Breeding Cages Help

[Rayray]

well .... all my 3 cages are made by myself besides the front , total costs ain't that bad , around 120 usd or something and 2 days work (one day to make them and one day for painting them . the thing i like the most is the easy sliding out bottom , its simple to clean and the birds can't escape , the painted sides are easy to clean too . more pics hhuh !! well i'll make some new in the next few days , here's an old one




Ray

[ac12]

Ray
What interests me is your cage fronts.
I can use hardware cloth (wire grill) like your square mesh, but the metal grill where you have the water and feed will be much harder to source. I've been searching the threads and have not been able to find a source for cage fronts.

But you have also given me an idea, which I have no idea if it will work, is to use 1/4" plexiglass (plastic) to make the basic cage. This will be lighter than wood, would not need to be painted, and easy to clean. But attaching the front grills will be more difficult as I can't staple into plexiglass.

I can see that I will be making several different cages over time, evolving to something that works for me.

* * * * *

Nixity
I did notice that the nest boxes were on different sides of the cages, in the photo of your stacked cages. I had thought that each cage had 2 doors (1 on each side) and you chose where to put the next box on purpose.
About your lighting. Since your stacking arrangement makes you light from the side, vs above. Any issue with what seems to be the light shining into the nest box?

I may end up making a sliding nest door, but I have to think about how.

I'm still contemplating make or buy the cages. One is not too bad, but as the number of cages increase, so does the total $. And more the number of cages, the more expensive the 30x18x18 is vs the 24x16x16. I'm CHEAP and I'm trying to minimize floor space usage. Can I get away with the 24x16x16 to breed in?

[L in Ontario]

I use those breeding cages with the breeder door on both sides of the cage - I much prefer the sliding doors to the springloaded. I'd never again order any cages with the springloaded door.

I also use clamplights on each cage (stacked 2 x 2) and I have the lights on the same side as the nestboxes so no light shines into the boxes. I did have birds refusing to go in until I moved the lights so nothing shined inside their nests.

[nixity]

Ray
What interests me is your cage fronts.
I can use hardware cloth (wire grill) like your square mesh, but the metal grill where you have the water and feed will be much harder to source.

Try kwcages.com - they aren't listed as "cage fronts" - you would just have them cut the wire to size that you wanted.
So - if you were making a cage that was 3' long by 2' high - you would simply order however many of that size in the wire you wanted.

About your lighting. Since your stacking arrangement makes you light from the side, vs above. Any issue with what seems to be the light shining into the nest box?

None that I have noticed - the lights aren't warehouse strength or anything, they are 14W (translates to 60W) CFL "Daylight" FS bulbs.
They are far enough away (on the other side of the cage with the box) to where there isn't considerable light shining in.
Also - the longer box I use has an opening that doesn't drop directly into the nest itself, so that wouldn't cause a problem at all.
See below..

[nixity]

I use those breeding cages with the breeder door on both sides of the cage - I much prefer the sliding doors to the springloaded. I'd never again order any cages with the springloaded door.

I don't really like the spring loaded feature either :( I didn't know it was spring loaded until it came!
Since I use hooks to attach my boxes, I sometimes feel there is too much space in between the door and the nest.
I haven't had any problems with them, but I do wish they were either completely removable or slid instead of the spring.

[L in Ontario]

I use those breeding cages with the breeder door on both sides of the cage - I much prefer the sliding doors to the springloaded. I'd never again order any cages with the springloaded door.

I don't really like the spring loaded feature either I didn't know it was spring loaded until it came!
Since I use hooks to attach my boxes, I sometimes feel there is too much space in between the door and the nest.
I haven't had any problems with them, but I do wish they were either completely removable or slid instead of the spring.

Me too! I didn't know they now come with spring-loaded breeder doors - the same eBay vendor used to have the better slider-doors. These don't fit the same nestboxes! I am going to try and figure out a way to remove the springloaded doors and 'make' them into sliders with zip-ties or something!

I like your nestboxes Tiffany! I had a BIG problem with one of my wooden boxes tonight. I'll post about it tomorrow IF the babies live.

[Alec's Finches]

Does anyone know any breeding cabnet style cage vendors in the U.S

[ac12]

Ray
How deep are your cages?
I am trying to think of different "easy" ways to make a set of breeding cages, and the one that comes to mind each time I look at European cabinet cages is a bookshelf. The inexpensive commercial ones are either 24/30/36 inches (61/76/91cm) wide. But they are only about 11 inches (28cm) deep. I "think" that would be deep enough for a pair, but not sure when you add the juveniles. Is 11 inches / 28cm adequate depth?

The bookshelf cage would pack the most cages into the least floorspace. I figure with a bookshelf, I can arrange for 5 levels/cages in a single bookshelf. Each cage about 13" high. So there would be five stacked cages of 30or36Lx11Dx13H.