Sleeping Perches for Cockatiels

September 2006, Brooklyn New York.

Mithril sleeps on a swing hung from the top of her cage.

Sleep is important for all animals. Whether we have scales, fur, or feathers, getting enough sleep is essential for our health. So much so that every year furniture stores insist that only the most expensive mattresses, foundations, and bedding will make sure we sleep well. As people who live with and love animals, we appreciate that finding the best and most comfortable sleeping spaces for them can be a bit of a challenge. Making this more complicated, this changes as our birds age.

In 2005 when I first bought the main cage where Mithril and Arwen still sleep most nights, Mithril and Aragorn were happy to sleep on a swing placed in the center of the top dome of their cage (see above photo). It was triangular and made of three pine dowels. That was fine for a while – before they decided that pine was too hard on their feet. At which point I replaced the original swing with one made of the same kind of rope that you see towards the bottom of that photo.

Two parallel rope perches at the highest point in the cage help reduce conflicts between my two cockatiels.

By 2011 that sleeping space was no longer acceptable (see a trend here) and I installed regular rope perches about 12-16″ long and about half to a full inch thick. For a while, one was fine – until I observed too much fighting over where on that perch who would sleep where. Then I installed a second rope perch to reduce conflicts.

Mithril relaxes on a sundeck perch in 2020.

Meanwhile Mithril was taking her daytime naps on one of the many “sundecks” arranged around the cage.

In 2023 Mithril’s sight declined further. I removed all the wood perches from the feeding areas in favor of sundecks. At this point Mithril decided that the clam mineral block perch I installed several months before to mostly be a source of calcium for them was more stable and more secure than sitting on the rope sleeping perches, no doubt a conclusion that came after several falls from the rope perches. Every afternoon when she tells me she wants to go to bed I put her up on the lower of the rope perches (above left). From there she carefully climbs to the clam perch and settles down to relax and sleep (above right). It’s become her favorite spot now where she feels safest and where her arthritic toes can expand onto a flat surface.

Adapting to your bird(s) changing needs is very important, especially as your bird(s) gets older. Sleeping perches and perches in general are vital to sustaining your birds health. In this we have to pay careful attention to what each individual bird tells us she wants. As individuals we can be picky about where and on what/with what we sleep. Expect nothing different from you bird.

In figuring out what your bird wants and needs, pay careful attention to her behavior. Is she avoiding certain areas? Certain perches? When you offer a swing, how does she respond? Does she avoid swings or spend lots of time enjoying them throughout the day? Which perch materials does she favor during the day? Generally the type of perch she favors during the day is likely to be one she wants to sleep on.

Remember that safety is always foremost for your bird. She needs a sleeping space that is safe from potential danger (including other flock members), but also easy for her to reach and depart from as she wants. Most of the time this involves getting as high up as she can.

Wherever your bird decides to sleep, your careful attention to her needs will yield a happy and hopefully well-rested feathered friend ready to take on whatever each day brings.

For more information about cages and perches for cockatiels (and related medium sized parrots), please consult “Preparing for My First Cockatiel.” For more information about the changing needs of cockatiels over the age of ten years, please consult “Preparing for My Senior Cockatiel.”

Learn more about the Life with Cockatiels series on this blog.

Cockatiel Cage Buying Guide: Excerpt from chapter two of “Preparing for My First Cockatiel”

A cage is your bird’s bedroom.  It is her shelter, her territory, the space that belongs just to her.  It is where she goes to eat, to sleep, and to retreat from danger.  It is not intended to be where she stays all the time.  As a matter of fact, if she stays there all the time, her health suffers.

Caging your bird all the time is like confining a child to her room all the time and never letting her leave.  When this happens to humans, children become bored and physically unhealthy; they are not running around, playing, and socializing.  The very reason why prison is punishment for doing bad things like killing people is because prison confines a person to a very small place with very little to do and few opportunities to exercise.  It is why parents send children to their rooms for a few minutes or a few hours.  All living creatures need freedom to move around, explore, do productive things, and socialize.  As important as this is for human beings, it is even more important for companion (pet) birds and especially for parrots – including your new cockatiel.

Conventional wisdom says buy as large a cage as possible.  I do not know about you, but that is not very helpful.  There are literally thousands of bird cages out there ranging from small travel cages costing from $25/£20 all the way up to full sized aviaries costing over $2000/£1500 or more.  That is a huge range and unless you know what you are looking for, making a good choice can be extremely difficult.

What should you look for in a primary cage that is your cockatiel’s bedroom?  As you might expect, quality and safety comes first.  You need a cage that your bird can live in for a long period of time without accident, injury, or health problems developing from your bird moving around in it, playing in it, eating, drinking, flying, and sleeping in it.  You want a cage that will hold up to all that life has to offer. 

