Sleeper Cage

[caietaro]

I'm struggling to find an appropriate sleeper/travel cage for my WC Pionus who will be coming home in the next couple of months. I've read through a ton of posts on sleeper/travel cages but haven't been able to find exactly what I'm looking for, so I'm hoping someone can help!

During the day she'll be either in her main cage in the family room or out-and-about with us, however at night we'd like for her to sleep in our bedroom. I have a seperate small carrier for car travel/vet visits, so that doesn't matter here. Here's what I'm looking for:

1. Large enough to comfortably sleep in every night and can fit a water bowl and a toy in.
2. Small enough where it's not too cumbersome to bring outside when the weather is nice.
3. Big enough where we could use it for weekends away (it's not likely that we'll bring her with us anywhere for more than a weekend at a time).
4. Outside access food and water bowls
5. Doors with locks that she won't be able to open if she's up early in the morning or otherwise left alone in it.

I think the AA Poquito Hotel might be too small for what I need. The medium King's Cage looks awesome, but expensive and also maybe too small? Here are two others I was looking at:

A&E Cage Co. Folding Travel Carrier | Wayfair A&E Cage Co. Folding Travel Carrier (doesn't seem to have to best locks, or be too big)

A&E Cage Co. Victorian Open Top Bird Cage and Stand | Wayfair A&E Cage Co. Victorian Open Top Bird Cage and Stand (I'm sure this would be a pain to bring anywhere, but the locks are what I had in mind).

Any thoughts?

 

[Mayden]

I use this:

Collapsible/Fold Away Carrier 18" - CARRIERS by MY SAFE BIRD STORE

No 'swing feeders' but we just put ours in the door, so it's a quick 'in and out' job. We won't open it up outside though.

It's also collapsible. Easy enough to carry. Merlin's happy in it for entire weekends. It's his travel cage too.

 

[caietaro]

I use this:

Collapsible/Fold Away Carrier 18" - CARRIERS by MY SAFE BIRD STORE

No 'swing feeders' but we just put ours in the door, so it's a quick 'in and out' job. We won't open it up outside though.

It's also collapsible. Easy enough to carry. Merlin's happy in it for entire weekends. It's his travel cage too.

I've seen these ones around and I think I've seen several people recommend them, but I wasn't sure how sturdy the door locks are? Putting the food/water bowls on the door is a good idea. Merlin doesn't seemed cramped at all with only 16" in height? It's hard for me to visualize how well a 9-10" tall WC Pionus would fit in a cage like this. I see they also have a 20"h version, but it has 1" bar spacing.

 

[weco]

Both cages look fine...as to securing the doors, if you have a Lowes near you, their hardware dept. carries 1/8" & 3/16" stainless steel quick links that should solve your problem.....

On the off chance there's not a Lowes nearby, the quick links are readily available online.....

 

[caietaro]

Both cages look fine...as to securing the doors, if you have a Lowes near you, their hardware dept. carries 1/8" & 3/16" stainless steel quick links that should solve your problem.....

On the off chance there's not a Lowes nearby, the quick links are readily available online.....

The quick links are an excellent idea, I didn't think of that! We have Lowe's and HD right near by.

 

[Mayden]

I use this:

Collapsible/Fold Away Carrier 18" - CARRIERS by MY SAFE BIRD STORE

No 'swing feeders' but we just put ours in the door, so it's a quick 'in and out' job. We won't open it up outside though.

It's also collapsible. Easy enough to carry. Merlin's happy in it for entire weekends. It's his travel cage too.

I've seen these ones around and I think I've seen several people recommend them, but I wasn't sure how sturdy the door locks are? Putting the food/water bowls on the door is a good idea. Merlin doesn't seemed cramped at all with only 16" in height? It's hard for me to visualize how well a 9-10" tall WC Pionus would fit in a cage like this. I see they also have a 20"h version, but it has 1" bar spacing.

Merlins in his cage right now (it needs cleaning, don't judge! ) will show you the picture asap!

Edit: Andrew took the picture, sorry it's so rubbish . He's going to take another soon for a better picture.

Merlin can fit in comfortably, have his perch halfway up and still not be bumping his head up top. We can having some cage hanging toys in there no problem. I love it.

 

[caietaro]

That picture is really helpful, thank you!! I didn't realize there would be so much headroom in there, even with the perch half-way up.

Merlin is adorable, by the way

 

[Mayden]

Here's another. The cages really arn't THAT small, which is why I have no issue him being in there for so long when travelling. We usually have another concrete perch in there too.

&thanks!

 

[caietaro]

That's great, thank you! Could you move the perch down a little if you wanted to (i.e., just below that middle horizontal bar), or would it just slide all the way to the bottom?

 

[Pugtato]

Can I suggest using a "traditional" budgie cage? I have two, one with the small sliding door for Kippy and one with a full face door for Marty. They both sleep and travel GREAT in the cages! They are also not expensive at all and are super easy to clean. Kippy couldn't give a hoot about sneaking out of her's so I don't have to lock it or anything. I expect Marty to give me a time about it, and I plan on putting a small lock on the door eventually.

This is Marty's travel cage, and this one is Kippy's.

I find them both to be very sturdy, dependable, and simple to clean.

