Getting ready to bring my grey home: Caitec Perch and Go Travel & Mounds Living Cage

[GandalfGreybird]

Hey all,

 

I'm bringing my first grey home in a month or two and wanted to get some input on my cage strategy.

 

The living cage I've had for a while. I know it's plenty big, but just posting it so there's reference as to what he's used to when I discuss the travel cage.

 

- I have a 1L mountain dew bottle on the porch for scale -

 

Obviously I need toys in there, but as a brief overview i currently have one manzanita "straight" perch, one twisty wood perch (not sure no the species, but its a hard parrot perch), one bendy rope perch. In addition the top opens up and a perch is placed across to keep the hatch open, as well as the top arch flips down for a "porch." My parents bought it for me for Christmas one year, i believe they got it from Mounds. Any suggestions as to how many perches to put in here? There's a lot of room with the cage standing about 5'Hx3'W/2.5'D not including feet/wheels. How many toys should populate the cage at any one time?

 

Here is the Caitec Perch and Go travel cage i just ordered off of amazon.

 

- pop can for scale -

 

The store photo has a TAG in the cage, and my grey is a CAG so obviously he will take up just a little more room. The travel cage, while maybe a little iffy during assembly, once completed seems to be quite sturdy. I haven't been able to find any great photos of it online, so i thought i'd post a few for those who may be considering it.

 

 

 

I'll probably replace the original perch with a wooden one. The side has lots 15 air holes.

 

 

 

The back grate doesn't open which is good, and the front door has an odd latch. Even though it's fairly sturdy and doesn't flop about, I'm going to stop by the hardware store and see what types of clips they have that might keep it from being picked by a certain grey felon.

 

All in all it seems to be a nice middle of the road traveling cage. It's quite light, and not too expensive at $119-139. I like that the bird has 360°+ vision and that it's vertical instead of "cat carrier" horizontal. I'll be moving into the city and its perfectly sized for busses (if they'll allow him) or at the least taxis. It also seems large enough for a perching cage for afternoon visits and overnight stays. The handle doubles as a perch and is steady, not rotating.

 

I may eventually find myself purchasing something more along the lines of a Kings cage for extended travel, but for day trips and afternoon outings this seems appropriate.

 

I also received an Aviator harness. Can't wait to start him on that. I bought one for my room-mates BaG for christmas, and while he just tolerates the process of putting on any harness, he seems to be far more comfortable and agile in it over his old one with buckles.

[GandalfGreybird]

update on the travel cage. I'm a doofus and didn't realize the latch slid up and down. No worries on it flying open now!

[Ray P]

It looks like your all set up for your bird for home and travel.

Most of our family live in anouther state so our travel cages are much larger because we may be on the road for 7 to 30 days. When we travel it`s in our motor home or in our 12 passenger Ford van so we always have plenty of room for our grey and our amazon and our two dogs. Our pets always go with us.

As you find out what your real needs are you may make changes so you can be more flexable. Your are off to a good start.

[GandalfGreybird]

Thanks Ray! Yeah, if I start making extended road trips I might strap down something like this in my car. I just don't want to lug something that heavy/bulky around on foot for an afternoon trip.

[justalady721]

Hey Ray is that an edenpure heater that your parrots are perched on????....lOL

[Ray P]

Yes it is and we love it