King's Cage Carrier: Too small for Red Bellied?

[Weka]

Thanks for the pic, cml!

So to be clear, you have the "Tiny" and not the "SM"? (You can see why I'm confused...)

We are thinking the SM, because in the event of an emergency or long-term travel, it might be better for the bird to have a slightly larger space. We are also planning on getting a more lightweight carrier, perhaps a Pak-o-Bird, for day-to-day outdoor walks, etc. until Skeeter takes to harness training.* We'd like him to get him out as much as possible, but being cage-bound and shy I have a feeling it will take a very slow, comfortable pace and a lot of trust-building before we can haul him around, anyway.

As to sleep cages: from my research, it just seemed a good idea to have a smaller cage around. That way, if there was a reason we had to leave the house on short notice, he could feel fairly acclimated to the cage. Also, we have a rather large two story home and it'd be nice for him to have a place upstairs to sleep near the "flock".



*Which of course brings up the question, "Should a flighted bird that is not yet harness/recall trained even be brought outside in a carrier for brief sun & stimulation sessions, due to escape risk?" Might be a topic for another thread...


Thanks again,

Weka

[cml]

We have this, bought from the site below:
http://www.northernparrots.com/kings-ca ... od940900a/

I think you are looking at this:
http://www.northernparrots.com/kings-ca ... od940910a/

Either way, I think you are getting a great travelling cage. If you get the smaller one, you will need to secure the bottom though as it can move upwards. A bit of a design flaw imo, and if you dont want to deal with that - get the medium like you've planned .

*Which of course brings up the question, "Should a flighted bird that is not yet harness/recall trained even be brought outside in a carrier for brief sun & stimulation sessions, due to escape risk?" Might be a topic for another thread...

In my opinion, yes and I know many here agrees. Escape risk is slim to none, the lock is very secure on the kings cage, and on our other carrier (the white one) we have a padlock for extra safety.

[Michael]

The small one is crap. Get the medium.

http://TrainedParrot.com/Travel_Cage_Review

[Weka]

Michael wrote:

The small one is crap. Get the medium.

You mean the SM? *grin*

Actually, it was your very helpful review that helped us decide to get the SM (a.k.a. Medium). Thanks for sharing.


--W

[Michael]

Ok, now I see that the medium of the 3 available is called SM...

I would not hesitate to take an untrained flighted parrot outside in the medium cage as it has a secure lock on the door AND grate! The biggest safety risk is actually the food doors. They do lock well but single point of failure. If super concerned, I would drill a small hole and use an additional clip to safety them shut. Otherwise it's a great cage. Heavy to carry though. NEVER leave bird unattended outside in it though.

[Graeme]

@ Weka, thanks for the breakdown of the various sizes.

Thanks to all, for the info, looks like I will be ordering the medium.

[cml]

The small one is crap. Get the medium.

http://TrainedParrot.com/Travel_Cage_Review

Its not crap, its awesome.

Granted, it wasnt perfect on delivery but all it takes is a little work to secure the bottom, and its imo as good as the medium. But, if you dont want to deal with a few stainless steel screws and nuts or dont know how to fix it, then the medium one is a better option. IMO the size of the small one is preferable, as it is indeed a CARRIER, not just a travel cage.

My small one has a sliding bottom plate, which is secure and cannot fall loose up into the cage. Wasnt hard at all. Its as secure, or more secure than the medium, with regards to your comment on the medium one's food doors.

[Michael]

Can you send me pics how you fixed it? The issue I saw was that if you lock the bottom in, then you can't remove to clean it? The size/weight is better I agree. For a Cape Parrot or Grey, I still wouldn't go smaller than medium (or whatever the heck they call it!).

[cml]

Can you send me pics how you fixed it? The issue I saw was that if you lock the bottom in, then you can't remove to clean it? The size/weight is better I agree. For a Cape Parrot or Grey, I still wouldn't go smaller than medium (or whatever the heck they call it!).

Yes .
Basically, what I've done is used 4 stainless steel screws with nuts and 8 washers, placed towards the bottom frame as seen in the picture.

This allows the bottom tray to move upwards the same height as the side wall of the tray, thus allowing it to easily slide out while making it impossible for it to fall into the cage.

Here's a link to a bigger size of the above picture.
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5496/11468339955_51eca12e5a_h.jpg
(you could add another 4 screws under it for it to rest/slide on to make it locked vertically but still allowing it to slide out, but I dont see the benefit)

I totally agree with you though regarding size, a Grey, a Cape or normal sized Zon (Stitch is a white fronted amazon, the smallest kind, and add to that that he is the smallest subspecies and you have one tiny amazon ^^[Amazona Albifrons Nana]) should have the medium cage!

EDIT: The nuts wont budge when our birds try to move them, but potentially a bigger bird MIGHT be able to unscrew regular nuts, in that case, use lock nuts for ulitmate safety.

[cml]

Also, to anyone buying a King's cage travel carrier, regardless of size, do away with that awful dowel perch and replace it with something else .