Budgie cage requirements, what bird cages to avoid, recommended budgie cages...
Budgie Cage Requirements:
The cage should not be made of toxic metals such as zinc, lead, or brass (wet brass tarnishes - this tarnish is toxic). Stainless steel is best or powder-coated.
Do not put your budgie in a cage that is rusted or has chipping paint.
If you find an old cage in the attic, basement, trash-picking, or at a yard sale that only has a few rusty patches or a little chipping paint and you want to re-paint it for your budgie - DON'T. Throw it out and get a new cage on eBay. The cost of getting a cage sanded down and then powder-coated is more than you would pay for a new cage on eBay.
Big enough for the budgie to not only fully turn around and spread out their wings, but to fly from one side to another - a absolute minimum of 18x18x24.. Buy the biggest cage you can afford. Parrot cages are MUCH cheaper online than they are in the petstore. Please check ebay for new parrot cages at great prices!
Horizontal bars because budgies love to climb!
Width is more important than height as budgies fly horizontally.
Bar spacing should be no wider than 1/2 inch so that the budgie doesn't get their head stuck between the bars. Their heads are smaller than they look!
No round cages - a budgie doesn't feel safe in a round cage - there is no back wall to retreat to. Along the same lines, be sure there is a wall behind at least one side of the cage.
A good size rectangular cage is best - the palace shape or house shapes actually restrict the room the budgie has to fly and play and create a mess of poop and food the others do not.
Do not place the cage next to a window. Drafts can cause the budgie to become sick. Keep the cage out of direct sunlight.
Place the cage in a room you spend alot of time in (though not the kitchen - because of fumes and hot unsafe surfaces) but that will be quiet at night.
Budgies require alot of mental stimulation. Be sure they have lots of fun toys and that you rotate the toys frequently so that they do not become bored and so they get used to change.
Budgie-proof the room the budgie will be flying in by making sure no open water surfaces, open windows/doors, uncurtained windows, other pets, etc will harm them.
Be sure to cover the cage at night to provide darkness and a secure cover to prevent night-frights.
Several perches of varying widths are necessary to promote healthy feet and legs and to prevent foot sores caused by plain wooden dowels. We recommend the wood branch perches and rope perches.
Avoid: sand perch covers (cause foot sores), mite protectors (cause respiratory illness), bedding (breeds fungus and can cause crop impaction when injested) - paper towels or plain newsprint are best so you can watch poops for health.
Covered food and water dishes so budgies don't poop in them and get sick.
Cuttle bone to chew on. It's good for their beaks and provides needed calcium.
Secure all cage doors and windows with stainless steel quicklinks. Budgies are smart little buggers and can quickly and easily figure out how to give themselves some unsupervised out time!
Place the best wood perches up high - and the stone ones that are good for toe nail health down low. Budgies like to be up high and will spend most of their time on the nicer perches that are good for their feet. We don't recommend using the wooden dowels that come with cages for anything other than step-ups and collecting budgies from around the room to return to their cages.
Make sure there is a food bowl for each budgie in the cage so that they don't have to fight over it or the dominant budgie doesn't let the other budgies near the food.
If you are going to have several budgies in the same cage - it's better to move them at the same time rather than moving a new bird into another's birds cage to avoid territorial issues.
Available in these colors: Charcoal Bronze White Platinum Blue Green
Dimensions: 32" wide x 21" deep x 35" high
Overall height 59"
Bar Spacing 1/2"
* Removable Tray & Grill
* 2 Long aviary style cups
* Wood Perches
* 2 Side Breeder Doors
* Storage shelf
* Constructed of Bird-safe wrought iron
* Durable powder-coating finish
* EZ Roll Casters
* Assembly time approximately 30 minutes
* Tools required: screwdriver (electric preferred), pliers
I recommend this cage above all others - as does everyone in all of the budgie communities I am a member of. It is known widely as the EFT, aka: "Everyone's Favorite Cage". It is big and spacious, safe, easy to put together, easy to clean, and inexpensive. You can fit several budgies in here and there is plenty of room for flying around and playing with toys. It's also nice that the cage has 2 doors. I get the budgies out of the upper door when it's play time outside of the cage. However, when you are changing food and water bowls and don't want all the budgies to fly out - it's great to be able to open up the lower door and do so without fear of having to chase budgies all over the room for the next 15 minutes. It's also easier when it comes time for everyone to go back in their cages. You just slip the budgies in on their stick through the bottom door and set them on an upper perch. Budgies prefer to be up high so everyone doesn't fly out when you put the next budgie in the cage. I have 2 of these. One houses four of my budgies: Cloude, Dandelion, Star and Cricket.The other houses 2 cockatiels: Henry and Dubbins. (I have the one-door variety for the tiels as they don't tend to try to escape all the time and they are easier to collect when it's bedtime. It really is the best budgie cage ever. Click here for ordering info: Best Budgie Cage
