FINCHforum

At one of our local pet stores there's this huge cage for $400. It measures 32"x28"x72". It looks like it could hold a ton of birds, but then the calculator says it'll only hold 2-4. THat's soooo craazy. I want a cage where I can hopefully keep gouldians and societies (and possibly a few zebras) together, even while breeding them. Yeah right.

For finches you really want a cage that is longer than it is tall. Taller cages are better suited for parrot species who like to climb on the sides of the enclosure. It is pretty easy to keep gouldians and society finches together peacefully; depending on the number of zebras you have planned and their individual personalities, though, they may not be the best to mix with the more passive species, especially if you plan to breed them (if the cage is large enough and there are enough feed stations, perches, visual barriers, nests, etc., however, they can all coexist). I personally would not purchase a $400 cage which was too tall and could not hold many finches due to its dimensions.

...now that brings up a question...

...when they recommend cages longer than tall...I took that just to mean avoiding the little cages that are 18" long...

...once a cage gets to be 30 or more inches long...the finches have room to 'fly' from side to side...

...so at that point...what difference does it make how tall the cage is?

The one I'm looking at is a 32" hex, along some 70" tall (with the legs)...planning on having my 7 finches in there...no breeding...

I once had a homemade cage that was roughy this size and the bottom half was rarely used. I believe this was partly due to the fact the birds had to fly hard to get back up to the top half.

It was kinda like watching helicopters take off and land.

Disproportionately tall cages are difficult for finches to navigate within, as Tammie mentioned. When a finch is startled its first instinct is to fly up as high as it reasonably can to get out of harm's way... so finches that can reach the bottom of the cage should be able to fly to the top most perches (where they'll want to be) preferably in one fell swoop. If the cage is much taller than it is long and deep, flying from the bottom to the top most perches will have to occur at a pretty steep angle, which is difficult for most finches to do (as Tammie illustrated--like helicopters).

Also as Tammie mentioned most birds will prefer to spend most of their time in the uppermost aspect of the cage--higher is safer. They won't really evenly distribute themselves throughout the entire height of the cage, so the added height does not buy you additional "territory" to place more birds in the enclosure.

So I'd be better off, all told...

...with 2 smaller stacked cages than one bigger hex?

That's the way I would go.