Our new Pineapple Conure parrot is arriving shortly! What cage to buy?

andy5898

Regular Member
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Ok, we have been looking for ages and finally found a Pineapple Conure which isn't a million miles and has been hand reared and should fit in with our family which is my wife Sarah and me Andy and our 2 kids aged 7 and 5. Plus rabbits, cats, guinea pigs, chickens and a hamster. We've looked at all sorts and decided for the conure as they are smaller, a little bit quieter and can bond with the whole family rather than just one of us, we liked a Senegal Parrot but we weren't happy that they may just bond with one person and then get stressed by the kids etc.
So we are going off to see him on Friday and going to put a deposit down to bring him a home a week on Saturday. So we've been reading lots of books etc and getting everything ready for him.
What we are looking for is some advise on the cage, we know he will need to be out of his cage so he is sociable etc. I just wondered though what sort of cage would people recommend and size should we get? Until now we've never got a cage as we saw no point in buying one until we'd found a parrot so we didn't have to buy a different cage if we got a different parrot etc.
 
Hello and welcome, sound like you have a bit of a zoo going on in your house, ok let look at your other pets, of course cats and birds are not a good combination together so keeping them apart is always best, hygiene between any of the rodent family and your bird is also a must keeping the birds feed safely contained away from your fury friends safely, Many of the green cheek family can go through a nippy stage as they are growing up, the pineapple I have found to be the lees nippier. cage size, I have a few conures and found they are more comfortable in a cage that dose not go fully to the floor (I let my birds chose there cage) so nothing to big but allows toys in it with at least three feeding bowls, four is better as I would provide two water bowls as they love to bath in them or make pea soup, look for a good quality cage that may be on a stand, there are on line places like Scarlett's parrot essential's and garden feathers you will find on the net. have a look and if you think you have found on that is fine, coppy the link so we all can help advise if it is suitable.
 
I have had a few cages over the years and I would definitely recommend a recognised good make with good quality powder coating, not a cheap Ebay copy that with flake and rust in 12months, three bowls is good and I personally like the ones with a opening top.
 
I prefer the ones with a perch on top and maybe a bowl for little treats, if you do get one that opens at the top you must make sure it is safe and cannot close on you bird, this can easily be achieved buy chaining it back or putting a perch across that is tight and in good condition, you can make up one from a branch of an apple tree.
 
One of our members bought an excellent cage for her conure and a lot of others ended up buying it too there after its large and roomy with a lovely wide door on it, have seen them myself as Bob bought one.
for the life of me can't remember the name of the site it was from... wll have to have a nosy around
@Stinkie
 
Found it! Its this cage https://www.littlepetwarehouse.co.uk/products/hamberley-single-metal-large-cage.html
the site often does voucher codes on line as well so you can often get more discount.
Stinkie has her conure in this and so does Bob have heard nothing but good reviews about the cage but you would need to purchase feed bowls to go inside but that's no great shakes and does mean you can put them wherever you wish.
 
That is excellent thanks. Think we will probably be buying the little pet warehouse cage. Plus it comes with a stand and is on wheels. As when we go away our parrot (Captain Trev as he will be known forthwith) will be going to stay at our friends as can't have him getting lonely and the pet sitter only comes in twice a day. Next question can you recommend any perches to go with it and food bowls? Sorry to sound really new but the reality is we are, and I've found in the past its best to ask questions before buying stuff which is rubbish!
 
:welcome: You may find it best to use natural perches such as apple/willow/hazel in varying thickness, scrub well first and fix in with cable ties. Using natural perches exercises the feet better also gives the parrot something to chew, so have spares as they do get chewed up, which is good for the beak! Add parrot safe toys too. They love something to do.
Ask away usually one of us can advise best we can.
 
I am lucky as I live on a farm and if I need a perch I will just cut a branch off and fit it. along with most fruits and berries and even some nuts with the knowledge that no chemicals have been used on them and they are away from traffic pollution. there is a company that specialises in natural woods @DizzyBlue can you advise, do you have family or friends that have safe trees in there gardens that will allow you to cut the branches. there are posts on safe wood you can use with parrots
 
I use natural wood branches from my mum and stepdads willow tree or ther apple trees
but for things like nail trimming I buy from Northern Parrots website or have a nosy at what I want and then do a goggle search and buy from where its cheapest sometimes ebay sometime amazon sometimes from some of the lesser known pet stores on line or indeed places like The Range or Pets At Home
If I need a dowel perch which is rarer than hens teeth as they are not good for birdies feet then I pop to the local DIY store and buy a meter and cut off it what I require
I also make the natural branches into bolt on perches my self using threaded bar cut and hammer into end of branch and then two washers and a wing nut on the end to bolt into the cage
 
We have the Little Friends Hamberley cage for our budgies - the cage linked by DizzyBlue. The bar spacing on larger cages is often only suitable for larger birds, but the Hamberley is a large cage specifically designed for smaller birds i.e. the bar spacing is 10mm (I think), suitable for budgies and finches, love birds, etc.

The cage can be used separately from the stand if required. It is a heavy item though and would be difficult to move without the wheeled stand.

Also mentioned by DizzyBlue, the cage does not come with food/water bowls. You will have to add those. We use the bolt on, stainless steel type - birds can easily lift the hanging type, so I would recommend avoiding those. This cage does not have a top opener, but it does have a good sized front door. There are also some smaller hatches, which I guess could be used to swap bowls out, but we don't use them.

The Hamberley can be hard to find. It is a popular cage, so a lot of suppliers regularly go out of stock. We got ours from eBay and paid less than £90 incl delivery. For the size of the cage, it is quite a bargain, but the build quality is not as good as a RainForest or Liberta, in my opinion. It should still last for years, if looked after.
 
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