Where can I find an affordable or free cage for my two parakeets?

You should be able to purchase a travel cage at any local pet store that carries bird supplies. You'll want to find one that is large enough to house all three birds comfortably, and that a food and water dish can be placed in. You'll want the same spacing of the bars as you would a regular cage (usually 1/2 inch or smaller for parakeet and smaller birds) to prevent any injury. You may also want to find a cover that can fit the travel cage as well, as keeping it dark while moving the birds can help reduce stress and anxiety during the move.

Hello! You absolutely can get a dome top cage! The bigger the better for birds, as exercise is very important to their physical and psychological health. The major thing to consider if the bar spacing. You don’t want the parakeets to be able to get their heads through the bars, so stick with 1/4-1/2 inch spacing to be safe. Some big cages have wider spacing, around 1 inch and this may be too wide for your birds. Also, make sure the cage is high quality powder coated and not exposed metal, as zinc and lead exposure can be an issue with wrought iron or hand made cages. Good luck!

It depends how large your cage is. The standard minimum cage size recommended by bird professionals is 12- by 18- by 18-inches for a single bird. This cage size is fine if your budgie is outside of the cage most of the time, but if you have a cage-confined budgie, it's going to be much too small to keep your bird happy and healthy.

Thanks for reaching out with all of your questions. The cage that you have listed would be an appropriate size, however one thing that should be ensured is that it needs to be powder coated. This is important as heavy metal toxicity from chewing on the cage is fairly common in parrots. For sleeping, birds need to have complete darkness and quiet. This means that yes, an audiobook would keep your bird awake. As far as flying - this depends on the bird. Many Amazons do not fly a great deal, and need to be strongly encouraged to exercise. It is very effective exercise to have a bird fly, but you will need to ensure that the environment is safe for them. Ensure that doors are closed, there are no ceiling fans turned on, that all toilet lids are closed, and that no cooking is occurring. I hope this gives you a place to start, and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Without knowing the size of the cage, it is hard to give advice. If they have a large flight cage where they can easily move around and exercise, then that may be enough. Adding in some fun toys to explore, moving dishes and toys around or rotating them out, offering treats to chew on, etc can all help increase enrichment and make things more fun for your birds. If they're kept in very small cages, then looking for a playpen that can fit in the room or on top of the cage may be nice for your birds to climb on or play on. However, finches tend to explore more and may want to fly around, so it is best to make sure they are only let loose in rooms where they can easily be caught again and cannot fly into windows, doors, or other dangerous objects that can cause injury or death.

Thanks for reaching out about your birds. Quite the dilemna. The answer really depends on the size of the cage, on how long they can be left in it. Out of cage exercise is important for health, just as exercise for humans. Could you limit to the one room? Good luck.

Birds can be fun pets to have around the house, but I have to say that they are all high-maintenance. They require daily feeding, cleaning bathing and appropriate enrichment in order to keep them happy and healthy. If this is not provided, then you may end up with a miserable/sickly bird with no feathers. Vet bills can be very expensive when birds get sick, because there are limited veterinarians that are knowledgable and skilled with avian medicine. Providing as much space as possible is best for a bird. I think I have an idea of the type of cage you want, but this is not a very suitable cage for anything other than a small bird (tend to have shorter life-spans than bigger birds). Even then it's quite small for a bird, because birds are born with the expectation of having unlimited space. You will also have to consider the noise. If your place is small, then I'd assume you have close neighbors. Birds are generally very noisy and can easily make some enemies in close quarters. Unfortunately, there is not a pet bird that completely meets your criteria, but if you are determined to get a bird, then a Budgie would likely be the best option. Below are a couple of links with some more information about Budgies and caring for birds. http://www.budgerigar.com/ http://www.budgie-info.com/budgie-care.html I hope that helps and all goes well.