Red Bellied old man needs a new cage...

[RavensGryf]

Robin has been used to his same cage since I got it for him 19 years ago. That is why I'm so apprehensive about changing it. It's not REAL dilapidated yet, but it does have definite signs of wear and tear. I'm at the point where I'm thinking about a new one. It's good quality and has lasted all those years. I can't get him the exact same thing because the company (California Cage Co.) which used to be popular, has since gone out of business
I suppose I could get a comparable style, size, color as close to the same thing as possible, BUT, I really would like to try a completely different style with different dimensions this time.

HERE'S THE PROBLEM (and my questions):
1) I know you guys will all tell me it's okay, he'll adjust to a different cage, etc. but still, I can't help feeling bad for Robin if I take away the same comfortable home which he loves and has always known for nearly two decades, and replace it with something a completely different style with different dimensions. The one I like is about the same size, only more rectangle and not as square-ish. Also different shape top. Have any of you had the experience of changing to an entirely different type of cage after many years, and how did the bird adjust?

2) ...and here's an even bigger concern of mine - not only a different STYLE cage, but one with different type of bars too. He is used to a standard size parrot cage bar 3mm (?) bar with 5/8" spacing I think it is. The cage I have my eye on (not dead set on, but I'm considering it) is powder coated like a parrot cage, yet it has thin bars sort of like a cockatiel cage, and is 1/2" spacing.
My concern is that when he climbs around he'll feel that the bars are too skinny on his feet, as well as closer together, and might have a hard time getting used to the feel of it. I don't know how easily he can get used to it, or if he'll be unhappy with how it feels and therefore become a bit stressed out. Or, you think he'll be fine and is not a big deal in your opinion?

3) how many of you have Poicephalus species or similar sized birds in cages with this thinner gauge wire? Not the 3 or 4 mm parrot bars.

** Also, I'm not sure how many of you saw a YouTube video of a Hyacinth Macaw in a cage who was biting (squeezing together the bars) and actually bending the metal and breaking the welds!
I wonder if Robin would try to do this (on a smaller scale) with that cage I'm wanting with the skinnier bars? Red Bellied have strong beaks, but I don't know if he'd even try it.

 

[thekarens]

How well in general does Robin accept new things?

As far as bar spacing/thinness goes I'm considering the same thing for Sammie. (Bigger cage, smaller bars) She never chews on the bars so I'm fairly sure it should be ok.

 

[Megapixel]

In late September after I lost my blue crown conure of 21 years, I decided that I should move one of my senegals into his cage because it's larger and also decided to keep that cage in my bedroom. This cage has 3mm bars with 3/4" spacing and the bars are vertical all around, where-as her cage of so many years had thinner bars with 3/8" spacing and the bars on the two of the sides are horizontal. So after living in the same cage in the same location for over 16 years, I moved Jojo, my one footed bird, from a black to brass colored cage with larger bars with wider spacing that's in an entirely different room. I didn't do any transitioning, I just put her in her new cage and that was that.
It didn't make one bit of difference to her at all.

 

[RavensGryf]

Robin really has proven over the years to be very resilient to change. We've moved several times, he's taken to new people, new routines, and new surroundings very well. Like nothing ever happened. Maybe it's a Poi trait?

@Megapixel, I'm very sorry to hear you lost a long time good friend in Sept.
It's good to hear your Sennie wasn't transitioned slowly, and just took right to the completely different cage with no event. Honestly I do think that is what Robin would do, I'm just being a bit 'overprotective' : )

** but... I can see where the transition from thin bars to the thicker bars of the "new" cage would be easier to get used to than the reverse. Now I HAVE seen Sennie and Red Bellied sized Poi's in cages with these thinner bars, and their feet still grip around these smaller bars, just probably not as comfortably as would a smaller bird. If it was the only thing the bird was ever used to, then it would be fine. Since Robin is such an adaptable guy, might be ok?

 

[MomtoPercy]

I recently replaced my zon's cage with a newer, much bigger one. The old one came with him and from its condition I imagine it was very old and also that it was all he'd ever known.

He took to the new cage almost instantly (lots of new toys and things helped, I'm sure) but struggled to sleep in it. He spent entire nights clinging to the bars. Then someone here suggested I put his old sleeping perch in the new cage. The old perch was too small but I could easily replicate it because it was a bamboo perch. I stuck a new bamboo perch in roughly the same place in the new cage and voila! problem solved.