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Cage for meyers or brown head?

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Cage for meyers or brown head?

Postby Dmott1 » Sun May 21, 2017 1:40 am

Hi,
Can anyone please suggest a cage for a meyers or brown head? I want to go as big as I can while keeping bar spacing at 3/4 or less. Ive seen some reccomend 5/8. Price is no issue. I'd like to find a play top. Most large ones have 1in bar spacing though. I saw kings has an economy play pen combo cage 42in. wide. Has anyone heard about those or used them? It has a dome on one side and play top on other side. Just saw it was really wide while still having proper bar spacing for meyers or brown head. Any suggestions are appreciated. Even though money is no object I don't want to go stainless steel. Thanks again.
Dmott1
Parakeet
 
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Re: Cage for meyers or brown head?

Postby Pajarita » Sun May 21, 2017 10:59 am

Hmmm, I don't really have a recommendation in terms of brand but I'll tell you what I like and don't like in a cage:

1. I don't really care if they have a play top or a dome as long as the dome is not small. My birds are all fully flighted and the play tops are wasted on them because they never stay in one place so, unless you are planning on clipping the bird (which I do NOT recommend) and making him sit in one place and one place alone (which will make the bird miserable), the play top will not be really needed. Besides, my birds would much rather have tree branches sticking up that they can climb and chew than a perfectly parallel to the floor dowel or manzanita branch -I don't like manzanita because the birds can't peel it or chew it. I hang chewy toys and knotted ropes from the smaller tree branches (I get a larger branch that has little branches coming off it and tie it to the cage with more rope) and it makes a much better 'playtop' than the actual ones that cages bring (I have a few of those in my basement collecting dust :lol: ).

2. I don't like cages with tops that reach lower than my shoulders. Birds feel safe only when they are high or, at least, perching at your eye level so the cages that are real big but that go from a few inches off the floor to, say, four ft high are not good enough in my opinion.

3. I don't like the cages that have one flat roof and one domed one because, usually (I am not saying this is the case with the one you mentioned), these cages are too low and the bird ends up perching ONLY on the higher part so they 'live' in half the actual width of the cage -and that's always too narrow (this is the kind I am talking about:https://www.hayneedle.com/product/deluxeparrotcagewithplaytoparea.cfm)

4. I have found that parrots mostly use only the top part of the cage so I prefer cages that are not THAT high inside the cage but are high overall. I don't know if I am explaining myself correctly but what I mean is that I like cages that are high so the bird can perch at the same level of your head but this is not because of the actual height of the inside of cage but because it has tall legs. The cages that start a few inches off the floor and go high are fine but you will end up cleaning a lot of cage that is never used by the bird.

5. I prefer cages which have 'moat bridge' doors instead of the 'door' like ones. This is because, with these cages, all I have to do is open the door and they have a little platform they use for taking off and landing. With the 'door' like ones, you need to put a perch outside the cage near the door to make it easier on them.

6. I like cages that are white, ecru or a very light beige. I have a couple of dark cages, one black and one green. The black is a very large double macaw cage that came with a bird I took in and the green I bought myself years ago and it's actually one of my best cages because it's VERY roomy and easy to clean (it also has very narrow bars) but I would not get it today. The reason I don't like them is personal. I think that if I had to spend time in a cage, I would not like black bars all around me -I would find them oppressive. I think that light colored cages give a better feeling of spaciousness and freedom than dark colored ones. Mind you, this might very well be just my imagination and nothing else but birds are meant to be in open spaces so I think that anything that helps them in that sense is beneficial.

7. Believe it or not, I prefer older (used) cages to the newer ones. I have found that the older cages have better powder coating. I mean, you can put those cages out in the rain and they would never get a single spot of rust - those things are practically bullet-proof! And I know this for a fact because I bought the green cage I was telling you about (it's the one that Zoey and Sweetpea Senegal live in) from CL and, when I went to pick it up, I realized they had left it outside for quite a long time (it has dried leaves and stuff all over it) but not a single spot was chipped or rusted - and it's still looking exactly the same years later!. While the newer ones look great but you will find that they start to chip and rust in a couple of years if not sooner.

8. I also don't care if the bowls are stainless steel or plastic (there is a difference in pricing with, of course, the ones with SS bowls being more expensive) because I always have two complete sets (plus enough extras to make a third set, if I needed) so I always have to buy bowls separately anyway.

With a Meyers or a Brownhead, you can use 3/4 or 5/8 and even 1/2 bar gauge without a problem.
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
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Flight: Yes

Re: Cage for meyers or brown head?

Postby Navre » Wed May 24, 2017 9:22 pm

I can't agree about plastic bowls. If you scrub them hard enough to really get them clean, they end up with small scratches and cracks. Those crevices are even harder to clean. I am constantly throwing away plastic dishes that I don't feel are being safely cleaned anymore.

Stainless, or ceramic are better options.

Also remebember that you will want a water bowl adjacent to a pellet bowl. Pellets are unnaturally dry and birds need water right next to them. I have seen some cages that didn't have bowls located like this. I have had to use bolt-on bowls next to the ones provided.
Navre
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Re: Cage for meyers or brown head?

Postby Pajarita » Thu May 25, 2017 11:01 am

I don't use plastic bowls, either, John. My comment was about the bowls the cage brings initially with cages that bring plastic bowls being cheaper than the ones that bring SS ones. I got two large cages (one for the amazon ladies and the other for the birdroom) that came with plastic bowls but I LOVE the cages themselves so I just switched the bowls for the ladies' cage with SS (the one in the birdroom doesn't have any bowls because it's empty). I do use plastic baths and food bowls for the canaries but that's because they don't make SS ones that would fit their cages but the parrots all get SS either for water AND food or just for water because I use paper plates for their food. Funny thing is, I refuse to throw away the plastic bowls out of sheer stupidly useless thriftiness so now I have two containers in the basement filled up with unused plastic bowls :lol:
Pajarita
Norwegian Blue
 
Gender: This parrot forum member is female
Posts: 18697
Location: NW Pa
Number of Birds Owned: 30
Types of Birds Owned: RoseBreasted too, CAG, DoubleYellowHead Amazon, BlueFront Amazon, YellowNape Amazon, Senegal, African Redbelly, Quaker, Sun Conure, Nanday, BlackCap Caique, WhiteBelly Caique, PeachFace lovebird, budgies,
Flight: Yes

Re: Cage for meyers or brown head?

Postby Michael » Thu May 25, 2017 6:15 pm

Lots of info already posted so just a few things to avoid

DON'T get anything with playtop!
Don't get 3/4 bar spacing. 5/8 is safer for a bird that size.

Keep in mind that horizontal dimensions are more significant and useful than vertical ones. Stainless is best in the long run, aluminum is a good substitute. Powder coat is ok but not very long lasting. Toys and perches are very important. A big cage with insufficient toys/perches is just another "small cage."
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Michael
Macaw
 
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