The Cage

A budgie's cage is its castle, its home, its secure little den. Keeping a budgie in an adequate cage is not cruel; they feel safe and secure there. Nonetheless, the budgie's owner is responsible for making sure that the cage fills all of the bird's needs.

At the very, very least, a single budgie should be kept in a cage that is about 12" wide x 8" long x 16" high. If you have more budgies, you must have a bigger cage. The bars should be no more than 1/2" apart. They should be made of non-toxic metal, not wood or cane, as a budgie can -- and will -- easily chew through non-metal bars. The door must be large enough for the owner to access the inside of the cage easily.

Newspaper must be placed on the bottom of the cage to catch droppings, and should be changed daily. Some cages have a sliding drawer in the bottom for newspaper, covered by a grating to let droppings fall through. This design is probably the most convenient.

Perches should not crowd the cage. There should be perches of different sizes in the cage to exercise your bird's feet. There should be two or three perches, including the optional swing, in a cage this small. If possible, not all the perches should run the same direction; this also provides exercise for the bird. Never use sandpaper covers for perches because these can hurt the bird's feet.

Toys should likewise not crowd the cage. Provide at least one or two, and change the toys once a week to prevent boredom. (You can rotate two sets of toys if you like.) All toys should be bird-safe. Also provide a mineral block and cuttlebone.

The bigger a cage is, the better! A budgie can "get by" in the minimum sized cage, but it won't be as happy as it would be if it had plenty of room. An ideal cage will have plenty of room for your bird to fly (this type of cage is called, of course, a flight cage). The best choice, if your budget allows, is a full-sized aviary. Of course, with an aviary, you can keep a fairly large number of budgies.

The ideal shape for a cage is not often found in pet stores. Bars should be horizontal, not vertical, so the bird can climb on them. Horizontal bars are also useful for hanging things like treat cups. Budgies like height, but the cage should ideally be long as well. The top should ideally be flat, which allows you to place objects such as play gyms on top.

A large cage should have more than one door, preferably including one near the top of the cage. This is because your birds will tend to "gravitate" upwards when you disturb the cage, and if you need to catch them for some reason, it will be much easier if they're level with the door!

If possible, use perches made of natural wood. The rough bark will help keep your bird's nails trim without hurting the feet like sandpaper would, and the varying width will provide exercise and stimulation to yur bird's feet. Always make sure the wood is non-toxic first, as your budgies will chew it. Fruit trees are all non-toxic.

A budgie should not be kept in the cage all the time, especially if it's a small cage. Let it come out sometimes. In fact, it's fine if your bird only goes in the cage to sleep, as long as it's supervised when it's outside. Always make sure that there are no dangers to your budgie when it's out of the cage. Budgie dangers include open windows, hot stoves, fans, other pets, children, feet that could step on a bird, open toilets, mirrors (they may fly into them), and halogen lamps. You can reduce the threat of many of these dangers by keeping your bird's wings clipped, but if you clip them, remember that the bird's ability to escape from dangers such as other pets will be compromised.