Bar spacing for Alexes

[Betrisher]

Can anyone please advise me what's the best bar spacing for Alexes? Is an inch too big, d'you think? Grateful for any advice!

 

[MikeyTN]

I would go with 3/4" or less bar spacing so cages such as Cockatiels are fine for them to have.

 

[Bundiibird]

Just measured Bundii's cages and they are both 3/4". She has no problems with this.

 

[Betrisher]

Thing is, I got this you-beaut-mega-fantastic new cage (spent me absolutely last penny on it) and just today realised how big the spacing looks. Its an inch. What if it's too big??? My husband will strongly encourage *me* to move into the big cage if I can't put the Beaks in it! Aaarrrggghhh! Ever get an awful sinking feeling that you've made a huge mistake?

Can anyone out there reassure me that an inch isn't too big for Alexes? Please?

 

[weco]

If you have more than one Alex, measure the smallest one's feet.....you want to measure the two outside toes on either or each foot, these will be the longest toes.....measure from toenail to toenail, where the nail meets the toe.....if this dimension is 1 inch or greater, your bird(s) will have no problem(s) with the 1" bar spacing.....

 

[tab_xo]

Thing is, I got this you-beaut-mega-fantastic new cage (spent me absolutely last penny on it) and just today realised how big the spacing looks. Its an inch. What if it's too big??? My husband will strongly encourage *me* to move into the big cage if I can't put the Beaks in it! Aaarrrggghhh! Ever get an awful sinking feeling that you've made a huge mistake?

Can anyone out there reassure me that an inch isn't too big for Alexes? Please?

Trish didn't you get the big corner cage?!? :O Or did you get a different one?

If so, its only 1.7cm, which means 0.66 inches i believe

 

[Betrisher]

No, I got the mega maxiest big one I could find. Which is this one:

Dual Large PET Bird Parrot Cockatoo Cage Aviary U | eBay

All I saw was the size. Didn't think about bar spacing until just this morning. !!!

 

[MonicaMc]

Although not recommended, I've seen sun conures housed in those cages!!!

If alex's are around 300 grams or more, I think they'll do fine in the cage! Especially with their big honking beaks!

I had Charlie, my mitred, in a cage with 1" bar spacing and at best he could only stick his head in-between the bars as far as the point where his beak and eyes meet, and no further. So, considering the size of an alex, I'd assume that they'd probably be ok!



You'll have to get it set up and stick them right on in to see!

 

[MikeyTN]

I'm with Monica there, just put him in there and observe! I've seen people putting a Cockatiel in a 1" spacing cage and they do just fine without any issues.

 

[Betrisher]

Hm. My Alexes weigh 250gms each. Worry! Of course they do have their 'honking great beaks' and largish heads. It's the heads I'm worried about. I've measured Madge's feet and they're a hair less than 1.5". Sadly, I can't just stick 'em in the new cage because I've got no way of getting them out again safely. It's outdoors. DH is going to drill a hole in the house and make a hatchway in the kitchen wall. It will connect directly to the cage outside so the Beaks can come and go into the house without ever having to be removed through the cage doors.

Sometimes, I do worry that I'm trying to be far too clever for my own good...

Thanks for the replies. I'm truly beside myself over this!

PS. Monica, dear: they're not exactly 'honking great beaks': they're just - generously proportioned...

 

[MikeyTN]

Ohhhh, it's an outside cage...Then I wouldn't do it! You don't want to chance it while it's outside. That's understandable!

 

[MonicaMc]

Compared to a conures beak, they are pretty big! I would have said nose, but it's really a beak!

I had a friend who's father owned an alex, and he was pretty big! I don't know what the bar spacing of the cage was that he lived in, but compared to conures, they really do have big bones! And it's because of that that I wouldn't worry. (apparently, they almost gave this bird to me before deciding otherwise and I wasn't even aware)


Guess you need to go out and measure any spaces that may appear larger than 1"???? And since this cage will be outside..... will it be secured in some way so it can't be opened/moved for safety reasons?

 

[Betrisher]

Yeah, the cage will be locked and bolted and basically glued to the house so that man or beast can't get in. Or, hopefully, out. We live in what I'd judiciously call 'a dodgy neighborhood', so it's always necessary to batten things down well. The more I think about it, the more I don't think the Beaks could possibly stick their dear little green heads out. Maybe Madge might try (she's already learned to open the current cage), but as you say, her head's too big to fit all the way through. It's not so much escape I'm worried about, but accidents (especially after poor Num Num's recent trouble).

