Saturday, May 10, 2014

What To Look For When Buying A Bird Cage

By Almer Howard


You really need to know what you are looking for when buying bird cages. It is an extremely important purchase for the well-being of your birds. The bird cage will be home for the majority of your bird's life, so a cage should be a secure and safe place for birds, as well as a comfortable place to play and rest.

Many people tend to make the mistake of choosing a bird cage that is too small when they become a bird owner. The best thing to do is try and purchase the largest cage that you can depending on the budget that you have to work with. Depending on the bird species that you choose, you are going to find that there are generally minimum cage requirements that you can go buy before you spend the money. If you are planning on keeping multiple birds in the same cage, you will obviously need to make sure that you go as large as possible for ultimate health and comfort for your feathered friends.

Another common mistake that people will make when purchasing a bird cage is not properly measuring the distance between the bars. If the spacing is too wide between the bars, you are leaving it open to your bird escaping. In addition to that, you can sometimes have a bird who will end up injuring their beak, feet, wings or even get their head caught in between the bars.

The bird cage that you plan to buy should be of correct shape. This is extremely important to safeguard the health of your birds. Round cages could cause psychological disorders and disorientation among some birds, and they should be avoided as much as possible. Rectangular cages are ideal for most of the bird species and width is much more important than the height of the cage. Small birds such as finches, canaries and parakeets tend to fly from side to side in the cage in order to exercise, and a cage with a broader width would be perfect for such species.

Hygiene of the birds must also be an important factor when selecting a bird cage for your feathered friends. The bird cage should have easy access for cleaning, ideally because birds are messy creatures. So choose a cage where your hand can easily reach into each corner. Bird cages with wider doors as well as the ones having trays that can be readily removed are the best options.

Of course, hygiene will play a major role in the selection of a bird cage. You need to be sure that you have easy access to clean the cage and an area in which you can reach your hand into any corner to maneuver items such as toys and perches.

Cages should be manufactured from stainless wire or finished with non-toxic pant and oven-baked to create a tough finish. Plastic coated wire is not recommended. Soft or brittle plastics can be easily broken and ingested by birds. If the cage wires are welded together, these should be strong enough to prevent breakage by a bird and any cut edges should be smoothed and well finished to avoid injury.

Overall, you will see that the right amount of research will give you the absolute best way to pick out a cage that is going to suit both the needs of your bird as well as whatever budget you may have in place. Once your bird is all set up inside their new cage, you will be able to enjoy them for a long time. When all is said and done, you are going to be glad that you took the time to research all of your options.




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