How to Buy a Bird Cage
This article will help you select and buy the very best bird cage for your feathered friend! Once you find that very special bird cage for your bird/parrot, you can view our article on “How to Buy a Bird Cage Online,” which walks you through how to select, find, and buy a bird cage on our e-commerce website. Don’t worry—it’s super easy to buy bird cages from our website!
Our homes reflect our personalities. We make them comfortable and safe and add appropriate amenities to ensure safety and health. Your bird’s home is best designed and outfitted to meet the same objectives.
Your bird's health and happiness depend on its cage size, function, quality and cleanliness. So, its cage should be large enough for comfort, free movement, and some wing spreading. Appropriately sized cage bars are essential for safety and security, and permit normal bird action like climbing, flying, and play. Room for uncrowded placement of toys and accessories (food dishes, water bowls, perches, and treat holders) is also important to your bird’s comfort and health. Free interaction with and use of these items also stimulates instincts and intelligence. Like us, birds don’t like to be crowded.
Yet, when selecting a bird cage many bird owners are unprepared and make inappropriate choices. The wide array of bird cage styles, sizes, colors, materials, and safety features, along with budget constraints can make wisely selecting the right bird cage a bit challenging. But, don’t risk making a bad decision by guessing. Bird cage buying decisions are much easier if you understand cage style differences, safety aspects of cage materials and finishes, and your bird’s activity levels and personality type. Ask a few questions and learn a few facts about your bird before buying the cage—you’ll both be better off.
Questions to consider, ask (of your bird cage retailer or via online query), and get answers to include:
- What is the bird-cage budget?
- What is your bird's species?
- How large is your bird?
- How many birds will be in the same cage?
- What activity and activity level is common for your bird?
- What safety features are appropriate?
- What toys and accessories are appropriate?
- What cage attributes are known to most comfortably house your bird, to make the bird feel right at home?
With these questions answered, the bird cage retailer can make solid, narrowed recommendations on cages that fit the beak, and your budget, which you can then consider along with your personalizing touches like style and color.
Five Issues Affecting Bird Cage Choice
The primary considerations relevant to wisely purchasing a bird cage are detailed below:1. Size (Bird Cage Dimensions and Bar Spacing)
Bird cage size is the most important factor in cage choice. Regardless of your bird’s species, various bird cage styles are available in a size suited to your particular bird. Cages that are too small for a bird restrict the bird’s movement, play, and exercise—which is cruel to the bird. The truth is no cage is too large for a bird, as long as the bars are appropriately spaced to prevent injury or escape (e.g., the bird’s head should not be able to become stuck between the bars).
At Bird Cages 4 Less, we offer excellent resources to guide you in selecting the best-sized cage for your bird.
- Our Bird Cages by Species feature has already done the research and carefully selected the most appropriate bird cages for each of the species based on size, bar spacing, styles, features etc. Just select your species (Parakeet, Conure, etc.) from the list and appropriately sized bird cage recommendations appear. This is a great resource to start with.
- Our Bird Cage Buying Guide helps you through the two most important considerations when shopping for a new bird cage—cage dimensions and bar spacing.
While the number of bird cage styles may seem overwhelming, style choice really boils down to several basic factors:
- Appropriate size.
- Safety and comfort for your bird. It should encourage your bird's natural instincts (such as to fly or climb).
- Features or accessories that make bird cage maintenance easy, thereby allowing you to spend more time with your bird.
Flight Bird Cages — Also known as Aviaries, these bird cages are large in either width or height to encourage your bird to move around. Finches, for example, tend to flit about from side to side, which makes width more important.
Dometop Bird Cages — As the name implies, these bird cages boast an expanded, curved top section as opposed to the traditional box shape. The extra interior space in these cages is great for active birds who like to climb or fly. It’s also an easy way to offer multiple birds a little more head room without sacrificing more floor space in your home.
Playtop Bird Cages — For active birds who spend large amounts of time outside of their home, these bird cages make an excellent choice. Many models even boast a detachable playtop that allows you to carry it into a different room and change your bird’s scenery. Plus, since the playtop matches the cage and sits on top of it when not in use, it provides a cage-coordinated playland that easily stores in the otherwise wasted space above your bird cage.
Classic Bird Cages — Whether short and squat or tall and long, these boxy bird cages are full of both function and style. Similar to flight cages, but more proportionate in overall size, there is a classic bird cage to comfortably suit most any bird, often at a more affordable price.
Corner Bird Cages — While we’re certain your bird never needs a time out, a corner bird cage may be just what you’re looking for. Do you have an empty corner to fill? Want to maximize your space, or are you just trying to make it all fit? A corner bird cage is the answer!
Aviaries (Inside and Outside Aviaries) — Looking to house multiple birds, or just want to give your feathered friends a larger, more natural environment? Our indoor aviaries are just what you need! Ever wished your birds could join you outdoors without fear from escape or danger from predators? Our outdoor aviaries are the answer!