Materials

A quality primary cage should be made of either stainless steel or steel with a heavy powder coating applied to it. These cages cost more, but are built to last for decades.  For cockatiels, aluminium cages are also a safe, though slightly less durable, option.

Beware of cheaper powder coated cages as these tend to be made of inferior galvanized steel with a light powder coating that tends to chip off from cleaning and from your bird’s natural climbing and chewing of the cage bars.  Electroplated steel cages are also hazardous when used long term; these dominate the market as they are cheap and typically flimsy – fine for a hospital cage where your bird is in it for a few days of quarantine during an illness – but potentially deadly when used as your primary cage.

Besides price, the easiest way to tell a quality cage from a potentially dangerous one is the thickness of the cage bars.  The King’s Cage (model ELTPC) that I bought in 2005 and have used continuously since for both my cockatiels has 3 mm thick bars.  By contrast, the electroplated bars of my hospital cage and my primary travel cage have 1.5 mm thick bars – half as thick.  Since both my hospital cage and my main travel cage are portable and designed for short term use, this is fine; my birds barely climb in either one in the short periods they are in there.

Always look for lead and zinc free.  And remember that when it comes to your primary cage, you typically get what you pay for.

Bar Spacing and Cage Size

My bird cage is King’s Cage model ELTPC.  2010 photo.

Purchased for $600 at a New Jersey pet store in September 2005 and has held up well after almost 14 years of continuous use. Love this cage? The 2019 version of it is MODEL SLTPC by King’s Cages.

Now that we know what your primary cage should be made of and have narrowed down the cheap stuff that could be dangerous for our cockatiels from the durable, quality cages we know are always safe, we need to find the right size and bar spacing for cockatiels.  As mentioned before, conventional wisdom says to buy the largest cage possible.  Why?  Because cockatiels are very active birds who need lots of exercise.

The best exercise is flight.  Cockatiels are birds.  They are literally born to fly.  A cockatiel that flies every day and gets plenty of exercise is a healthy bird.  Exercise keeps her heart strong and her muscles strong.  Cockatiels who fly everyday are much less likely to become ill and much more likely to recover from illnesses instead of die from them.

The optimal size cage for your cockatiel is one large enough for her to fly short distances in, unhindered by the clutter of her food and water dishes, toys, and perches.  This means keeping perches, food dishes, and toys towards the outside perimeter of the cage and leaving an open space in the middle for flying. Ideally your bird should be able to fly both across the cage horizontally and diagonally from one end of the cage to the opposite end, floor to highest perch.

When my Arwen is stressed or simply wants out of her cage, she notoriously loves to dive from her highest perch down to the floor on the far side of the cage (a distance of about three feet), then climb up a little, then fly horizontal to the other end, and finally climb the rest of the way to the top perch before repeating the process all over again.

In a properly sized cage, your bird can do exactly that.

At five feet ten inches tall (interior maximum height is 58 inches), 28 inches deep, and 42 inches wide, my cage is a solid choice for cockatiels.  There are larger cages and smaller ones.  Which is best for you depends on your family composition and opportunities for out of cage time.

In 2005 when I bought this cage, I was a busy professional working in Manhattan and living in New Jersey.  My schedule only allowed me to let the birds out about two hours per day on those days I worked.  A good rule is that the more time your bird is in her cage, the more important it is for her to be able to fly at least short distances inside her cage.  If you expect to need to leave your cockatiel in her cage for more than six hours per day, be sure she has another bird to keep her company – either another cockatiel or another species of bird living in a separate cage located in visual range from your cockatiel.

Cockatiels who are able to spend more than six hours per day every day out of their cage are able to live in smaller primary cages.  Because perches, food dishes, and toys take up more space than you think, never house a cockatiel in a cage whose inside dimensions are less than 25 inches wide, 22 inches deep, and 32 inches tall and never more than two adult cockatiels in a cage that small.

Regardless of what size of cage you choose, the bars of your cockatiel cage should always be between 5/8ths of an inch and 3/4^th of an inch or from 13-19 millimetres apart. Narrower and you risk your bird’s toes or leg band getting caught; wider and it becomes difficult to climb. 

Quality primary bird cages for your cockatiel are not cheap, but investing in your bird’s health and well-being from the onset more than pays for itself later.  With avian veterinarians more scarce than those for dogs and cats and with avian veterinary care costing many times more than what a trip to the vet costs for a dog or cat, investing in a proper cage at the beginning of your life with cockatiels makes perfect sense with a payoff that lasts a lifetime!

Learn more about cockatiel cages, play spaces, perches, and more in “Preparing for My First Cockatiel.” Available in your choice of digital, or paperback at a retailer near you, including Amazon, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords, and Barnes/Noble. Audio edition available on Audible and Apple.