Perches & How many-Can you guys settle an argument for m

[livinonaprayer]

Please settle a perch argument in our house.

Our finch cage is 25" wide, 22" high and 13" front to back.
Currently housing two zebras with two ready to leave the nest any day.
I'm so excited.

There are two perches that run the width of the cage, one in front of the nest opening and one about 7 inches directly under it.
There are three on one side of the cage and four on the other side.
There are three short perches on the back.
These are all varying thicknesses; wood, plastic, cement and sandy.

I want to at least keep the middle of the cage free so they can fly a little bit back and forth.

After the babies are getting around I only want to use manzanita branches. We have about six of those on hand, different lengths and thickness, brown ones and bleached ones.

Anyway...I think there are too many perches in our cage.
What do you think?

[L in Ontario]

Personally - one perch at each end of the cage and a small cement perch for different texture (with a couple of toys in between) gives plently of flying room for the finches and does suffice in my cages for the parents and fledglings.

[TammyS]

Yes, I would agree - you have too many perches in the cage. In a cage that size - I would only have 2-3 perches.

[livinonaprayer]

Thanks so much. I think I just had to hear someone else say it.

Is it just a preference for the owner, or do you think that the finches really need to have some room to fly back and forth a little?
I gotta back up my argument.

I'm sure you know how it is sometimes.

[Sally]

My community flight cage is 64" long, 21" deep, 35" high. I have two perches at each end, one high and one low, and then towards the middle I have one sandy perch and one concrete perch (these are small, only about 6" long). There are two swings, one on each side but hung towards the back, to leave maximum flying room. Finches love to fly, and my guys are back and forth constantly. In my breeding cages, 34x18x18, there is one perch at each end, one swing in the middle, and some cages have a small cement perch. Your babies aren't going to learn to fly with that many obstacles!

[livinonaprayer]

Thank you so much for the info.
My concern was mostly for the babies. I don't just want them hopping around.
They're just about ready to leave. How long before they start to fly?

[L in Ontario]

Thank you so much for the info.
My concern was mostly for the babies. I don't just want them hopping around.
They're just about ready to leave. How long before they start to fly?

LOL - about 3 minutes if they're lazy - LOL They don't waste anytime at all in trying to get perched. As long as they perch by nightfall and the parents resume feeding them - all is well in your world.

Don't worry - nature is awesome all by itself and they will be fine. Just sit back and enjoy them.

[livinonaprayer]

I'm going to be a nervous wreck until everything looks just right.
But I feel better now.
Thanks.

[atarasi]

What about removing the perches that you have in the front and in the back and putting one on each end. That way they can fly from one end of the cage to the other. One perch lower than the other. If you have perches in the front and in the back, that's less than a foot for them to fly.

I haven't done this yet, but I like the idea of putting a perch a few inches from the bottom. The fledglings can at least sit on a perch if they aren't yet coordinated enough and still be fed by their parents.

[livinonaprayer]

I'll take out the front and back perches. Good idea. Already have two toward the bottom for the little guys.