Breeder Bird Cages — Breeding parrots takes plenty of dedication, patience, and love. Having the right breeding bird cage to start a new feathered family is absolutely essential
These basic bird-cage styles are available in many variations—some as quite elegant and packed with features. But, it’s always best to base your style selection first on your bird’s activities, needs, and personality. Once you’ve addressed those issues, other style choice options are easy.
3. Safety and Quality
Birds usually spend a lot of time by themselves, and tend to occupy that time by playing with (manipulating and messing with) various parts of the bird cage—they like to chew on latches and other exposed parts and pull on bars. Call it boredom or entertainment. The best bird cages today have a variety of important safety features that anticipate bird conduct, including:
Quality Construction — Birds can inflict significant damage to cages, even while just playing. Bird cages with welded designs will prevent injury or escape, but wood or plastic bird cages can be chewed clean through. Avoid antique bird cages—they usually have serious quality and safety limitations by today’s standards. They might have nice aesthetic appeal, but that’s not what works for your bird. Choose metal (wrought iron) or medical or surgical grade stainless steel for a strong “bird-proof” bird cage.
Bird Proof Latches/Locks — Three types of bird cage latches are available, and each is designed to prevent escape—by anticipating your bird's specific capabilities. Sliding doors use gravity to remain closed. Swing-out doors function with spring-loaded tension to remain closed. Hinged doors typically use a dead-bolt latch. Your job is to choose a closure mechanism your bird can’t manipulate. The more secure the latch the better. Bird cage laches can be supplemented with a cage lock. All of our bird cages feature bird-proof latches. It is very rare for birds housed in our cages to escape.
Access Doors — The size and utility of your bird cage’s access door is easy to overlook, but very important. Access doors affect your bird's willingness to enter or leave the cage. If you can’t reach your entire arm through most of the cage’s access doors you’ll have trouble reaching the bird and the bird will have trouble passing through the opening.
4. Additional Bird Cage Features
Beyond ensuring your cage style suits your bird's preferences and conduct, is the right size, and is secure, other features and accessories that can add convenience and improve function need your attention too. Just be sure that adding them doesn’t impair the bird cage’s integrity or safety.
Add-on features/conveniences include:
Large Access Doors — Many bird cages feature removable front panels or extra-large doors for easy cleaning and access. This can be a real time saver, especially for really big bird cages that can require disassembly for a thorough cleaning.
Accessible Feeder Doors — Because providing clean water and good food to your bird inside a cage can be frustrating, many bird cages provide a special door designed for mounting food and water crocks. These doors are small, lock, and swing open for convenient resupply and cleaning. Feeder doors allow you to care for your bird without risking escape.
Slide-Out Trays (remove litter) — Most of today’s bird cages feature a slide-out litter tray, but not all. Believe it or not, this highly important feature can be overlooked if you’re not paying attention. These trays make daily cleaning a snap, are important for hygiene, and allow you to leave your bird in the cage while cleaning. It’s something you don’t want to forget when shopping for a bird cage.
Seed Guards —These handy devices protect your home and furnishings from food particles dropped/scattered during normal eating. Some bird cages include built-in seed guards, others do not. If the bird cage you favor doesn’t have a seed guard, you can easily add one (they’re available in universal kits). While seed guards are effective, birds do have a knack for distance flinging of food—so the guard will get most, but not all, food scatter.
Included Accessories — Your bird cage will likely include a number of common starter accessories (e.g., food crocks, water dishes, and perches). However, you should carefully note whether these included accessories are best suited for your bird. For example, be sure that perches are of the right diameter for your bird to grasp properly and comfortably (smaller birds need smaller diameter perches). If your bird is larger, ensure the bird cage has chew-proof dishes (ceramic or stainless steel). If your cage is the right size for your bird, the included accessories are likely to be appropriate—but it’s up to you to be sure. It’s also up to you to complement the included accessories with additional climbing ladders, perches, toys, and nests to ensure the cage environment stimulates your bird’s activities, instincts, needs, and curiosity—and is able to happily enjoy the bird cage as a home.
5. Material (Metal or Stainless Steel)
Quality bird cages are either metal or stainless steel. Metal bird cages comprise over 90 percent of the market because of their affordability. Powder-coated metal bird cages are typically priced much lower than stainless steel bird cages (50% less). However stainless steel bird cages are stronger and much more durable than powder-coated metal bird cages—and usually well worth the price. If you want a bird cage that will last a lifetime, a stainless steel bird cage is for you. Read more about stainless steel bird cages.
Because Stainless Steel Bird Cages are a niche market, Bird Cages 4 Less offers a select, focused line of stainless steel bird cages for every bird species, whether for a Conure or an African Grey parrot.
If our bird cages do not specify “stainless steel” in the product name then they are metal bird cages. While most of our bird cages are metal cages, we offer a very strong stainless steel bird cage line that customers rave about!
To summarize:
Metal bird bird cages are much less expensive but lack longevity (eventually, you will need to replace it).
Stainless steel bird cages are more expensive, but last lifetime (you will never need to replace).
So that’s it! We hope after you read this article, you are equipped with all the knowledge you need to wisely buy a bird cage. Hopefully, you will buy that special bird cage from Bird Cages 4 Less!