Making a cheap hospital cage. Any advice.

AndreasLon · Post by **AndreasLon** » Mon May 18, 2009 11:05 am

I want to create some inexpensive temporary hospital/quarantine accomodation for my birds and I was thinking that i could make a plywood box and then just put some netting at the front.
They don't have to be pretty, just functional.

Does anyone have any experience of building a cage like this? I saw on line I can just order cage fronts.

I currently use a huge parrot cage for the purpose but I think a cage which is covered on all sides except at the front makes it cosier for a sick or new bird.

What do you use for your birds?

L in Ontario · Post by **L in Ontario** » Mon May 18, 2009 2:38 pm

I use the cage my first pair of Zebra finches came in (rehomed). It is about 12" x 12" x 11" wide. Very sad size-wise but really great for a hosp cage. I drape a towel over the entire cage - except the back where I place a 'piano lamp' which serves as a heatlamp.

mike · Post by **mike** » Mon May 18, 2009 3:05 pm

Whatever you choose, I would pick something that is non-porous and easily sterilised or something you can discard. So I'd pick a spare cage (that you never intend to use for anything else but a hospital cage), plastic, glass, or steel. If you want to make it more cosy, you can always place cardboard or something else that is disposable on the sides and back. For cheap cages, try Kijiji or Craigslist for someone selling small "new" cages because you don't want to inherit someone else's hospital cage. (I couldn't spell "inherit" for some reason

). Parasites are tricky things. Bleach kills a lot of stuff but sometimes you need to use steam, alcohol, ammonia, or even just elbow grease. That's why I'm very careful to keep hospital and quarantine quarters as minimal as possible made with the fewest types of non-disposable material (e.g.: metal only). I'd also suggest a hospital cage that is separate from a quarantine cage. Just because an animal appears healthy after being in quarantine doesn't always mean it isn't carrying something or recovered from something it shed in the cage, and on the flipside, you don't want to expose your new birds to a hospital cage that once held a sick bird who shed parasites all over the cage.

This is just advice based on reptile experience. (I'm still new to birds

).

I infected a kitten with parasites when I introduced a new kitten to the home. I had to treat them both and I felt horrible. I know it's unrelated but I talk too much. Both kittens turned out fine, btw.

AndreasLon · Post by **AndreasLon** » Mon May 18, 2009 5:42 pm

Thanks, great advise from both if you. I didn't think about the towel to make a cage cosier! Doh!

Mike how do you find the move from reptiles to birds? I also started with reptiles. Tortoises and cameleons to be precise. I grew up in North Africa and I would just find them in my garden.

finch master · Post by **finch master** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 4:44 pm

you could use a perspex sheet on the front on a sliding groove to keep in the heat in or let the heat out and put a light bulb on a dimmer switch to control the temperature.
paul...