Monday, May 12, 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.

Buy the biggest bird cage you can afford. The most common mistake when buying a bird cage is choosing one that is too small. Buy the biggest cage you can afford for the comfort and health of your birds. There are minimum cage size requirements for different bird species and if you want to keep multiple birds the cage size must be proportionately larger.

Not only the size of the bird cage, but the bar spacing and thickness of the cage are also vital for the safety of your birds. If the bar spacing is too large, the birds can either escape or even get their heads stuck between the bars. On the other hand, if the spacing is too small, the birds can get their feet, beak and wings injured in the process. The thickness of the cage is also extremely important in this regard. Small birds would do fine in thin gauged-wire cages while larger birds would definitely need large and stronger gauged- wire for their safety. This would prevent the wire from being bent or broken because of the weight of the bird.

Buying a bird cage of the correct shape is significant for the health of your birds. Round cages should be avoided in general as this can cause disorientation and psychological disorders in some birds. Rectangular cages are ideal and, for most birds, width is more important than height. This is particularly true for smaller birds such as parakeets, finches and canaries as they tend to fly from side to side in the cage allowing them to exercise.

For the shape of a cage, it is usually a good idea to stay away from a round case as it can end up leading to psychological disorders or even disorientation for some species. If you have to compromise, you need to make sure that you have width over height, especially because some birds such as canaries and finches like to be able to fly side to side so they can exercise in their cage.

Safety is the most important factor to consider when purchasing a cage for your feathered friends. Sharp corners and edges in the cage and materials like plastic and paint could easily affect the health of your birds. So, watch out for these factors when purchasing a bird cage.

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.

In general you get what you pay for when buying bird cages, so expect cheap bird cages not to last as long as a more expensive one. However there are some web stores where you can find excellent quality bird cages for sale at low prices. Keep these points in mind when you are buying a bird cage and you can enjoy the pleasure of your birds in the knowledge that you have provided a comfortable, secure and safe environment to live.




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