Budgie Cages

[Saerphe]

Having been observing my new boys for a while now, I've discovered some issues with their current cage...

It's nice and tall, but it's not very wide. It might be bearable for one budgie, but not two. It's been difficult to fit their perches and toys in and I had to take their swing out completely so they'd have room. It's tough to arrange perches so they don't overlap and they really only use one perch anyway so they don't get a lot of exercise. They get along quite well for the most part, but I've seen them try to bite each other and they just don't have any space to get away from each other.

Not only that, but their food bowl is quite small and they often try and squeeze on it together. Every time Ollie tries to go to the bowl to eat, Iggy yells at him until he leaves the food alone. I thought about adding another bowl (their cage has two sets of feeder doors) but I again encounter the problems the perches. Ollie does look distinctly slimmer than Iggy, but I'm not sure if it's because he gets less to eat or if his feathers just sit differently.

I'm thinking about getting them a bigger cage (I'm not sure my parents will agree is the problem) but I thought I'd get some input... Should I buy a larger (cockatiel size most likely) cage and put them both in it, or should I get another similarly sized cage and house them seperately? Keeping them seperate would prevent squabbles and might make them easier to train... but I've also accepted the reality that they may simply be untrainable. Not to mention two cages = twice the work.

I'm taking my resume into a couple pet stores tomorrow, so with any luck I'll land a job and maybe get some employee discounts. ;P

Any input would be most welcome.

[GlassOnion]

I have an HQ flight cage that my tiel and my budgie share. My budgie, Spice, LOVES the room and flies around like crazy. There is so much room for toys, perches and even a swing. There are many companies that make cages that look exactly like this, so you don't need to look for the "HQ" brand.

This is a picture of the cage. (Not mine, found it on google images)
http://www.windycityparrot.com/assets/i ... _13221.jpg

The price is very very reasonable, you can find a nice one for $100-150. Many cages that you'll see in petstores that are much smaller, such as the cockatiel sized cage, are $75 and up, so in my opinion this flight cage is totally worth it.

[Kathleen]

Birds with serious problems (abuse, disability/health issues etc) may be a select rare few that are difficult or impossible to train, but I am almost certain that your budgies are trainable, whether they've been caged together or not. It's really hard to effectively train birds together, you have to do training sessions separately for new tricks or behaviors.

I would recommend at minimum a cockatiel sized cage for budgies, but the most important thing is the cage bar spacing...it should be 1/2 inch spacing. Budgies are so small that they can jump from perch to perch or maybe fly to a perch in a large enough cage. It is crucial to have a larger cage so they can move around in there. If you're housing them together, they need to have separate food bowls if they won't willingly share a food bowl.

When I had a budgie, I used a cockatiel sized cage and only housed one budgie within it. The more space, the better... so the largest cage you can get with suitable bar spacing would be best.

In my personal opinion, about work/cleaning, it's really not that much compared to the cleaning and maintenance of larger bird cages. At least to me, after helping Michael clean Kili and Truman's cages again and again, a cockatiel sized cage, or even 2 cockatiel sized cages, seems so easy.

As for working at a pet store, that's nice, and maybe you'll get the discounts. You really need to be careful about possibly spreading diseases between those animals and your birds at home.

[Saerphe]

Kathleen - I got the budgies from a previous owner who kept them in a closet. So I guess they could be a special case. They're getting less afraid of hands, so they might still be trainable, but they've been out of human contact for the last three-odd years. I need to teach them to target and step up before I can think of removing them from the cage though, so right now I have to train them together.

I expect I'll probably have a work uniform I can change in and out of when I get home too, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

[Kathleen]

It's a very good thing they had each other for the past few years without any human socializing.

Please keep us updated, with the decision you make about the cage, their training, and if you're able to get a job at one of the pet stores.

[kaylayuh]

My budgies are housed in a pretty big cage. The measurements are 17 W x 20 L x 32 H, all measurements are inches. They have multiple perches, swings and other toys in there. There's also two water dishes and two food dishes. I find that this cage gives them adequate room to stretch their wings, play with toys, or get away from eachother if they feel so inclined.

I looked around at a bunch of pet shops and cage suppliers for a similarly sized cage but prices were a bit out of my range as I was buying two of the same cage for three birds. I ended up buying the cages for $99USD on Ebay.

[zazanomore]

My vote is for a flight cage. They are so perfect for smaller sized birds. Plenty of room for perches, swings, latters, toys and enough room to fly around.

I moved my two budgies from a "medium" sized petsmart budgie cage, into a spacious flight cage (which was bought at a affordable price from a Canadian online store). My budgies seem to be a lot more active and happy in their bigger cage.

The cage I bought was: http://elite-pets.com/A36.asp
159$ plus 50 shipping.

If you were to buy a cockatiel cage at a petstore like petsmart, you`ll probably be paying up to 100$ for one.

I say, save your money up to get as big of a cage as possible. Your budgies will appreciate it.

[Saerphe]

Okay, so I rearranged their perches and took out one their toys and they have some more space now. I kinda doubt I'll be able to get a bigger cage for them probably until I can move into my own place and take them with me... which might not be until next year. If I can get them trained to step up and target I'll be able to take them out and it won't be as much of a problem.

I took out their old dowling rod perch which stretched all the way across and replaced it with some natural perches that go halfway. Once I took out the toy (by the size it's more for cockatiels or small conures... they didn't do much but scratch their heads with it) there was enough space to put their swing back in. They were a lot more active, between the swing, the new chew-up toy and the treat stick I put in for them. I'm also working on putting them on a pelleted diet which should help too. Hopefully it'll be bearable until we move and I can get them a bigger 'room'. I really like the look of those flight cages.

I also gave my resume to one pet store and I'm working on my online application for PetSmart. The first thing the first store asked me was if I was afraid of bugs... I'm not, and I'm not afraid of snakes or other reptiles either... and if I was still a student. Which I am. I think I've got a pretty good shot, and I should hear from them around mid-May.

[Saerphe]

So, my aunt's co-worker/friend (not entirely sure what they're relationship is, but he's practically part of the family by now) has said that he'd be quite happy to look after the budgies for me while I'm away at university, so I may yet be able to keep them permanently! I plan on getting them a bigger cage for when they move in to his place. I plan on taking $20 or so out of my paychecks for a few weeks to put towards a bigger cage.

I also got them a second food bowl, so I'll put some of their pellet/seed mix in that and hopefully Iggy will be less inclined to yell at Ollie when he tries to eat. It's sitting on the table outside their cage for now so they can see it and get used to it. They're getting a lot more active with their new perch arrangement too.

[kaylayuh]

You should see if they can come with you to school.

Also about the food, no matter how many food dishes I have in the cage, my budgies always go to the same one. They always go together. As long as neither is physically getting hurt or showing signs of weight loss, I wouldn't worry too much about it. They even try to pile on the food dish with my GCC now! Combined, I have four water dishes, three seed/pellet dishes, and two fresh food dishes.