Cage Design for a Disabled Parrot
Personally, I have a lot of disabled and special needs birds in my care. I find them to be some of the best parrot companions to have, but they can need specialized care. I have seen when working at rescues amazing birds being passed up, not acknowledged, never taken out and interacted with, because of disability. I think it comes from a place on not being educated enough to be comfortable to interact with the bird or adopt it. My goal is to be able to help educate about cage design for disabled birds in a general sense as well as give you a source to rely on if you adopt or want to adopt a special needs bird. I always encourage people to contact us with any question, beyond behavior, beyond a service. Fluff and Feathers is here to give support and education no matter the reason! I will also be talking about my personal flock here, so you do not know our residents, you can meet them here!
Cage Size
No matter what, the general rule for cage size is to meet the minimum and then go as big as you can afford space wise and financially, with the goal of always wanting to improve, provide more, and provide better. but, depending on the bird’s disability, going bigger may not be within their best interest. With special needs birds, we think about how to meet their needs and how to keep them safe. Sometimes this may mean going below, and it may be significantly, the average cage size for their success.
When do I choose to size down? Right off the bat, if the bird is a falling risk, they are put in a cage that is not as high. I make sure their tail is not touching the bottom of the cage of course, but I do not want a lot of height for them to fall down from, causing risk of injury. For example, my 57 plus year old red lored amazon is severely physically disabled. She was beaten with a broom and has over 10 breaks in her body that never healed currently leaving her deformed. She also had a very improper wing slip where they trimmed so far back, they cut off her bone with scissors, so when she flaps, she corkscrews, and she has very poor balance. She is in a cage that is 20inches wide X 29 inches length X 20 inches high. This meets the height needs, especially because she loves to hang upside down to stretch, its small so it isn’t as much of a strain to get to where she wants to, and it still allows her to flap in the center of her cage. If she was a normal red lored amazon, the minimum is about double this size. I had her in a longer cage, same heigh and width, just 5ft long, and she did very poorly with all of that space.
If you have a cage with a bird who is a fall risk and you want to decrease the height without buying something new, I recommend taking the grate of the cage and zip tying it up higher. They make stainless steel zip ties if you do not want to use plastic. I will go into this in detail further down, but you will want to put a piece of thick foam or a lot of blankets down over the grate. Then, put the paper on top of the blankets so it is a soft, padded bottom and a modified cage. Ideally, you would use the tray instead of the grate, a lot of trays have small holes on them that a zip tie would fit though, or you can get untreated pine at 1 inch and push it through the cage bars and lay the tray then on that. for .5-inch bar spacing, find thinner pieces of wood. Make sure the wood is bird safe even if your bird would never interact with it just in case.
I also will stay closer towards the minimum cage size if you have a blind bird. Blind birds can very easily learn their environment, but I have also seen a greater quality of life in the cage with a blind bird, or partially blind, if things were more convenient for them and remain consistent. I do not have a fully blind bird, but I have three that have vision impairment. I have one with a lipid buildup in his eyes, so is missing patches of vision, in an aviary because I flight trained him and he does really well even though he is partially blind. On the other hand, my other two do not do well in a larger cage. My blue front Crazy Bird will head sway in too large of a cage and Munchkin who is missing an eye falls more because of the depth of perception issues.
Cage Set Up
This will vary based on your birds needs and abilities. For example, Munchkin, Crazy Bird, JoJo all have normal cage set ups without anything special for them even though they have special needs. Two just require cage sizes closer to the minimum size for their species. Others have more requirements, like Rukkas and my current foster Calvin a mealy amazon.
