Say NO to Small "Sleeping" Cages
I haven’t done one of these in a while, let’s talk about a controversial topic: putting your bird in a smaller cage cause “it’s only for sleeping.”
This is something I could never understand even slightly. The situation is the bird is out of its cage most of the day. But then you have a very small cage for the bird with the reasoning of “well they’re out most of the day” or “they’re only in this to sleep” or whatever the case may be along those lines (not including those special needs birds that need smaller and safer cages like my 55 plus year old bird).
What this is like saying is “well you can only have a twin size mattress even though you’re an adult because that’s all you need to sleep. You’re not in your bedroom all day sleeping, so you only need a little bed to sleep on.” Yet I know everyone wants that bigger bed. So, why is it that we have these amazing out of the cage areas for our birds but their cage doesn’t resemble that?
In reality, these smaller “night time” cages pose a huge risk physically and behaviorally on our parrots. Quick example: I see a lot of people have issues getting their birds back into their cages at night and it’s because the environment inside the cage isn’t as desirable as outside of the cage, which is where cages get the bad reputation that they have. The bird is used to being out all day with a lot of room but has to go to sleep where they don’t have a lot of room.
No matter how long your bird is within its cage, you should be getting the MINIMUM size requirement for your parrot. I always say go as big as you can afford and that means financially and within the space you’re given, but the minimum NEEDS to be met. It’s like giving us the whole house during the day and making us sleep in a closet. We should at least have a bedroom. So should your birds. Let’s put the same energy into our outdoor spaces as we do their cages to better their lives!
Unsure of what the minimum cage size should be, generally your bird should be able to open its wings and be able to flap no matter their orientation and not hit anything, no other perches, toys, or the cage.
Having too small of a cage means the bird cannot move around a lot and there is less room for perch variability. The majority of cages I see parrots in are simply too small for the, even the ones sold by cage companies marketed to be for a specific species. The general rule I tell clients is the minimum size for cage for their parrot, is at least:
Length: Double the birds open wing span
Width: the birds entire open wing span
Height: Double the bird’s entire length, including tail
Of course, that is a generalized statement. Some species prefer to have more horizontal room than vertical, all need bigger than these recommendations. But this is a pretty easy idea of the minimum size for each bird. I always say meet the minimum requirements and then go as big as you can afford with the idea that you will always be looking to make it larger as time goes on.
To conclude, pre