How many budgies in one cage?

Erlend and I have been discussing this subject more than once. The measurements of our cage are: 48 x 30 x 49 cm, so there's not that much room.

Still, it's a quality cage because all the bars are horizontal (which is good for the budgies' feet) and there's more horizontal than vertical space (which is good because budgies fly horizontally, not vertically). The budgies get a few hours of free flight per day, so they mostly use the cage for sleeping and eating. I could perhaps put an extra perch in the lower part of the cage, to provide room for 1-2 more budgies.

Photo © Lishea.com

Taking all these things into consideration, I think that our cage would hold maximum five budgerigars.
I want to give Isla the chance to breed once she's ready for it, so maybe we will need a bigger cage. But for now, let's try with the one we have.

You have to have a good look in the pet store if you want a decent cage. Avoid cages that look tall and that have a lot of vertical bars. I'm not saying that the cage in the picture above is a bad cage, but in fact, it's just as roomy as my cage, because it's the horizontal space that counts. On top of that, the vertical bars make it difficult for them to climb.

The budgie cage

This morning, I went to the pet store to find a good bird cage for our future budgies.

I compared the different models and prices and eventually chose a medium-sized cage from the brand Tallinn:

Blue Tallinn budgie cage with supplies.

There are two reasons why I bought this cage:

• It only has horizontal bars (which is easier for budgies to climb in)
• The cage itself is also horizontally shaped, which means that budgies can fly around a little bit (this works better than with a vertically shaped cage)

The price of the cage was 70 EUR, which is reasonable, as it came together with a bunch of cage supplies (eating and drinking tray, sitting perches, even a nice-looking toy).

Remember that even a large cage is too small if your budgies have to live there constantly. That's why it's important to give them enough hours of free flight during the day.