Moving from one cage to another.

PsyBirdy · Post by **PsyBirdy** » Fri Apr 05, 2013 3:20 pm

So my little family of 8 birds (4 societies/4 zebras) is now 15! (7 new zebra babies)... so they are bursting at the seems in their present cage.

I bought a large Hagen Vision cage where I will move the Zebra families, and will keep the 4 socities in the present cage.

I currently have five zeb hatchlings 5-9 days old plus two 1 month old zeb fledglings.

When is a good time to move them to the new cage? When they are 3 months old?

The new cage will not have any nests. Just lots of foilage.

And HOW do I move them to the new cage!?!

My original thought was to take the 2 cages into the bathroom with a low light in hopes they would just go from one cage to the other.... (wishful thinking).

My guess is I will have to transfer them by hand... either by letting them out into the bathroom, or by catching them in the cage. (Sigh... how stressful for them & me!)...

Any advise is appreciated.

PS - Oh my goodness are the babies ever cute! Just a pile of little fuzz balls! I love them so much!

dfcauley · Post by **dfcauley** » Fri Apr 05, 2013 6:02 pm

It would be much easier to catch them in the cage rather than the bathroom.

Many times I have got them to fly from one cage to the other by butting the door together. Give it a try!! Can't hurt.

Nerien · Post by **Nerien** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 2:14 am

When possible we put the doors up against each other, and cover any gap between them with a towel or other cloth, so there's no space to escape. We use binder clips to help hold it in place, if there aren't enough people on hand. Some birds go right through, others need encouragement, others just don't seem to get it and need to be moved manually.

To prevent an escape while getting things set up, I put a string on the door of the cage they're in, then once all is aligned, use the string to pull open the door.

Nanajennie · Post by **Nanajennie** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 6:51 am

Congrats on the babies!

Pictures would be fun!

I also put the doors together and cover the cage I want them to fly into.

As far as when to move them I don't know how old they should be. sorry! Good luck

Ginene · Post by **Ginene** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 5:11 pm

I spray my birds with bird bath spray when I need to move them. Its a lot easier to catch them when their feathers are wet and they cant fly as well. Successfully moved 7 birds today using this method. My birds enjoy being sprayed...they actually preen themselves while the mist falls on them...very cute!

EyesofFreedom · Post by **EyesofFreedom** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 8:40 pm

Ginene wrote: My birds enjoy being sprayed...they actually preen themselves while the mist falls on them...very cute!

I seen some of that in the store last weekend and almost bought it...

Now I guess I will on my next trip

Ginene · Post by **Ginene** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 10:43 pm

EyesofFreedom wrote: I seen some of that in the store last weekend and almost bought it... Now I guess I will on my next trip

Go for it. Says its good for moulting.

EyesofFreedom · Post by **EyesofFreedom** » Sat Apr 06, 2013 11:09 pm

Well got talked into buying my middle one a Russian dwarf hamster so to petsmart tomorrow I go... guess I will get my spray then...

But for the thread topic... whenever it comes time for me to move them from one cage to another I have always turn off the light in the room and just caught them by hand... they seem to be easier to catch in the dark...

Hmmm spray and dark... wonder if that would make it even easier?

PsyBirdy · Post by **PsyBirdy** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 12:31 pm

I figure this big transfer won't take place until at least may-june.

All depends when these 5 babies come out of the nest... This cage isn't big enough for this many birds. I will see if there is much fighting and squables - I want to hold off until the new babies are 2-3 months old.

I will let you know what happens!

Oh - and, the babies are SO CUTE! Oh my Goddness. Their sweet little faces and voices! It melts my heart!

ac12 · Post by **ac12** » Wed Apr 10, 2013 5:26 pm

You can move them once the chicks are weaned, approx 3 weeks after fledging. Just make sure that they are eating AND drinking on their own.

I would start by butting the cages together, and trying to heard the zebras from the current cage to the new cage.
After that, I would catch them in the cage and move them by hand.
This lets you catch and move just the ones that you want to move.
I got a small piece of krinolen from Joann Fabrics and use it like a net, much easier than trying to catch them by hand.

gud luk

PsyBirdy · Post by **PsyBirdy** » Sat May 04, 2013 4:48 pm

I did it! It was super easy.

I put the cages together, the doors didn't quite match but good enough.

I put a towel to fill the cracks, then draped a black sheet slowly over both cages. I slipped my hand in and opened the door.

It took about 30 minutes, but they all moved over on their own accord!

Looks like they are loving exploring all the new foliage and perches!

I am so happy to get them into their larger cage.

debbie276 · Post by **debbie276** » Sat May 04, 2013 4:54 pm

That's great news! I'm sure they are loving their new digs

Ginene · Post by **Ginene** » Sat May 04, 2013 5:22 pm

PsyBirdy
Awesome

! Glad everyone is settled in safe and sound.

FINCHforum

Moving from one cage to another.

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