cage size question?

[william]

i have two male olws in a 3' wide 2' tall 2' deep cage, they have one nest which they roost together they share they same water and food bowls and im gonna add another nest in the opposite corner from the one nest that is already in there, which one of the males was the one who basically put all the nesting material in it and he acts like the owner i figure when i add the new nest the other owl would take that one for him self. now my questions are.... would the other owl take that new nest by him self or they have to sleep together? and my other question.... if he does take the new nest, can i put two females in there without confrontation in this size cage or should i only have a pair per cage? thanks!!

[DanteD716]

Your cage should be big enough to house 4 birds no problem, I wouldn't do anymore then that

[finchmix22]

I have the same size cage with two pair of owls and two nests. They do fine.

[william]

Your cage should be big enough to house 4 birds no problem, I wouldn't do anymore then that

you think ones they pick there mates they won't have any territorial fights ?

[cindy]

William...I go by this rule of thumb...add one or two more nest than birds/pairs. All the same height. The cge may be able to handle two pairs but you may end up with one dominant male mating with both females. I would invest in a second cage and separate pair breed them that way. You can also keep track of the young and what parents they came from also.

[william]

I have the same size cage with two pair of owls and two nests. They do fine.

@ deborah ,thanks i thought it would work! i assume ones a female picks one of the males the other one would have no choice but eventually pair with the remaining male right?

[Sally]

You can always try it, but personally, I don't like to put more than one breeding pair in a cage this size. I have done it a few times with two different species, but I still prefer the one pair per cage rule. There are no guarantees when you have two pairs of the same species in one cage. They could all get along just fine, or you could have territorial issues, it all depends on the individual birds. You also could have one dominant male that will breed with both females, so though you think your babies are unrelated, they really are not. Life is so much simpler with one pair per cage.

I'm going to move this thread, since it really doesn't belong in Marketplace. I'll put it under Housing, since you are mainly questioning cage size.

[william]

ok no problem. thanks sally!

[finchmix22]

Sally and Cindy have a point. I have my four owls in that cage right now because I don't have any more room. After two clutches, I have juveniles that I had to put somewhere. So, I added them into one flight with unrelated owls, just in case. They're all too young to really do any breeding, but as far as territorial behavior, three of the owls sit together fine, but one tries to dominate the whole bunch. His form of domination is to chase the other male around from perch to perch for a minute or two and then they both "give up." Nothing more serious than that behavior. The others just "follow along." Once I have some extra money, I'll get another cage and separate them, but for now, they're doing fine.