Spacious flight cage (26x14x36") with 1/2" wire spacing. Includes 2 wooden perches, 2 plastic cups, and a bottom grille.
Spacious for small birds
Easy to clean
Durable powder-coated wire
Includes accessories
Assembly required
Bottom tray can bend
Not for large parrots
Space: 9/10 · Build Quality: 8/10 · Value for Money: 9/10 · Ease of Cleaning: 8/10
These are our own scores for the things that can be judged from the specification, the materials and how the product is built. They are not Amazon's customer rating.
Almost everything else about a bird cage is secondary to this: birds fly, and a cage that does not allow flight denies the defining behaviour of the species.
A flight cage is wider than it is tall, and that is the right proportion. Height in a cage is largely wasted on small birds, which move horizontally when they fly; width is what lets a budgie or a finch actually take a few wingbeats between perches.
The general guidance for small birds:
Wider is always better than taller. A tall narrow cage looks generous and gives the bird nothing.
Minimum useful width for a pair of budgies is substantially more than the smallest cages sold, and the cages most often sold as "budgie cages" are too small.
Clear flight path. A cage crammed with toys along its length has no flight path left. Cluster toys at the ends and leave the middle open.
Bar spacing is not a detail. A bird that can push its head between bars and not withdraw it can strangle.
Roughly, small birds such as budgies, finches and canaries need close spacing — commonly cited at around 1 to 1.3 cm (about half an inch). Cockatiels need slightly wider. A cage sold for a larger parrot has spacing that is dangerous for a budgie.
Check the specification rather than judging by eye, and check it for the smallest bird that will live in the cage.
Horizontal bars on at least some sides are worth looking for: budgies and parrots climb, and horizontal bars give them something to climb on.
Nearly every cage ships with uniform plastic or dowel perches of one diameter, and that is the biggest welfare problem in most cages.
Birds stand on their feet all day. A uniform perch loads the same points of the foot continuously, and that is how captive birds develop pressure sores and arthritis in the feet.
Replace them. Natural wood branches of several different diameters and textures cost almost nothing and are the single most valuable upgrade you can make to any cage. Rope perches add variety. One abrasive or concrete perch is fine for nail wear, used sparingly — and never as the highest perch, because birds sleep on the highest perch and a rough surface under a stationary foot for hours abrades it.
Safe woods commonly used include apple, pear, willow, birch, ash and elm. Avoid cherry, plum, peach and other stone-fruit woods, plus oak and yew. Cut branches only from unsprayed trees, scrub them, and bake them dry at low heat before use.
Against a wall, not in the middle of a room. A cage with open space on all sides gives a prey animal nowhere to feel safe.
At roughly chest height. Too low feels vulnerable; very high can encourage some birds to be territorial.
Out of direct sun and away from draughts.
Not in the kitchen. This is a safety rule rather than a preference — fumes from overheated non-stick cookware kill birds very quickly and are a common cause of sudden death.
In a room the household uses. Birds are social and an isolated cage is a lonely one.
A slide-out tray is the feature that decides whether daily cleaning happens.
Daily: change paper or liner, change water, wash the water and food dishes.
Weekly: wash the tray and the grate, and scrub perches.
Periodically: full cage wash.
Use hot water and a bird-safe cleaner, rinse thoroughly, and dry completely. Avoid strong household chemicals and aerosols entirely — a bird's respiratory system is small and efficient, which is exactly why airborne toxins affect it so fast.
Powder-coated wire lasts well if the coating stays intact. Chipped or rusting coating should be dealt with, because the metal underneath is unknown and zinc is toxic to birds.
Worth saying because it changes what cage you should buy. Budgies kept in pairs do for each other what no toy or mirror can — mutual preening, contact calling, shared foraging, and company through the hours nobody is home.
A pair needs more space than a single bird, and a pair is generally the better arrangement. The common worry that two birds will not bond with their owner is largely unfounded if both are handled.
Wider is always better than taller, because small birds fly horizontally and height is largely wasted on them. A flight cage — wider than it is tall — is the right shape, and the cages most often sold as budgie cages are too small. Leave a clear flight path by clustering toys at the ends rather than along the middle.
For budgies, finches and canaries, roughly 1 to 1.3 cm — about half an inch. A bird that can push its head between bars and not withdraw it can strangle, so check the specification rather than judging by eye, and check it for the smallest bird that will live in the cage. Horizontal bars on some sides help climbing species.
Yes, and it is the single most valuable upgrade to almost any cage. Uniform plastic or dowel perches load the same points of the foot all day, which causes pressure sores and foot arthritis. Natural wood branches of several diameters and textures cost almost nothing. Keep any abrasive perch low, never at the top where the bird sleeps.
Against a wall rather than in the middle of a room, at roughly chest height, out of direct sun and away from draughts, in a room the household uses. Never in the kitchen — fumes from overheated non-stick cookware kill birds very quickly and are a common cause of sudden death.
Two, generally. Budgies are flock animals, and a pair provides mutual preening, contact calling and company through the hours nobody is home — which no toy or mirror can. The worry that a pair will not bond with their owner is largely unfounded if both are handled.