Cage Assembly without grate.. Safety issues?

[artgecko]

Hello all!
I have two female and a male canary in quarantine right now and I've discovered that I HATE the floor grates in the quarantine cages. My other birds are in a converted DCN and there is no grate (so it is easier to clean). I have tried putting paper over the grate, but the birds are greatly disrupted when I have to open the cage door to retrieve it and replace it... I haven't had to clean the grate itself yet, but I'd imagine that the birds will be terrified when I do (their Q cages are only 22" wide x 18", so not much space for them to get away from me).

I purchased a larger cage to house the male until my other DCN is free and was wondering if it could be assembled without the floor grate and what this would mean safety-wise. The cage has not been assembled yet, as I wanted to ask here about the grate first.
Here is a link to the cage. PETCO Finch Cage

My main concern is the spacing between the tray and the bottom edge of the cage and also stability. I have plenty of zip ties to reinforce the sides of the cage, but did not know if that would be enough to compensate for the removal of the grate and / or what spacing (between the rim of the pan and the cage edge) would be safe. Unfortunately, the male is a fife canary and thus quite small.

If you have any recommendations or experience doing something similar, I would love to hear from you.

[cindy]

I use the grates, it keeps them from picking up germs, bacteria, old food off the floor of the cage, they get use to your schedule and cleaning.

[Dave]

I've never liked grates, as they're hard to clean. I just put newpaper on the grate. Or take the grate out and put newspaper on the tray. Like cindy says, they'll get used to you cleaning. Especially Canaries, who aren't as wild and flighty as some other finch species.

Most cage grates aren't part of the cage structure, so removing them is no issue. I don't know about your cage, though.

[cindy]

if you are afraid of removing the grate to clean it you can clean the top while in the cage then to get the bottom pull the tray forward and clean the bottom of the grate.... bigger cleanings remove completely

[Sally]

I can't say for this particular cage, but most of the more inexpensive cages without removable grates depend on that grate to add stability to the cage. Removing it might make the cage unstable.

I hate grates, but my cages have removable grates, so I just leave them out permanently. This does leave a gap on many cages, but this is easily fixed by attaching a piece of wood trim with zip ties to act as a flap. You can even paint it the same color as the cage, so it blends in.

Most finches forage off the ground in the wild, so that is natural behavior for them. There is a simple remedy to keep them from walking through their poop, just clean the cage tray more often.

[cindy]

if you want to use the try only reverse the tray with the grate...the grate will give the underside of the tray stability

[artgecko]

Thank you all for your feedback!
My main concerns about using the grate as-is, is that the canaries seem very uneasy going to the ground to feed... Even when given a shallow large dish w/ seeds or treats, they will not go down and use it unless I also put a piece of newspaper over the grate to sit the dish on. .. I think having a solid bottom (just the pan) would give them more foraging room and they would be more comfortable walking around on the bottom of the cage.

The canaries I keep in my DCN (no grate, paper in tray) have no problems when I change the paper out... They fly to the other end and are fine. My issue with the quarantine cages is that they are so small, the canaries panic because the q-cages are so small that they can't get far enough away from my hands.. They may calm down in time, but I feel bad for them panicking so.

I really like the idea of reversing the tray/ grate... I may just have to see if the cage can be made stable that way or if it will work without the grate.

Thanks again for your time and help!

[Dave]

Does your quarantine cage has wire sides? My birds calmed down a lot in a box cage--solid sides and top with only a wire front. You could convert a wire cage to a 'box' cage with hand towels pinned to the sides and top.

[Shannylee]

Canaries do spend a lot of time on the ground/bottom of the cage so I understand your dilema. All of my canaries are in my aviary but for the finch flight cages, I put the paper over the grate. I agree with Dave...canaries are not flighty and they'll eventually get used to your cleaning ritual. They are nosy and curious though so just make sure that, if you remove your grate, that there is not a large gap. I really like the idea of the zip tied wood flap! I may incorporate that in all of my flight cages because I don't like the grate either!! Thanks, Sally!

[Sheather]

I have 4 30 x 18 flights and cut the grate out of them all with no issues as long as the cage is on a level surface and the tray is kept fully inserted. if it comes too forward, birds can slip out.

[artgecko]

Thanks again for the great input guys!
Dave- I may try your idea with the towels. They are only flighty / upset when I am in the cage and don't freak out otherwise..But I'm curious if it'll help when I am cleaning the cage.

Shannylee- I may just have to put paper over the whole grate for the quarantine cages..Since they will be moved, I don't want to make them unstable. I am considering removing the grate from the cage the male will be in longer since it will not be moving as much for storage, etc. I would love to just cover all of the grates with paper, but it is a pain trying to remove/ replace it through the small door on the cage.

Sheather- I may just have to assemble it without the grate and see how stable it is and how large the gap is. I like the idea of a "flap' to cover the opening too. If removing the grate would destabilize it too much, I may just have to deal with it. I might eventually want to stack this with another identical cage, so I'm not sure if removing it would cause it to be too "wobbly" to stack.

[Barbara]

artgecko I do not like using the grates and I have cages that the grates come out if not put back in they leave a space on the sides or the front,I use a spring loaded curtain rod they come in different sizes and works great easy to take out when you need too.Not sure if this would work for your problem but you could try it good luck

[Sally]

artgecko I do not like using the grates and I have cages that the grates come out if not put back in they leave a space on the sides or the front,I use a spring loaded curtain rod they come in different sizes and works great easy to take out when you need too.Not sure if this would work for your problem but you could try it good luck

Another great solution to the problem of gaps. I think this one might also work for the large vertical gap on the HQ double flights with the gap where the divider would go. With a little ingenuity, most cages can be adapted to be more "finch-friendly".

[Sheather]

I have stacked mine grateless by ziptying the two cages together. They are then pretty sturdy.
Just be careful changing trays as without a grate they can get out if they know how while the tray is out.

[artgecko]

Thanks again for the advice!
I will update you when I get it assembled.