GCC cage? taller or wider?

[Takaaaa]

Greetings,
I was wondering if a taller cage is better than a wide but less tall cage?
I'm looking at buying a 18x18x57 cage. I know the length and width is a bit small. If I could have it my way, I would buy a 22"+, but 90% of parrot cages cant be shipped to my location...
Since the GCC is on the smaller size, and the cage is tall, will it be ok? of course the bar size and spacing is good.

 

[witchbaby]

I think width is more important because some birds won't take advantage of the whole length and will mainly use the top half of the cage. 18x18 is too small, in my opinion. GCCs may be smaller, but they're very active and need a lot of space to move around. How often will your conure get out-of-cage time? Have you considered a flight cage? There are quite a few on amazon.com if they ship to your area.

 

[Takaaaa]

I think width is more important because some birds won't take advantage of the whole length and will mainly use the top half of the cage. 18x18 is too small, in my opinion. GCCs may be smaller, but they're very active and need a lot of space to move around. How often will your conure get out-of-cage time? Have you considered a flight cage? There are quite a few on amazon.com if they ship to your area.

Yeah I think it grazes bare minimum size for GCCs, most days he spends 5-10hours out of the cage.
Yeah I was looking at flight cages as well. But I would like a cage with a built in play top, since he spends most time outside. But his comfort is most important, and if it comes down to it, I'll look into shipping costs for flight cages.
I have seen some people on here with GCC and even Suns with the 18x18 cage. and was wondering how they like it and how they have it set up?

 

[Skye]

I agree with witchbaby that width is more important. When I first got Lola I had a cage that was taller than it was wide and I instantly regretted it because it was hard to provide her enough room to live while also putting in toys to entertain her for when she was inside it. 18 inches is really small when you think about incorporating perches, toys and food bowls. The cage I originally had was 22 inches and even that was too small, granted Lola is a Jenday so she is a few inches bigger than GCCs. But even with that said, I would recommend a bigger cage for your new baby

 

[veimar]

I have 18x18x56 cage and it's perfectly fine for my gcc. Although he spends most of the day out of cage he loves the cage and chilling there. The only thing is that he rarely goes to the bottom of the cage (only if I put a food dish there), so wider would be definitely better for him to move around. If you don't have another choice it should be okay - just let him out a lot. Did you try used ones on craigslist? I got mine on CL for 1/5 of the price, but that was the only one I could afford at that time.

 

[MonicaMc]

Since birds fly horizontally, not vertically..... I think it makes more since to get a wider cage.

Personally, I hate the 22 x 22 or smaller cages! I think they are too small for the birds they are meant to house, even too small for budgies and finches! I definitely recommend a flight cage!




Although flight cages don't typically come with stands on top of their cages, you can always buy/build one for the top of the cage!

http://www.discountparrotsupplies.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/sonnylouiedoubleflight1.jpg
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/jodeg/000_1402.jpg
http://forums.petlovers.com/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=8445&d=1255448043
http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/jodeg/000_1403.jpg




And if you have the space for it, you might want to try contacting the Petco's in Hawaii (I don't know what island you are on) and seeing if they have this cage in stock and if they can ship one to you?


Petco Designer Mink Brown Standing Parrot Cage - Parrot Play Top Bird Cage from petco.com

 

[witchbaby]

I think width is more important because some birds won't take advantage of the whole length and will mainly use the top half of the cage. 18x18 is too small, in my opinion. GCCs may be smaller, but they're very active and need a lot of space to move around. How often will your conure get out-of-cage time? Have you considered a flight cage? There are quite a few on amazon.com if they ship to your area.

Yeah I think it grazes bare minimum size for GCCs, most days he spends 5-10hours out of the cage.
Yeah I was looking at flight cages as well. But I would like a cage with a built in play top, since he spends most time outside. But his comfort is most important, and if it comes down to it, I'll look into shipping costs for flight cages.
I have seen some people on here with GCC and even Suns with the 18x18 cage. and was wondering how they like it and how they have it set up?

You might be able to get away with 18x18 if it was going to be used only as a sleep cage, but if the bird spends any time in the cage during the day at all, try to find something bigger. Like Monica said, it's pretty easy to create your own play area on top of the flight cage.

 

[KiwiPlusUs1025]

My GCC's cage is 22"x17"x55". There is plenty of room for her to move around and I put a bunch of toys and perches for her. I made a thread with videos of her setup and everything, I also have an album on my "page" here of her cage setup. If your interested I really love the cage.

 

[Dinosrawr]

Having personally used an 18x18x22, I can honestly say I'll never go back to that size. Because I am busy, I can't always let Avery out of her cage for more than 3 hours. When I am home she's out all day, but when I'm gone I like knowing she has the room to move around, enjoying plenty of different toys, and hop/fly to different branches.

The cage I currently have isn't as large as I wish, but it's 27 x 22 x 58. She LOVES her cage! It has so many toys, perches, and ways for her to fly/crawl around and even if I leave the door wide open, she will prefer to be in there. She wasn't keen on staying in her small cage.

Like Monica said, having a wide cage is far better than a narrow cage. Anytime you can go wide, do it I can only imagine how difficult it is to get a cage in your location. You'll find that even if you have a play top, your birds may or may not care for it being naturally built into the cage. It's really more of our preference. Building it for them is just as effective and the best part is you can always change it up to make it exciting for them! I have a a cat tree I'm working into a bird stand and while it's a crazy work in progress, Avery really loves being on it and I can change it up as I please. I currently have a cage with a play top for my future fid, and I put Avery on it to see how she likes it. She ended up just crawling down and wanting to fly to the cat tree instead, haha!

And Monica, I LOVE your bird room! Please come decorate one for me!

 

[MonicaMc]

LOL! Not my pics! Jayde does have a cage-top stand designed specifically for attaching to the top of the cage. So far, she doesn't care for it!

 

[riddick07]

I would never put any of my birds in an 18 by 18 not even my tiny gcc that is barely bigger then my mothers budgie. My gccs live together in a 36 wide by 22 depth by 24 high. They used to each have their own 36 by 22 by 24 but my male wanted to be with my female and neither were overly active so I put them together. I would still never go smaller then a 30 wide for my conures even with my relatively lazy gccs.

This is their cage. It's setup a little differently now since there are two. More perches and less random toys since neither are huge toy lovers.


My suns cage is a bit taller a 30 by 24 by 26. He likes to go up and down slightly more then my gccs. I've looked into a 40 by 30 by 31 for him but the bar spacing put me off for now.

I would say if he gets out A LOT then a smaller cage is okay but thats what my mother said for her cockatoo Ivory... she will be inheriting Maxs 40 by 30 cage because even though she goes in there very little and is hardly ever locked up she likes to bounce and swing around like a hyper kid which she can't do in her cage right now but can in Maxs cage. I would go 22 by 22 at the min if he is getting out all the time and is hardly locked up but you might find that he would like bigger at some point.

 

[JordanWalker]

I have a wide less tall cage for most of my birds since they will just use the half part and they get out of the cage most of the time. They really love to play outside than inside their cage.

 

[Flboy]

Wider is better! Since most cages are modular, perhaps assemble one out of two? I saw a beautiful domed cage that had a side extension, doubling it's width!

 

[Flboy]

Also, there is a moderator here that also loves on the island, may be able to point you in the right direction!