I just realised, the cage includes a divider which allows it to be separated into two apartments. I might bring that inside and see how the Beaks measure up to it: it has the same spacing as the larger cage. That way, I'll have a better idea before I commit the birds to their outdoor life.

Gee! If the new cage is not suitable, I'll just have to get a Macaw or two to fill it up, won't I? Poor hubby will go spare! Then again... can't afford a Macaw... might have to get a couple of chooks instead...

 

[MikeyTN]

I worry about my animals every time when we leave for work. I don't live in the best of neighborhoods but at least I have good neighbors that watches things for me. But you just never know, so we had an alarm system installed just in case. I don't flaunt my birds here cause I know someone will try to break in IF I bring them outside for everyone to see.

 

[Betrisher]

I hadn't thought of an alarm system! Thanks for that idea, Mikey!

Our dog, Miss Alice, is a Bull Terrier and for sixteen years she's kept intruders out very nicely. Ours is the only house in our street that's never been burgled (touch wood). Now, she's a very old lady and I don't expect her to guard any more. We have high fences and nasty prickly shrubs all round (Grevillea rosmarinifolia - great deterrent - scratches like *mad*). As you say, the birds will not be 'flaunted', but rather kept in our ODLA (OutDoorLivingArea), which is fenced off and not visible from anywhere.

This morning, I tried out the cage divider with the Beaks. Miss Houdini couldn't get her head through the bars, so I'm hugely relieved about that! I've been over the cage with a microscope and can't find any gaps larger than that. I have an acre of old canvas and plan to make a zip-on-zip-off cover for the cage. In the meantime, I just have to wait for my Entish hubby to get all the other stuff in place for the move. It could take months! Sigh.

PS. Anyone who's seen 'Lord of the Rings' will know that Ents are the huge tree-people who move ve-ee-e-ee-ery slo-oo-o-o-oowly. I expect my hubby to grow branches any day now...

 

[weco]

Trish, sounds like you're getting things worked out, so I'm going to ask something you may not have considered. Not being from OZ, I'm not familiar with the primary locations of your resident slithering reptiles, but I know of people keeping birds in outdoor cages who have killed brown snakes inside of cages (before they got the birds) and others who have trouble with pythons entering houses through vents (both inside and outside vents) because they smell possums in the attic.....

Snakes are like mice & rats, if they can get their heads into caging, they can get their bodies in, but if they feed while in the cage, you'll find them before they can escape.....

 

[Betrisher]

Now isn't that weird? Weco, just this morning, my son was commenting about it coming on snake season! We live about a block away from 1,000 acres of swamp meadow, therefore we're always getting this or that snake or lizard visiting. I LOVE it! We had a Red Bellied Black Snake (name of Snidely) living under our house for about five years. During that time, we had no mice in the house and only saw Snidely in the yard twice.

Once (was rather unfortunate), my husband and I went to lift a plank and there was Snidely, hibernatin' away, all curled up in a neat little coil. Poor hubby nearly had a coronary, on account of, he had a dreadful phobia for snakes. Since then, though, I've been teaching him and he's a lot better. Anyway, Snidely never went for the Lovebirds. Mind you, our dog is not fond of snakes and will kill them given the chance. We've never had a Brown Snake that we've known about, although we're well and truly within their range. I wouldn't twiddle with one of those, but call in a specialist to remove it. There are a few other poisonous snakes that live in our area and which we see from time to time, but most of them are small, like the Pale-lipped Snake or Striped Marsh Snake. They live on small insects and reptiles, although they can make you pretty sick if they bite you. If you'd like to read my boring stories about reptiles, go here :

Trish's Boring Stories

and read the eighth, eleventh and twelfth stories.

 

[weco]

I just started reading & when I remembered you'd said to read certain ones, I wasn't going back to count then.....once I realized you'd neglected to affix any sort of numbering identity...but after an hour, I figured I'd made it past the funniest ones, but marveled at the number of toe stubbings one person could get through relatively unscathed.....will finish the rest with breakfast.....

Good reading.....

 

[Betrisher]

Yeah, sorry about that. They were just posts collected from a needlework group I belonged to. One of these days I must put them in order somewhere...