First-timer cage for budgie, reviews appreciated!

[Pudgerigar]

Alright so let me know what y'all think of my very first baby Bonnie's first cage setup. She's a newly weaned and fledged standard budgie, coming home Tuesday. Do I need anything? Should I move anything? Got a recommendation against something?
List of items shown here:
Large Vision cage with small bar spacing
Several food cups for different food types
Water silo
Ladder from cage wire to floor
Two natural wood perches at opposite angles, one placed beneath toys for access
Shred toy
"Bulletproof" plastic lattice ball clacker toy
Paper straw/bead toy
Bulletproof foraging cup (the purple on the right)
Snuggle tent
Wooden corner shelf for chillin' or sleeping
Cuttlebone and perched holder
Treat clip for veggies or millet or the like (brown thing by the door, I have several more).
I have more toys for cycling out as well as a play gym tree/tray hanging from a stand on the opposite side of the room (she'll be flighted).

 

[RavensGryf]

Oh that looks wonderful! Your new little budgie girl is going to love it!

I like those Vision cages. They look sturdy and well made, and they're good looking cages. The first time I saw one in person, I thought it was strange that it has no bottom tray to pull out, you lift off the cage from the base.

Watch that the snuggle hut doesn't get loose strings from wear or being chewed on. It's good to inspect it periodically. Loose threads can constrict and cut tiny legs and toes.

 

[Pudgerigar]

Thank you!!! I've posted in a Facebook group as well and it's so lovely to hear that I've done so well my first try, very reassuring. I'm a perfectionist and have been researching since before Bonnie even hatched!

The snuggle hut was a point brought up by two others as well, so I'll be sure to keep an eye on it. Seems there's a 50/50 chance whether she'll even care for it, which is what the corner shelf is for if not.

I started off with a prevue cage, before I realized EVERYTHING needs freakin' horizontal bars! I love the clean space-agey look of the vision, and it's so much bigger! As the person who put it together, it IS very sturdy but uncomplicated, and very well made. This one was only $80!

 

[MonicaMc]

With male budgies, huts often become "humpy huts". With female budgies, they view it as a nest... so not recommended.

Not a good idea to place perches above dishes. Birds are very good at getting their dishes dirty!



Only things I can think of would be more chewable toys (i.e. balsa, yucca, craft sticks...) and maybe some foot toys or thick plastic cat balls! (not thin plastic ones...).

I would highly recommend staying away from mirrors!



Other than that, looks great!

 

[Pudgerigar]

You can't see it terribly well, but the vision cage has shields over the food cups (the only one under a perch), which was neat.

Lollll I cackled at "humpy hut"! I haven't gotten her dna sexed yet, but next week we'll know. Mostly I'm using it because we're having a cold snap and since she's hand raised she's more of a snuggler than the average bird, she's used to being handled with blankets and such.

I'll grab more chewy type toys! And her shop has some good thick cat balls, I'll snag a couple of those, too. I've heard about the woes of mirrors, none of those! Thank you so much!

 

[MonicaMc]

Sounds great, then!


I used to have a flock of budgies. I had a hut, don't remember where I got it from... could have gotten it with one of the rehomes? Either way, had a male budgie and 4 females. Although he had a mate, they were never sexually active. Well, he used the hut for his satisfaction!

Which is kind of sad, because before the girls were here, I had another male budgie (older guy) and both of them were rather frisky! But neither one wanted bottom position, so they never got any action! (hence getting two females, and they paired up with the girls.... still didn't get any action! LOL). Some time after the older guy passed on (probably from testicular cancer), I was given two more "males"... turns out, they were both females! So had the poor lone male who couldn't get any action from the ladies! What else was he to do? LOL


There's actually a video on Youtube of a male budgie trying to use a tennis ball for the same purpose! It's sad, but also kind of hilarious!



I don't currently have any budgies, but I do miss the charming little brats!

 

[RavensGryf]

Monica is right, now that I look again .

Perches and swings do need to be strategically placed, and consider what is below.

I have never given any bird a happy hut personally. I especially have taken care to not put anything that can be perceived as a nest in the budgie cage since I got Mink (female). Her cere just turned brown (mature) and knock on wood, but no problems.

I agree your girl would love more chew toys - mine LOVE soft yucca and balsa wood, and wicker toys.

 

[Pudgerigar]

Ha! I'm at a friend gathering and the whole room got a kick out of that! Budges are such natural little clowns, it seems!

 

[Pudgerigar]

Sounds like a plan. I'll see if she cares to sleep in the hut, and probably only offer it if it's cold enough to not trust the a/c to heat us. If she doesn't, I'll retire it.

More chewy things, got it, probably one or two more hanging one and three or four loose foot toys over that football field of a floor.

Now to resist being the budgie helicopter mom (10 hours of waking alone time in the house is half the reason I decided I was ready to own a bird, lol).