Length or Height?

[Travillion]

Hello everyone,
I have an 18x18x36 cage that can be used as a vertical or horizontal enclosure. I was wondering what your opinions would be on how I should set it up, vertical or horizontal. I'm hoping to house a pair of java rice finches OR two pairs of small species, thoughts?
Thanks guys,
Trav

[Sally]

Definitely horizontal. Finches mostly fly back and forth in cages, while hookbills like parakeets climb, so they do better with the vertical setup. If you want to breed in this cage, it would be best for just one pair of whatever you decide to keep.

[MiaCarter]

Agreed. Definitely horizontal.
The option with more floor space is always better for finches.

[cindy]

Javas need the length more than height. They have a tendency to stay to the top and hop,fly back and forth. I had them in a large 5 long by 3 high cage and they rarely went to the bottom but to eat.

One pair of breeding javas to that size cage. Javas, can be pushy, aggressive so caution needs to be taken if picking birds for a flight that are to passive. Two pairs of java in a 30x18 is not recommended. The hens or the males will fight with each other over territory or mate.

If wanting more than one pair of java it is recommended that you have a larger enclosure for them, you can hook two 30x18 cages together by taking the sides off and connecting them with zip ties this may work with another species that is not pushy as well...even then look for sign of aggression.

Some colony breed javas in huge walk in aviaries with success.

[Travillion]

Thank you all for your responses. I am not really interested in breeding, I don't even keep finches yet so I don't believe I am ready to tackle that.
Since this is the case, would two male Java's be okay together? I understand it is often hard to sex Java's unless you see their courtship/ hear the male singing.

@cindy my intentions were never to keep more then one pair of Java's in the 18x36 together. I was thinking either one pair of Java's or two pairs of smaller, less aggressive finch species like society's and stars.

[MiaCarter]

Travillion -- I've kept male javas together without any troubles. They were siblings.
But I've heard of lots of people keeping unrelateds together without problems. It's just a matter of individual dynamics.

Javas are a bit like zebras in that they can get quite dominant/pushy/aggressive/territorial when you add females and nests to the mix.

So if you were to expand to add in more birds, you'd need to be careful and ensure they have a sufficiently large cage and good dynamics.

But with just a pair, I think you should be just fine, providing you get two compatible individuals.