If you’re new to the world of parrot keeping (or just trying to brush up on your knowledge), it’s important to know the best ways to set up a parrot cage. What should the cage look like? What should it contain?
Your parrot will be living much of its life inside its cage, so make sure you get things right! Keep reading to find out all about what a parrot cage should look like.
Size
Let’s start with the most problematic factor: cage size. Many new parrot owners don’t realize that a parrot cage should be quite a bit larger than is commonly believed. Teeny tiny cages for budgies, finches and lovebirds are unfortunately still easy to find in pet stores. This leads to the idea that birds do fine in a space that’s smaller than the laptop screen I’m writing this article on.
Unfortunately, keeping your parrot in a small cage leads to a range of issues including stress, obesity and atrophied muscles. Taken together, these drastically reduce the potential lifespan of your bird.
Get a cage in which your feathered friend can spread its wings. Try checking out the full cage size guide over at the Center for Animal Rehab if you’re not sure what size to go for, though keep in mind that the sizes listed here are the absolute minimum. You’d do well to go for something even bigger than it says on the list!
Shape
One factor that’s rarely considered is cage shape. It actually matters! The ‘classic’ bird cage has a dome shape, but unfortunately this is not ideal for your parrot. These are prey birds that can easily feel unsafe and become stressed, which leads to health issues in the long run.
The problem with dome cages is that they have no corners, giving your bird the feeling that it can’t hide anywhere.
There’s also the issue of horizontal versus vertical. Most bird cages are vertical because it simply makes it easier to fit into your home, but the ideal cage is actually longer rather than taller. This is because parrots don’t tend to use vertical space as well: they stick to the upper levels and the rest of the cage kind of goes to waste.
A horizontal shape allows for more flight opportunity and better use of the cage. If you do get a vertical one, try to ensure it’s not overly tall and skinny.
An example of a parrot cage that has a good toy selection but is the wrong shape and too small to serve as more than a travel cage.
Bar spacing
Parrots, even small ones like budgies, are always trying to find ways to escape their cage so they can explore their surroundings. This even applies when the bird gets plenty of time out of the cage!
Bar spacing is important to prevent two things. First off, parrots can get stuck and possibly pass away when they stick their head through wide cage bars. Second, they might actually manage to escape, flying out through an open window and subsequently getting lost.
It’s really important that the bars are not too wide! For recommended bar spacing, I’d again like to refer to the article by the Center for Animal Rehab.
Placement
Cage placement is yet another important factor related to parrot cage set-up that is often overlooked. It really does actually matter, for a few reasons:
Your parrot cage should not be placed in a location that might be harmful to your bird’s lungs in the long run. Keep parrots out of the kitchen or bathroom, where cooking fumes and perfumes can cause problems with their extremely sensitive lungs.
Your parrot cage should be in the centre of the action. I can’t stress enough how social these birds are. A lone bird especially should not be tucked away on the balcony or in a spare room. It’ll feel excluded from the human flock and become bored and stressed.
Your parrot cage should be in a spot that allows the bird to feel safe. Try pushing it against a wall to prevent your parrot from always feeling like it has to watch every direction at the same time: they don’t realize that danger can’t get to them in their cage. Don’t place the cage directly in front of a window either. A passing neighbour cat, a hawk or even a thunderstorm can send your bird into a blind panic.
Your parrot cage should be away from air conditioning units and heaters. Rapid changes in temperature are not good for birds’ health, so place the cage in a more stable spot.
Perches
Let’s start having a look at the inside of your parrot’s home!
When you buy a parrot cage, it tends to come with plastic or wooden dowel perches that stretch from one wall to another. These are unfortunately not the best choice and you’re honestly better off tossing them. They are too thin and too even for your bird’s feet, causing irritation in the long run.
So what does a good perch look like? Natural and with an uneven thickness is best. This way the toes don’t always have to be in the same position. The rough texture of some natural woods can additionally help keep the bird’s nails from overgrowing, which is helpful since sandpaper perches made for this purpose are actually best avoided as well.
As mentioned earlier, parrots like spots that are higher up. They’ll mostly ignore perches that are placed at the bottom of the cage unless they serve a practical purpose like accessing the cage door or food bowls. For long-term chilling and sleeping, your bird likes its perches in a spot that’s as high up as possible without forcing it to hunch. Be sure to leave plenty of flying room as well!