 

[Mayden]

That's great, thank you! Could you move the perch down a little if you wanted to (i.e., just below that middle horizontal bar), or would it just slide all the way to the bottom?

Perches should be able to get moved down as long as they're bolted tight enough. We've had them at all sort of levels in there, but prefer them just about there as it gives Merlin the ability to walk under the perches if he wants, or perch on them. But yeah, move them about wherever!

 

[Mayden]

Can I suggest using a "traditional" budgie cage? I have two, one with the small sliding door for Kippy and one with a full face door for Marty. They both sleep and travel GREAT in the cages! They are also not expensive at all and are super easy to clean. Kippy couldn't give a hoot about sneaking out of her's so I don't have to lock it or anything. I expect Marty to give me a time about it, and I plan on putting a small lock on the door eventually.

This is Marty's travel cage, and this one is Kippy's.

I find them both to be very sturdy, dependable, and simple to clean.

My reasoning for not getting a budgie type cage is because I'd be terrified of the base to ever come off when 'travelling'. I'd be an anxious wreck, unlike the one I linked with the only 'opening' available is the door.

 

[caietaro]

Can I suggest using a "traditional" budgie cage? I have two, one with the small sliding door for Kippy and one with a full face door for Marty. They both sleep and travel GREAT in the cages! They are also not expensive at all and are super easy to clean. Kippy couldn't give a hoot about sneaking out of her's so I don't have to lock it or anything. I expect Marty to give me a time about it, and I plan on putting a small lock on the door eventually.

This is Marty's travel cage, and this one is Kippy's.

I find them both to be very sturdy, dependable, and simple to clean.

I certainly like the price of those cages! The bars look pretty thin, but it's good to know that you've found them to be sturdy.

 

[caietaro]

My reasoning for not getting a budgie type cage is because I'd be terrified of the base to ever come off when 'travelling'. I'd be an anxious wreck, unlike the one I linked with the only 'opening' available is the door.

This is a good point! I'm not sure how easily the bottoms come off, but it is one less thing to have to worry about with the fold-up type from MSBS.

 

[SoCalWendy]

Mine is very similar to Merlin's, might even be the same cage.

Prevue Pet Products Folding White Travel Bird Cage with Plastic Tray | Overstock.com

 

[Mayden]

Mine is very similar to Merlin's, might even be the same cage.

Prevue Pet Products Folding White Travel Bird Cage with Plastic Tray | Overstock.com

Looks the same. I'm in the UK, so didn't get mine from MSBS, but they're both pretty identical to what I ordered.

 

[SoCalWendy]

I don't care for doors that slide up. One came down of the the head of my P'let once. Scared the crap out of the both of us. I love my cage, the door and the room. Rio my Sennie loves her sleep cage.

 

[Echo]

A&E Cage Co. Victorian Open Top Bird Cage and Stand | Wayfair A&E Cage Co. Victorian Open Top Bird Cage and Stand (I'm sure this would be a pain to bring anywhere, but the locks are what I had in mind).

Any thoughts?

I vote for this one. The collapsible one is ok for night cage, but for any other extended amount of AWAKE time, I think it is too small for a Pionus.

The Budgie ones are not appropriate as the bars can easily get snapped or bent.

Even though Pionus tend to be low energy parrots you do want to encourage movement, even outside or on vacation. I do believe that since you already have a carrier type cage for vet visits/emergency, a larger sturdier cage will be more useful and more suitable for your parrot. If you go on vacation with your bird, or bring him to a relative or sitter, you will want a decent size cage to be comfortable in, even if you still want a smaller size for easy transport.

I own 2 Pionus and only go by what my experience is with mine. Hope this helps.

PS: You can easily remove the stand for easier transport.

 

[caietaro]

A&E Cage Co. Victorian Open Top Bird Cage and Stand | Wayfair A&E Cage Co. Victorian Open Top Bird Cage and Stand (I'm sure this would be a pain to bring anywhere, but the locks are what I had in mind).

Any thoughts?

I vote for this one. The collapsible one is ok for night cage, but for any other extended amount of AWAKE time, I think it is too small for a Pionus.

The Budgie ones are not appropriate as the bars can easily get snapped or bent.

Even though Pionus tend to be low energy parrots you do want to encourage movement, even outside or on vacation. I do believe that since you already have a carrier type cage for vet visits/emergency, a larger sturdier cage will be more useful and more suitable for your parrot. If you go on vacation with your bird, or bring him to a relative or sitter, you will want a decent size cage to be comfortable in, even if you still want a smaller size for easy transport.

I own 2 Pionus and only go by what my experience is with mine. Hope this helps.

PS: You can easily remove the stand for easier transport.

Thanks Echo. Any idea if these types of cages can be used as a table-top? I planned on putting the sleep cage on top of a dresser. The cage seems pretty heavy so I'm wondering if the plastic bottom can support the weight of the top without the stand for regular ever day use.

Btw, her regular day-cage is an Avian Adventures Mediana Playtop, so about 34"x24"

 

[weco]

The cage seems pretty heavy so I'm wondering if the plastic bottom can support the weight of the top without the stand for regular ever day use.

You can't see it in the advertising pic, but I'm pretty surothat cage has a support bar under it.....I had one of those cages without the mobile base a number of years ago & it set on a counter I built to hold 3 of those cages.....