How much open space?

[Strawfrawg]

Marvin never tries to fly in his cage...he just climbs around. He stays absolutely put from lights-out till morning, from anything I can tell. I have tried to leave big gaps in the cage arrangement so he has plenty of room, but he never uses any of it. How much open space does he actually need? He seems to like having lots of stuff around him. The rest seems like wasted space. Other than apparent utilization, what else do I need to consider when I outfit his cage?

[Michael]

Your parrot will not fly in the cage. It just won't. My parrots virtually never fly in the 7x12 foot outside aviary. For a Senegal parrot I'd say the bare minimum space to be able to fly a lap is 10x10ft room and more realistically over 15x15. As for the cage though, they just need space for the sake of variety. Variety promotes climbing and activity. All this talk about "what's the minimum cage size for parrot species x" or "20x20 is enough but 18x18 is not" is nonsense. It's less about the exact numbers and more about quality. Bigger is better and it's a good idea to stay above minimums.

Bar spacing is critical! I heard a Senegal Parrot died a few weeks ago getting its heat caught between the bars in what I think was 1" bar spacing. 1/2" or 5/8" bar spacing is ideal for Senegals. I don't like 3/4 for them because a little bend in the bars and then it's too much (I'm not saying the bird will bend them, hanging perches and stuff can deform the bars). So unless you're going for an aviary, go for the biggest/best 5/8" bar space cage you can get. Then work on outfitting it with the best perches, swings, toys, and supplies you can find.

Making the time your parrot spends outside the cage is the most important part.

[Pajarita]

I don't have that many parrots in cages and most of the ones that are in them are handicapped but what I try to do is to try to reproduce a natural environment pattern only in miniature. So I put a high perch (almost all the way up under the top of the cage but with enough room for the bird to stand on it without bumping his head against the top) in a corner and put stuff (toys, ropes, a boing, etc) in front and to the side to create a little hideaway where he can sleep feeling unobserved (as they would in a tree). Then I put some tree branches (and I try to choose the ones that are not straight or the ones that have little branches sticking out) about 3/4 up of the total height with something to chew next to them (fruit, veggies, green, rolled-up magazine, rope knot, etc). The food made out of grain or seed I place at the bottom of the cage (because it's supposed to be the 'ground') same as the water (because a stream would be on the ground, too). I change the perching branches weekly and, in the good weather months, they get them with leaves and buds in them.

[marie83]

My Green cheek flies in his cage, not very often, maybe a couple of times a day he will do several random lengths of it repeatedly. He will also fly from the back of his cage to the front when we come in the room. My budgie and peach front used to fly in their cages too. All the 'tiels and the rosella climbed. Maybe its more to do with species?

[janetafloat]

Could well be. My Sennie never flies in his cage, he's a climber.

[Michael]

My Green cheek flies in his cage, not very often, maybe a couple of times a day he will do several random lengths of it repeatedly. He will also fly from the back of his cage to the front when we come in the room. My budgie and peach front used to fly in their cages too. All the 'tiels and the rosella climbed. Maybe its more to do with species?

Well yeah! The smaller the bird, the bigger the cage seems.

[marie83]

My Green cheek flies in his cage, not very often, maybe a couple of times a day he will do several random lengths of it repeatedly. He will also fly from the back of his cage to the front when we come in the room. My budgie and peach front used to fly in their cages too. All the 'tiels and the rosella climbed. Maybe its more to do with species?

Well yeah! The smaller the bird, the bigger the cage seems.

Not disputing that as its rather obvious and completely misses my point but I think that was what the OP was asking about how much cage space would make it worthwhile for the bird to fly instead of climb? And the 'tiels and conures are roughly the same size and had similar sized cages which is why I said it may be species specific. The cockatiels seem rather lazy in comparison and choose not to so maybe its the same for sennies.

[Strawfrawg]

Yeah, I was kind of shooting for how much room he needs in his cage in terms of unfilled space. Good tips on cage dimensions and bar spacing, though. You can never post that too many times. Marvin's cage has 5/8 spacing and is 30x30x35. He's rarely in it, except at night or when I'm away from the house.

My cockatiel flew in his cage sometimes, if only from one activity to another. I just don't want to overload the space, but I also want it to be an exciting place with lots ot do and easy transitions from one perch or toy to the next. Numbnuts Marvin sometimes tries to step way too far. He thinks his beak is enough to stabilize him...I've seen him end up hanging by his beak while scrambling in the air for a foothold that doesn't exist...HELP, mom!

[marie83]

Lol bless him. Well I wouldn't worry too much about flying space if he is usually out as long as he has enough room to stretch his wings out and flap if he felt so inclined. For my "small" birds I tend to keep the top quite full of toys and any longer ones to one corner of the cage so they have the middle and bottom for open space but Ollies cage is taller than it is wide but that's ok because the cage is bigger than id strictly needed anyway. Harlie I keep a similarish rule for but she has room to flap rather than fly, her cage is longer than it is tall but she crashes about blindly when she goes into one of her frequent panics and would be in danger of hurting herself if she had the room to build up speed. Actually the panics have lessened greatly and we will be changing her cage for a better one, hopefully fairly soon.

[KimberlyAnn]

Hahaha numbnuts Marvin!