What kind of cage....? What about toys?
- Buy the largest cage you can afford. If you can't afford a good size cage you can't afford a cockatiel. Think of your bird's cage as its "bedroom", and keep in mind that if nobody's home all day to allow him to be out of the cage, that he's locked in his "bedroom" for 8 or so hours per day. A bigger bedroom with lots of toys is better than a small bedroom and very few toys.
The bigger the better, so long as the bar spacing isn't over 1/4 of an inch...if it's larger, a budgie head could get caught in there, and the bird could strangle itself. My cockatiel's cage has 5/8 inch spacing, and he seems to do fine with that.
- At the very, very least, the cage should be 18"x18"x20". That's a BARE MINIMUM for a single cockatiel. For a pair, 24"x24"x24" would be a tight fit, but would work. If your bird is going to have to spend a lot of time in his cage while you're at work, or you don't plan on taming him, PLEASE do not get a cage this small. You'll end up with a very miserable bird.
- Budgies, while small birds, are very active and energetic; they need large cages too. Most cages that pet stores sell as "budgie cages" are WAY too small for any bird to live in(finches included), and are useful only as travel cages or hospital cages. A single budgie should not be kept in a cage less than 16"x16"x16". If you plan on a pair of budgies, then 18"x18"x20" would be bare minimum.
Anything else is much too small. Budgies are VERY active birds! They need room to climb, scamper, play, move, and to generally be active. A bird kept in an undersized cage will most likely be an unhappy bird and will be more prone to becoming overweight.
- BEWARE OF CAGES AND TOYS THAT CONTAIN ZINC! Zinc is extremely toxic to birds, and over time can kill them. Zinc poisoning can be difficult and expensive to diagnose, as the symptoms are similar to that of other diseases. For more information on zinc poisoning, and how to check if your toys/cage contains zinc, check this site
- Strangely shaped cages are nice looking, but they can also be more messy..especially if there's an "overhanging roof" type design...any mess your bird makes up there will go right down to the floor and miss any seed guards, unless there's a seed skirt.
Round cages are unsuitable for all birds.
As cool as a round cage may look, please do not get one for your bird.
- Avoid cages with "guillotine" style doors! These types of doors are dangerous for two big reasons:
- They are easy for the bird to lift & open. This means cages with "guillotine" style doors are easy to escape from. Unfortunately, this is a very common occurance with guillotine style doors. They can be lifted and opened even if there is a food cup placed inside.
- There is the possiblity of a bird, after lifting the door, becoming caught in the door. The door may shut on the bird and trap it there. When frightened, birds tend to panic, so they may end up breaking their necks, dying of fright, or severely injuring themselves in their attempts to get free
On a less serious note, many birds find out early on that they can grab the food cups and cause the doors to BANG by pushing up on the food cup and letting go. My budgie, Byte, thought this was the most entertaining thing in the world to do. I didn't agree, and we took care of the guillotine door issue.
If you have a cage with guillotine style doors, but there is a big, swinging main door you can simply use some quick links from bird toys to secure the guillotine doors shut.
If you use the doors for food cups, you will need to buy a cup style that hangs from the cage bars.
If there is no large main door on your cage, I would strongly recommend you go out and either find a cage without guillotine style doors, or a cage that at least has a big swinging door.
Many birds, even tame ones, are very reluctant to come out of the cage through guillotine style doors as well. This can be a serious roadblock to taming if your bird is frightened to come out through the doors. I've never had a problem getting even an untame bird to come out through a large, swinging door.
I've had problems, even with my tame birds, getting them to come out of a guillotine style door.
Just in case you're not certain what I mean by "guillotine style", below is a picture of one of the secured doors on a cage of mine that has a couple guillotine style doors.
- Beware of any cage that has any type of door, whether intended for the bird, or for food and water cups, that does not latch securely from the OUTSIDE of the cage. Budgies and cockatiels are extremely clever little creatures, and can figure out how to open almost anything. For their own safety, invest in a cage that locks securely at ALL entry/exit points.
- "So what kind of cage do YOU like?"
Well, out of all of the cages I have, my favorite brands would have to be Midwest and Martin's Cages.
Martin's Cages come out slightly ahead because I like the mesh wire design better than bars; it's easier to hang toys, perches, water bottles, and feed cups from than bars. Their cages are also usually cheaper than Midwest cages. http://www.martinscages.com.
