Care and Rehabilitation of Injured and Orphaned Starlings | Home | Baby Starlings | Adult Diet | Pet Starlings | Health | Photos | | Links |Starlings | Sparrows | Message Board | Cages for Starlings Page may load slowly! Please be patient as you wait for photos to appear. Building an Indoor Cage A carefully built homemade cage can look as nice as a commercial cage while being much less expensive. An advantage to building your own cage is that you will be able to design it to fit the space available in your home. Starlings need as much space as possible in cages. In making the bird cage, keep in mind that it should be as wide, long and as tall as circumstances allow. If you do not have dogs or cats the cage below would be my pick of the best cage for songbirds. It is made with PVC pipe and bird netting, and I don't think it takes much skill to put it together. You could also make a frame out of 1" x 2" inch lumber and staple the netting to it. It is so light weight that it is very easy to just pick it up and take it outdoors for a hosing off when needed. Ecotone Aviaries made the cage pictured below, however the company is no longer in business. If you do a search on Yahoo you will find many companies who sell the netting at a very reasonable cost. It should be at least 20 lb test mesh. Nanner and his cage Carlton built the above cage for his toucan, Nanner. The cage is covered with woven nylon mesh, such as game bird farms use, instead of hardware cloth. This will only work if you are housing softbill birds, as parrots will be able to chew through it. Some suggestions that Carlton had for building your own cage: Seal all the wood with exterior high gloss polyurethane so that it is easy to wipe off. Use stainless hardware to prevent rust. Vinyl kitchen flooring will make it simple to clean up the bottom. Use casters on the legs so that you can move it from place to place. Use natural tree branches, with the bark still on, for perches as this is much better for the birds feet than dowels. You can use washers and screws to secure the perches to the cage sides or use cable to suspend them from the top of the cage. A large entry door will make it easier to clean, (see drawing below for making a small service door in the entry door). Hang clear plastic sheeting from hooks or grommets around the back and sides on the outside of the cage to prevent splatters, shower curtains work well for this. Covering the edges of the mesh with wooden mouldings or farings will prevent the bird from picking the mesh loose, and it also looks nicer this way. Robbie's cage Shannon made Robbie's cage out of an unused closet. It is screened in with hardware cloth and has a hinged screen door on it. A mural is painted on the inside wall. Wilbur's cage Drawing showing the access door on Wilbur's cage Building an Outdoor Cage Wire mesh can be used in making outdoor cages -- use 1/2" x 1/2" mesh wire or 1/2" x 1" mesh wire stapled to a 2' x 2' lumber frame. Use natural tree branches for perches since dowels are not good for the starling's feet. Important: outdoor cages should have 1/2" x 1/2" hardware mesh in the bottom, or should be placed on concrete or brick. This will make the cage safer from predators. Click the following link to visit a webpage with directions for building an outdoor cage which would also be suitable for starlings, as long as you use the above mentioned sizes of mesh wire instead of the 1" x 2" wire: Building an outdoor cage. For more instructions and kits for building cages go to: Backyard Aviary. See some well-built homemade cages below. Calli's cage The M-5's cage 6 ft. high, 6 ft. long and 3 ft. deep Piper's cage 57" deep, 50" wide, 75" high. Photo showing one possible way to construct the inside with a back wind break. Hemp rope is used for perches. Purchasing a Cage Store bought cages should have bar spacing of no wider than 1/2" or 5/8". Very large cages are best for starlings, as they need room to fly! Below are several types of the many ready made large cage designs. Maurice G.'s indoor cage; measures 17 1/2" x 30" x 35". The Midwest 2000 flight cage. Midwest 2000 flight cage. size: 36"L x 24"W x 48"H Sold at many online bird stores. One retailer is PetMarket.com Little Bird's cage Little Bird's cage is two "Cat Playpens" that I ordered online. I sat them one on top of the other and connected them with wire ties. The cage is 4 ft. wide, 3 ft. deep, and 8 ft. high, and it has a solid bottom on wheels so I can just roll it around the house. It only took me about ten minutes to assemble, and it only cost $200 with all the accessories and everything. - by Shanna. Photographs courtesy of Colleen, Tiza, Jill, Maurice G., Stormy, Shanna, Chelle, Carlton and Shannon. Back to the top Copyright © 1999-2011 Jackie Collins - All rights reserved.