To start, with blind birds, I would try to not change their cage as much as possible. Most will come with their cage, and unless there is something concerning with the cage, it is within best practice to leave the bird with its cage at its current set up, especially at the beginning. The move to a new house means new sounds, a new schedule, possibly ne diet, different handling styles, and so much more, you do not want to change the birds cage, its safe place and sense of familiarity at the beginning. Sometimes, there is no choice and the bird adapts, I recommend to keep the bird more stable in other ways (schedule, diet, using words and phrases that the bird knows from its previous placement, etc.). I would only redo the cage if the bird is having pressure sores on their feet from similar perches. How I do that is I do not change the location of the perches, and try to find perches of similar length, just change maybe the texture of the perch and diameter to get the feet moving in different way to relieve the pressure.
For crippled birds that can see, the more you change perches out, the better it will be for pressure sores. When a bird is disabled with their legs or feet, they put all their weight on an area of their body that is not designed to be weight bearing in that way. To mention my foster Calvin, he walks on his elbows because of how deformed and useless his feet are. Therefore, he develops pressure sores a lot quicker than any other bird because the area he is standing on is not made for weight to be on it. The more different perching he is given, the better it is for him so pressure is distributed better and differently. Also, making the perches squishy can help if your bird is safe with the materials. Wrapping perches liberally in vet tape, a self-adhesive tape that is safe for parrots, can make perches softer and relieve the pressure sores. Remember to change the tape at least weekly, especially if your bird has pressure sores to keep the area and feet clean.
I really like to give crippled birds flat wooden platforms, either ones made for parrots or 2X4 untreated pine. That way they have a place to rest their feet, or be more balanced. To soften these up, I have done two methods depending on the bird. I will take fleece fabric, or a towel, and wrap the piece of wood in it and use a staple gun to staple it from underneath the platform. I arrange the platform so the bird cannot reach the staples by making sure it is far enough off the bottom of the cage the bird can’t go down and chew it, far enough away from the side of the bars so the bird can’t hang on the side of the cage and chew near the staples, and in the middle of the perch so if they were to chew the sides it would take quite some time before they reach the hardware. For some I have also then stuffed the perch with stuffing for crafts so it is softer, though this can affect balance depending on the bird. It is the same construction, I just put the stuffing on the perch then wrap it with the fabric. I have also done this with vet wrap, which requires no staples. I would immediately remove padding options if your bird starts chewing on it, as it then is unsafe, but most birds do well with this. They also make metal bar platforms for birds that would prefer that. I also like to give them perches they can lay down on. This can be achieved by finding a V shape java wood perch, a Z shape rope perch with wire ion the middle to shape it, or putting two normal strait perches’ side by side close together.
I also recommend the food and water dish to be close to each other. We want to make the bird’s lives easier, as their condition can make things more difficult for them. I wouldn’t recommend putting the bowls on opposite side of the cage when applicable, rather right next to each other or on the same side. A lot of cages have three bowl holders, two next to each other and one on the other side of the cage. Next to each other like that is fine. If your bird is very disabled, you want them side by side. They have bowls that screw onto the side of the cage bars and can be moved anywhere in the cage that will be the best option if your cage’s bowls do not meet your birds needs. Some do better with more than one food and one water bowl but a few scattered throughout the cage. If you do this, be sure to still but the same amount of food in as you would one bowl and divide it amongst the others to ensure you are not overfeeding your bird accidently.
For birds that fall, like briefly mentioned above, I recommend a padded cage bottom and no grate. The padding is there to help your bird when it falls. It reduces the risk of injury. Padding should be thick. I like thick pieces of foam that is cut to the size of the cage, thickness of 2 inches or more depending on the bird’s size. In a pinch, or an alternative, is to fold a lot of towels or thick blankets at the bottom of the cage. Then, put the paper on top of them. It is within best practice for a grate to not be at the bottom and to have the padded bottom. The problem with the grate is bird can their feet and legs stuck in them when they walk or fall, which can cause for a panicked bird, broken bones, or a bird that gets stuck there till you find it however long that may be (like when you go to work or go to sleep). A grate is safe for an abled bodied bird, but for a mobility disabled bird, it can be a challenge. If you use the grate hack discussed above with the padding on top, then there are no problems since the bird shouldn’t interact with the grate and there will be enough padding to be sure the bird doesn’t have issues.
