budgie and finch info

Question
hi, my name is cassandra goldsmith, and i am 12 years old. i am thinking about getting two little bodgies and breeding them.  i have found a cage that is 36 inches in height, 30 inches in length and 18'' width.  you can get two for 5.99 on ebay.  another cage is 30'' in length and the height and width are both 18''and you get 4 for 4.99!
if i was able to play with each bird for 4 hours, how many birds would fit in each cage if they all got along? please tell me the actuall answer to my Question!

thanks,
Cassandra Lynn Goldsmith

P.S.: I have a baby pet rat and a kitten that killed my rat's sibling! and i want to breed my birds!  what do you think of finches? my family is loud, though, and petco says that finches hate noise.  i try to get as much info on a pet that i want as possible.

Answer
Hi, Cassandra Lynn Goldsmith.  Thanks for posting!

It's great you are trying to get as much information as you can BEFORE you purchase any birds.  This is very important.  With birds, sometimes more explanation is necessary versus simply answering a particular question.

The number of birds you can house in either of these size cages depends on how much other stuff you have inside the cage, such as food and water dishes, perches, toys, etc.  You must take this into consideration and then each bird must be able to vigorously flap it's wings without it's wings/head/tail touching anything inside the cage.  Cage size also depends on how much time a bird spends inside the cage.  In other words, if a bird(s) is allowed to spend a lot of time outside it's cage, then it's cage doesn't have to be as large as if it spent 100% of it's time inside it's cage.  Also, if you want to breed these birds, which I do not recommend you do until you have MUCH more knowledge of breeding, handfeeding babies, understanding health, knowledge of what to do when problems crop up, etc., you'll need to have enough space available for the babies, a nesting box, etc. (unless you have a separate breeding cage).  I'd take a wild guess and say 2 budgies MIGHT be comfortable in the 36x30x18, depending on how much other stuff you put inside. However, instead of positioning a cage like this vertically, I'd position it horizontally.  This is because birds fly horizonally, not vertically.  They can climb vertically, of course, but, in my opinion, cages for birds should be made horizontally versus vertically tall.

The 30x18x18 would be too small for 2 budgies and all their gear.

Hopefully, you know/understand that cats and birds are natural enemies.  You'll need to keep them separate.

Also, the best pet bird (tame bird) is a single bird in the home.  In other words, don't count on 2 budgies staying tame enough for you to handle if you breed them, too.  You need to decide what you want...tame, handleable pet birds or breeders...seldom can the same 2 birds be both.  Also, what would you do with the babies (sell them, give them away)?  You need to think about this first before breeding them.  If you don't handfeed them, they won't be tame.  If they aren't tame, will you be able to sell or give them all away...most likely not.

I like finches.  They have a nice, soft voice, are easy to feed and keep and are much fun to watch.  However, they have babies like crazy!  For example, if you would start out with 1 pair of say zebra finches, by the end of the year, you'd have so many finches you wouldn't have enough room to house them all.

You have much to think about, Ms. Goldsmith!

Come back with any questions.

Chrys