Parakeet Cage

Question
I am in the market for a parakeet cage.  I saw a nice cage on the internet.  It's dimensions are large 32"x 14" x 19", however, I do not think it has a grate on the bottom of the cage.  Is this O.K.?  Do you have any other recommendations for any other large parakeet cages?
Thank you.  

Answer
Hi Karen,

My first question would be whether the cage is 32 inches long, or 32 inches tall. If it is 32 inches tall, this cage will have very little usable space and will not provide a good home for a pair of parakeets. (Although if you just had a single parakeet in there, who is receiving the recommended daily out of cage time for a single bird, this cage wouldn't be so horrible).

However, if the cage is 32 inches wide/long... this is a great cage with lots of useable space for the bird! Birds tend to go to the highest point possible in the cage, so it is better to get a shorter cage that is very wide, than to get a tall, narrow cage.

If there is not grate at the bottom of the cage, that is perfectly ok, however, the reason they put grates in the cages is to help keep the birds' off of their droppings and away from old food. If no grate is present, the cage should be cleaned everyday. However, this doesn't have to be as time-consuming as you might think. Even though my birds' cages have grates, I still use the following method:

I line the bottom of the bird cage with a layer of newspaper, then I repeat the layers until the cage has 7 layers. Then, every morning when I change the birds' food and water, I remove the top layer of newspaper- taking all of their poop and old food with it! Then, I only have to scrub the tray and re-line the bottom once a week, but the birds' still get a freshly cleaned cage every morning! :)

Newspaper is also the safest bedding you can use, since other beddings (like walnut shell and corncob) promote bacteria growth and the birds love to put that stuff in their mouths and might actually swollow it.

I hope this helps.

-Maggie