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Hi folks,

I am looking into buying a new cage for my lovie and think I have found a few that may be good options. I was checking out Kings Cages website and noticed they had an economy line for small birds and there are a couple of cages that may just do the trick. Has anyone purchased a small bird cage from the economy line before or knows of anyone that has. If so could you let me know what they are like?

My lovie in a perch potato and most of the time just sits there and looks rather pathetic (attention seeking). She is usually out of the cage for 4+ hrs per day and gets her exercise then so I don’t need a huge cage.

Her currant cage is 19x18x30+, she rarely uses the bottom half of her cage. I would prefer a wider and shorter cage that will knock down for ease of cleaning b/c I am in a condo. I would like to stay away from ebay and other like sites b/c you never really know if the powder coating truly is safe and free from lead and or zinc.

I wish I could say money was no object but…she will have to wait for her stainless steel avian palace.

I would also, appreciate any other recomendations for cages. I was looking into a Hagen cage but would prefer to stay away from them b/c of ethical reasons, same goes for Petco and Petsmart.

Any input is very much appreciated!!!

Yvonne

Well, I emailed Kings Cages along time ago wondering what the difference was b/w the economic and the european. They said the original lines are made in europe, with welded bars and no water can get into the bars. However, the economic (if I remember right) are made in China, and have some drilled bars and water can get into the bars and rust it from the inside out.

Perhaps look into a breeder type cage because some of them have the longer width than height, but I got an Avian adventures cage and the other cages I've seen can't compare, they are so well made and the powder coat is great and strong. good luck:)

Here is my lovie's cage.......http://www.petco.com/product/100285/Pre ... -Cage.aspx The cage is nice as it's lenghtwise and you can hang more toys and things----easy to clean, although the bottom grate does not come out.....everything just seems to come right off of it easily. This cage is cheap and I had emailed them about the coating being safe and they said it's american made, not china. My lovie does good with this cage, although he's out most of the time! Also it's flat top allows you to put a playgym up there. Only downside to this cage is that the front door opens up in a strange way that it slides up and out and sticks out and can't be left open like that because a bird could injure himself if he ever got the door to slide down and close, so what I do is just keep the smaller door open and that works just fine. Here is an ealier pic I had of Pip's cage...he's got a boing in there now and a couple more toys!
http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l134/ ... pip002.jpg

I would be careful with that cage MTW. It is made for Finches as a flight/breeding cage. The bars are not very sturdy if any parrot type bird (tiels and lovies included) decided to chew the wires. They could break.

I applaud your desire to find a cage shaped more like Mytielwoody's. Really too bad they are so hard to find, but easier for small birds than larger ones. I don't know which of Kings' you're considering, but I feel certain a Kings' cage, even the Economy ones, will give you good quality. Did some searching on the Prevue flight and it seems to be sold only by Petco, which I also have boycotted for many years.

When you find one you like, you might be surprised that your lovie becomes more active. Behaviorists say that a primary reason for "perch potatoes" is undersized caging. The bird feels crowded and just sits to take up as little space as possible. Since yours is out only about 4 hrs daily, I hope you'll buy a cage that's considerably larger in length and width.

I kept all my cockatiels, lovebirds, parrotlets etc in those 30x18x18 cages (of course, mine were YML not Prevue) for years when I was breeding, they aren't going to break the bars. I would be really impressed if they did. YML actually markets them as cockatiel cages, and every breeder I have ever visited, aside from one, used those exact same cages. It's not some flexible wiring; it is hard metal. Now, a larger parrot like a severe macaw or African Grey could probably eventually break them.. but as the cage is not made for that size of bird, I wouldn't worry about it.