Miscellaneous Tips
Some birds, like stroke birds, or extreme geriatric birds, may not be safe in any cage anymore. Cage bars on the side of the cage can get wings and limbs tangled up in there like grates. Some birds will attempt to climb the bars and their body gives out and falls every time. Some birds with regular spasms can also not do well in a normal cage. If you choose to modify their cage, you can get plexiglass and drill holes in every corner and attach it to the inside cage bars using zip ties to limit your birds climbing and shut off the cage bar gaps. I recommend only going as high with the plexiglass as the bird can reach with their beak being flat footed at the bottom of the cage to sill allow air flow at the top of the cage, as the plexiglass will limit it. You can also drill holes to till hang perches through the plexiglass as well using the cage bars on the outside of the cage for the washers for more structure and support.
Ideally, these birds would go into a plastic or glass enclosure. I have used in a pinch large fish tanks I have gotten very cheap because they leaked water for birds and had a mesh top. Glass doesn’t allow much air flow as well, so they were only in it at night or when I left the house. It also disallows for you to hang perches, so I only did it with birds that were unable to perch at all anymore and just needed somewhere flat to lay. I have also used clear plastic storage tubs and taken the birds grate to put as a lid (some birds I didn’t even use a lid for because there was no way they were getting out). These plastic tubs you can drill into for perches, as well as frill further air holes for even more ventilation. The clear tubs mean they can still see out. There are a lot of size options, especially when you search online. These plastic tubs can also be great for birds who need breathing treatments (also great if you have a bird that cannot be handled and they need breathing treatment s so you do not have to transition them to another cage).
If your bird is in these stages, I still always recommend for them to have perches available to them. I have seen a lot of birds who were in this condition be able to graduate back to a cage and be able to perch again with time and therapy be able to perch again and move more. It never hurts to have it there and it not be used, but one morning you may wake up and see your bird perching again. I recommend keeping the perch incredibly low, like an inch or two off the bottom of the cage or lower, so the bird can easily walk on and if they fall it is not going to harm them even in an extremely frail condition.
Another tip is to be extremely on top of cage cleaning. If your bird is special needs in anyway, they are also likely more prone to getting sick. Having a clean cage, cleaning and sanitizing every day, can help your bird not get sick as often and be in better health. Also, I see with a lot of very crippled birds for them to get something I call “poopy butt” where droppings will accumulate around their vent and most commonly on their tail. That should be removed immediately and not allowed to build up. to remove it, all you need to do is put your bird in lukewarm after and let them sit and soak. You can speed up the process by using your fingers and massaging it off into the water, but if they soak long enough, it will all come off on its own if you cannot touch your bird that way comfortability wise or hormonal wise. Then, drain the water and rinse off the area. To help your bird grip in the sink, tub, or bowl for soaking, use a trainless steel sink grate or put a towel down under the water for your bird to stop on depending on their needs.
To conclude, special needs birds likely have special needs that need to be met by caretakers. Not all special needs or disabled birds need extra care. Most live completely normal lives with little to no special care. Some have minimal special care. Although at the start it may seem like the bird has a lot of needs and special requirements, but generally once when the cage is designed, the bird has settled in, and you have found a way for their needs and care to work with your schedule, it doesn’t become a problem and becomes routine. Don’t let the birds looks or care intimidate you to declining the experience to care for one. On the other hand, a lot of homes just cannot provide what the bird needs, and that is just fine too! Understanding how much time and money you can put into your bird, as well as your education level, can determine the type of bird you get. Consulting with a professional with experience with special needs birds can help take a lot of the guess work away, help reassure you, and give your bird better quality of life faster. Fluff and Feathers can do that for you, and we offer consultation regarding special needs birds all the time! You can contact us to set up your next consultation, or if you have any generalized questions from this information, feel free to still contact us! It costs nothing to ask questions!