Parrot Cage Designs & Plans

[Russ]

I have seen really nice parrot cages for sale in the U.S. but it would be very costly, difficult and complicated to take one with me or have shipped to Peru. If I could get a set of plans I could have one made in Peru as that is where I live part time and have my four parrots. The standard cages available in Peru do not have large doors with inside swing out perches, cup holders that secure them so the birds can not toss them on the floor, elevated floors so the birds can not pick up food from the droppings tray etc. From the internet I have photos of these type of cages, but to have one copied is not practical from only a photo.

Anyone know of parrot cage plans similar to what I have described? The approximate size would be 4 ft high, 3 ft wide and about 5 ft long for placing on a table.

A large walk-in flight cage would great but I would prefer to let my birds free to roam around the rear yard while supervised as it is enclosed with three story walls on three sides and a very high cliff at the end. However, they can not be left alone as one day the Mealy Amazon (big one) flew up to the second floor terrace and then to third floor and went walking around the banister. What if he flew up even higher and tumbled off? One wing is clipped but he can still make short trips.

[Harpmaker]

First I have to mention that even clipped birds can fly if they try hard enough or the wind takes them. But don't worry too much about your Mealy Amazon falling, because if he can go up, he can slow his fall enough for a reasonably graceful landing. A glide from that high would go some distance, though.

Next I would recommend using plans for a rabbit hutch and changing the dimensions. Chicken cages won't work well because parrots chew more than chickens.

Most bird cages have perches separate from the cage and bolted on. Try to make some with wing nuts to big for your birds to swallow (may not be possible-I have a very small parrot, but I see yours are large.)

Also beware of non-birdsafe materials. Note that Peruvians can work magic with PVC pipe. I would get complicated fittings in Lima (Sodimac makes Home Depot look small), and large pieces wherever you are live.

I have seen Amazons in Ayacucho in cages built out of rebar, which makes me cringe. Alas, I did not have sufficient rapport with the proprietor to tell them how to treat their pets, and my Spanish and Quechua were not up to explaining the problem anyway.

[Wolf]

You can always notch the ends of wooden perches to fit the bars of the cage.

[Russ]

Thanks for the tips, but I guess I should have mentioned that my home is in front of the beach and we have serious problems with the salt water air. I don't think rabbit cage wire comes in stainless, maybe there is something used in food processing plants that would work; but boy that would take a lot of research in Peru. I spent two years during construction locating materials for my new home being constructed in a small beach city about 3 hours north of the capital. The only materials purchased locally were the bricks, cement and solid wood doors. I am fluent in Spanish.

The current cage is actually two Parrot cages joined together and is made from spot welded wire and painted, which holds up o.k. but if I were to have a new cage made, I would want them to use stainless steel wire welded with a wire welding machine. One shop I spoke with says he only uses common welding wire and had no experience with welding stainless. One supplier of Parrot cages for $1000. in the U.S. offers stainless steel wire cages, so it is possible.

Yep on the perches, we use eucalyptus wood sticks which are available in the Peruvian lumber yards everywhere, just have to find a straight one of appropriate diameter. The birds don't chew these as the are really hard. I just bought here in the U.S. some type 304 small stainless steel chain and fittings to make them a "two bird" swing for the blue front amazons to use. The Mealy has his own cage section and spends a lot of time swinging and talking.

[Wolf]

I am thinking that you could take some good photos of what you have for a cage and measure everything including the wire diameter and then have one made like it only out of stainless steel. Really just about any good machine shop that works with stainless steel could make what you want with the right measurements and some photos to work from, without much difficulty. They could even come out and take the measurements and pics themselves so that they have everything they needed to make any size of cage you could desire.
It would be no different than having to hire someone here in the States to draw you a set of plans, that you could take to a machine shop there.

[Pajarita]

Just a comment on something you posted, a unilaterial clip (just one wing) is, bar none, the worst clip you can give a bird. I don't agree with clipping at all but, if you are going to do it, please do a partial clip on both wings.

[Russ]

Thanks about the wing clipping comment; I think I read in my books about clipping one wing, but now I will have to research this further. I come from an Iowa farm and my grandmother used to clip only one wing of her chickens, so when I was reading about wing clipping, I think it stuck in my mind that only one wing was necessary. If I don't clip the their wings they will fly off some where and not survive as these birds have never lived in the wild. Not much for them to eat in a coastal desert environment where my home is in Peru. Down on the ground outside the high walls of the property, the feral dogs will kill them and in the best case someone will catch them and sell them. (Don't have to worry about cats, the dogs eat them)

Many years ago, I had a blue front Amazon in California that had been with me in South America for years and was a back yard perch, cage and tree bird; one day he took off and perched at the top of a tall pine tree a couple of blocks away in an undeveloped tract. He was not clipped. After about 30 years later, he died in Miami. There he was a caged bird, but frequently let loose to roam, wings at that time were not clipped and he flew low for a short distance, then walked. Always had to watch him near the swimming pool though..

[Pajarita]

Birds need to fly. It's not only kinder to them (it's a constantly stressful life for a prey animal when you take away the only predator avoidance mechanism they have), it's also healthier because their respiratory system becomes atrophied with flight - plus, flying is the only aerobic exercise a bird has so cardiovascular health suffers too. And yes, flighted birds fly away (LOL- that's what birds do, they fly!) but that only happens if you don't have the proper infrastructure (all you would have to do is put a wire mesh or a metal grid 'roof' on the patio you described -my brother who lives in South America has one in his to prevent burglars climbing down from the roof), take them out without a harness or become careless.

An unilateral clip was what people did many, many years ago but then we did many things wrong back then, too. In the States, nobody does the one wing clip any longer. There are several 'styles' of clipping, some better than others but none actually prevents a bird from getting lost as a strong gust of wind would carry a clipped bird far enough for the owner not to find it.

[Harpmaker]

About chickens in the USA: My grandparents lived on a working farm. They had a kitchen garden surrounded by a 4-foot (~1.3 meters)fence. The unclipped chickens did not fly over the fence because they didn't know they could. If they don't try to fly, a bad clip would be less of a problem.

We ate the smart chickens that figured out they weren't clipped before they could teach the flock.