Suggestions for Housing Birds

Thank you for your interest in adopting a bird! We appreciate you looking into providing a loving home for a bird in need. In addition to love, one very important factor in the happiness of your bird is where your bird is going to live.

If you haven’t picked out an enclosure yet, we’d love to help! The Association of Avian Veterinarians has a chart on the minimum cage dimensions that are acceptable for housing the birds we commonly see in our adoption center. As a rule of thumb, get the largest cage you can provide—the bigger the better!

A few important recommendations

• Size: Wire or mesh cages are preferred that are at least 1.5 to 2 times the wingspan of the bird in all directions. When a bird spreads both wings out, there should be enough room so the wings and tail are not touching any cage bars including top or bottom. The bird should be able to easily spin around on a perch without the tail hitting any cage bars including top/bottom of the cage. The cage should be big enough that the bird can fly with ease from the bottom of the cage to the top without the wings touching any cage bars or any other obstacles (like toys).
• Bar spacing: Make sure the spacing of the bars is small enough that your bird cannot escape! Select a finger or fingers that appear to be the same thickness as the bird’s wing. When checking bar spacing, if your finger or fingers (thickness) fits between the cage bar spacing, then the cage bar spacing is not proper for that bird (a bird could get harmed).
• We suggest covering wire mesh platforms or bottoms with a layer of newspaper or other solid surface as exposed wire can cause abrasions to feet, as well as possibly catch and break toes and tails

Companion Birds should receive at least a half hour to an hour of interaction time with their human family; such as training, playing, and/or socially interacting.

For more wonderful information and resources please visit www.heartoffeathers.com