Toys
This is such an important element of your bird’s home. It should be able to spend multiple hours a day outside of the cage interacting with you and simply exploring, but that doesn’t mean the cage itself can be bare.
Parrots are extremely curious and their brains need constant stimulation. Ideally, you should have a big drawer of parrot toys that you switch out every week or so to keep things fresh.
There should be a variety of toys: ones that your bird can chew up and destroy, ones that are colourful and possibly have something rattling inside for entertainment, and foraging toys. The latter especially will keep parrots entertained for hours, as they have to work to reach a small treat.
Be sure to avoid unsafe toys. Avian Avenue has a thread discussing toys that might seriously injure or even kill your parrot, so be sure to have a look and avoid them.
Tip: short on cash? You can totally make parrot toys yourself. Get creative with egg boxes, empty toilet rolls and more. You can even entertain your bird by regularly heading outside and picking wild grasses and bird-safe branches such as eucalyptus!
Common mistakes in parrot keeping
With the information above, you should be able to set up a pretty nice cage for your feathered friend. However, a proper cage alone is not enough to keep a bird happy and healthy.
Let’s briefly go into some of the other common issues that are often overlooked by (new) parrot owners!
Diet
The myth that parrots can persist on just seed is still quite pervasive. Parrot diet is not as simple as offering some seed mix every day!
Like all other living beings, parrots need a varied diet to stay healthy. Yes, they love seed and it doesn’t have to be shunned, but you should also be offering plenty of other foods.
Try fresh veggies, fresh fruits, parrot pellet food, cooked foods like unsalted wild rice and even foraged options like pesticide-free edible garden weeds and edible flowers.
Viewing a parrot as decoration
There still appear to be many people who buy a parrot intending to keep it in a cage just to look at. This simply doesn’t work for these birds.
A parrot that doesn’t get the proper mental stimulation, attention and time out of its cage will develop a range of issues. It might start screaming incessantly, suffer from obesity or even mutilate itself as a way to attempt to deal with the stress that comes from loneliness and boredom.
If you want something that serves primarily as home décor, you’re probably better off getting something like an aquarium, although even that requires frequent cleaning and care.
Not valuing smaller parrots
Did you know that everything we’ve discussed above applies just the same to small parrots like budgies (and other species like finches and canaries)?
Yes, they’re cheap, which leads to them being viewed as disposable. But do they really deserve an unhappy and shortened life because they’re small and easy to buy?
Like all other parrots, small parakeets need a large cage, frequent attention, out of cage time, toys, a varied diet and all the other bells and whistles.
Smaller parrots like budgies are still affectionate, social creatures that need proper care.
Not realizing what parrots are all about
A parrot (yes, even a small one) is an extremely intelligent being. If you’d like to own one, consider that they are about as much work to maintain as a dog or cat.
Between giving attention, training, cleaning and other tasks, you’ll be spending quite a bit of time tending to your bird on the daily if you want it to live a happy life.
Like dogs and cats, parrots can be noisy and messy. They can have behavioural issues like biting or screaming. Don’t get one unless you’re willing to work through that with your bird: they have incredibly long lifespans so it’s not just a matter of waiting until it dies.
Shelters are already exploding with parrots from people who didn’t keep all this in mind when buying them, so I really recommend not getting one unless you 100% know you’re ready to commit for a long time.
Not going to the vet
Many parrot owners don’t feel the need to go to the vet with their bird when it’s sick unless it’s an expensive species. This, again, appears to come from the idea that (small) birds are disposable and not worth spending money on because they are so cheap to buy.
If you’re not willing to spend some cash taking your parrot to the vet when it gets sick, you might want to reconsider adding one to your family. Even if you’re short on money, you should always have a little emergency fund in case your bird falls ill.
Be sure to find a vet before anything happens: it can sometimes be a challenge to locate one who is willing to see birds.
About the author
Mari is a long-time parrot enthusiast and the owner of the parrot-centered website Psittacology.com. As a writer of informative parrot articles, she hopes to help others keep their bird happy and healthy.
Originally from The Netherlands but living in Spain, she spends her days working on her articles from home in the company of her two budgies.
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