FINCHforum

do you know if you can use wire cutters to remove the wire that is on the bottom of this cage or any cage like this?: http://www.petco.com/product/114152/Pet ... age-114152

Petco Designer White Finch Flight Cage


just wondering if anyone has tried it.... or remove the side panel and attach another of the same cage to make it longer?

I've cut off the side panels of 2 flights to combine them for my parrotlets, and I've attached them together with zip ties. You might need to sand off th edges though as they can be sharp after cutting, and make sure that you cut right at the edge so no bars are sticking out. Worked well for me.

thanks.... was thinking a longer cage could be nice.... anyone have a picture to share? or know of a link to photos?

I removed a grate from a breeder that wasn't meant to be removed, the side panels were loose afterwards so I put some zip ties on the bottoms and the cage is easier to clean without the grate.

that is what I am talking about easier to clean without the wire grate.... thanks, happy that the cage is still stable without it there.... I will post pictures if I go ahead and do something like this.

I've removed the bottom, it was not easy the hooks can break apart that hold the grate to the cage...I am not a fan of the grate, it is difficult to clean the underside.

I snapped the hooks that held it there right off with my wire cutters. The hooks held the cages bottom tightly together. It was only a little loose after removing the grate but I put the zipties anyway to make it stronger. Before it was a pain cleaning that grate. After removing it all I do is slide out the tray and change the newspaper. Be sure that there won't be a gap between the tray and cage though! If I completely pull out the tray my birds would be able to slide out now, but even when I do they don't try to come out. I put a cardboard "divider" the cage though, and since the grate was removed they were able to slide under the grate. I added another piece of cardboard at the bottom. I have to move it up a bit when pulling out the tray though, other then that, I have no regrets about removing the grate.

Oh, I had no idea that the bottom grate was welded to the cage. Do they not have removable grates?

I removed the grates on all my cages. You just use zip ties to hold them together and they stay nice and solid

I like the cardboard divider idea too for the gap and when you are cleaning the papers in the pull out tray.... thanks so much for sharing your experiences with these types of cage bottoms

I have these exact cages, from Petco.
You should be able to remove the grate, by unbending the loops/hooks that attach them to the front side of the cage. However, I would recommend using zipties or something similar to connect the sides, as you will lose some support, by removing the grate.
On this cage, you could remove the sides to connect two cages together, end-to-end, simply by swinging the wire panel to the back of the cage and securing with zipties or twist-ties.

PrettyBird, they do sell cages (usually smaller petstore cages) with grates that come out, but with my experience, flights and breeder cages aren't made for the grates to come out.

My 2 parrotlets live in 2 of these flight cages combined to one on the side, and the grates above the trays ARE removable. I also have another unused flight cage that is similar to these, only slightly smaller, and that one as well has removable grates.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... atid=13392

I currently have 2 of that exact cage. We left the grate in and I covered it with newspaper. Also I removed a side panel on each and attached them together so now my 4 birds have 60 inches to fly in.