is a little bigger than a budgie, was able to fly around in there from one side to the other, lots of room for ramps and toys.
Here is my thread, if you want to peak;
(you can see of the first picture the toy to the left outside the cage, that´s how I would introduce them, first layinbg like that, then clipped to the outer cage, then moved inside.
 
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