Below is a picture of Nibble's cage, which is a converted Martin's rodent cage. It originally belonged to Hamter, but when Hamter left for the great beyond, I unhooked the floors and made it into a bird cage. Martin's Cages bird cages are very similar to this. The biggest difference is their bird cages have slide out pans, whereas the rodent cages clip onto a litter pan.
Midwest, however, does make very high quality cages as well. My biggest gripe with their cages is they can be difficult to find in stores, and many online stores mark them WAY up. The cage I bought for Panzer in a local store for under $170 sells for $300 in most online stores.
Below is a picture of the Midwest cage I have for the cockatiels. Please excuse the mess; if you're wondering, there are crickets in the carrier on top of the cage. :)
- Place the cage in a place where there's lots of family activity. Cockatiels and budgies are very social flock animals, and YOU become their flock when they come to live with you. They want and need to be included. They will be miserable if they're not included in family life and don't get "social time" with you.
- Cage bedding. The following things are VERY bad!
- Walnut shell bedding. This can kill your bird. I'm not joking. Walnut shells are JAGGED, and if your bird ingests the bedding, it could literally shred his digestive system. Not only could it kill him, but it would be a VERY painful death.
- Corncob bedding. Another type that can kill your bird. If eaten, it can get stuck in the crop, expand, and cause crop impaction.
- Clay, kitty litter, or clumping bedding. This swells in the crop and can cause crop impaction and death if eaten.
- Cedar. Cedar is a very aromatic wood, and the fumes from it can cause adverse respiratory
reactions in birds. Cedar is also dangerous for all rodents and rabbits.
- Sandpaper bottoms. These are very rough on the feet, and can cause bumblefoot. Bumblefoot is a very painful collection of open, infected sores on the bird's feet that make it difficult to walk. In addition to that, if the paper or sand is eaten it can cause crop impactions and death.
Regardless of what a pet store tells you, the best bedding to use is either newspaper(not the glossy ads), wax paper, plain white paper, or paper towels.
The black and white newspaper ink in most papers is soy based, and non-toxic to birds. Even the black and white inks that aren't soy based are safe, as the dangerous chemicals are burned off during printing.
Most pet stores will tell you anything to make a sale, if you bring up concerns about the above beddings being dangerous, they'll laugh it off and say you're "being paranoid" or that you "fell victim to a rumor". Most pet shops also use corncob bedding with their birds. There have been cases of birds dying from BOTH kinds of bedding. It's best not to even risk the little guy's life.
Most bedding, even bedding "for birds", is dangerous to birds.
Pine or aspen shavings, Carefresh, or Ecofresh CAN be used, but I'd still recommend newspaper or paper towels.
Another great reason to use newspaper is it allows you to clearly see your birds poop. I know that sounds gross, but changes in the color and/or consistency of your bird's poop can be some of the first indicators of illness, and the sooner you notice it, the sooner you can get treatment. It could save your bird's life.
- Toys! Birds need toys! I find it very upsetting to see birds in pet stores or in homes with no toys. Birds are NOT happy just sitting on a perch all day. When you're buying toys, be sure you buy toys that are made from materials that aren't easily broken. Avoid toys with "jingle bell" type bells too, as toes and beaks can get caught in those. I get most of my toys from Bird Safe Toys, Smart Bird Toys, and America's Birdstore. All three places also have kits for you to make your own toys, and there are many other sites out there with information on building your own toys, or to purchace toys. You can buy toys from a pet store too, but sometimes you can get better toys for a better price either by shopping online or making them yourself.
Some ideas for toys(not suprisingly, these were posted to the upatsix.com boards): good, cheap toys-put a role of paper adding machine tape on top of the cage, and pull the end in.
steal a handful of paper wrapped straws from mc donalds, and tie them together with sisal twine (ok, you can buy them at sam's club or a restaurant supply store) the little single serving boxes of healthy cereal are fun to shred and eat. This tip was aimed at big birds, but a budgie army could also successfully attack these. punch a hole to get them started.
if you give toilet paper or towel cores, stuff them first. wrap human grade peanuts in paper, and pack them tight.
Popsicle sticks from craft stores also make good toys, as do blank, white, index cards or plain white paper towels woven into the cage bars(chewers really like this!)
- Rope toys can be safe if you keep a close eye on them, trim all loose threads and replace them when they become too worn. Trimming loose threads is essential! Toenails can easily become caught on a loose thread. Should this happen when nobody is around your bird could be seriously injured or die.
- Beware of happy hut type things. There have been many cases of birds accidently strangling to death with such products. More info about this, and other dangerous products, can be found here