Last Updated on by Mitch Rezman
Hi, I have been looking for a house (cage) for my bird that has doors on the front and back.
Do you know of any manufacturers that carry such a design? Thank you for all your education and wonderful articles.
Dear Sandy
No bird cages are deliberately made with a front and back door.
There are cages made with two front doors, usually, they are made as two-sided cages and have a divider that can be removed, creating one larger or longer cage.
Some two-door models might be made that can allow you to rearrange the panels during assembly to allow you to have one door in front and one in the back, but it might require some modification to the framework to do this as screw holes might not line up as needed.
Just to let you know. Cages with a front entrance and a rear entrance may be less pleasing to your bird.
The reason being is that birds need a place they can retreat to for rest and get away from outside events that are scary to them. The back of the cage is their safe place. If the back opens up, their safe place goes away.
This is a typical issue with round cages and why they are no longer made for birds.
At least no reputable cage company will make them anymore. If a bird is in a round cage the whole cage is the same, no sides, no back, nowhere to retreat to feel safe.
They circle the cage over and over trying to find a safe place and they never find one. A bird in a round cage can become very unhappy and start to become self-destructive or aggressive.
This is also a problem when cages are placed in front of a window.
The bird has no way of retreating from the constant stimulation around them.
In front, they have to deal with the action of the room, people, pets, and small children and when they retreat to the rear of the cage they have the outside world facing them.
They have to deal with animals and flying hawks, predators. Now, of course, they are unable to reach your bird. But your birds don’t know that and are always in a little fear.
A good bird cage has a flat back against a wall. Even better is one in a corner.
This way the bird can retreat to a place where they can sit with their back against the wall and face out. Nothing can sneak up behind them and they can relax. A good wood or thick rope perch placed in the upper back or across a high corner in the back will provide a very nice, safe place to sleep and retreat to when they are feeling stressed or just want to be left alone.
What is the reason that you want a cage with a front and back entry?
The ease of cleaning is understandable.
Many bird cages are not as easy to clean as hoped for.
We have a small wire aviary cage here that even with two doors, one high and one low is still not large enough to be able to reach in and clean the furthest corners. So that is fully understandable.
The best practice is to clean cages often rather than wait until it is a real chore.
If you want two doors so you can more easily get your bird out of the cage you may want to rethink this.
We have taken the birds out of the sky and made them live inside houses and cages and often clip them so they cannot fly at all.
Well, their cage is usually all they have that they can call their own and if you reach into their cage to get them out, and perhaps have to chase them around their cage some to do this, then you have a bigger issue. Having a back door to then go around to get them from there is not the answer.
Yes, on occasion we might have to suddenly extricate a bird from its cage because of an emergency. You have to leave suddenly and need to get the bird out and into a carrier ASAP. There is not much we can do about that situation when time is of the essence.
But otherwise, it is easier and helps keep your relationship with your bird better if you can just open the door and let the bird climb out on its own. Once the bird is outside of the cage, you have more control and can reach out and pick up the bird without stress.
Perch placement on the inside of a swing-out door can make getting a bird out of its cage much easier if it tends to be reluctant or snap at you when you reach inside for it.
Put a small or medium pedicure perch on the inside of the swing-out door, low and in the middle of the door. This results in a nice place for the bird to sit and look at you and your family from inside the cage. Then when you open the door, the door opens with the bird sitting on the perch that is now outside of the cage and thus neutralizes the aggression as it is now not inside the cage, it is now in your space.
An added bonus is that while your bird sits on that perch, maybe doing a happy dance that mommy is home, it is also filing the sharp tips of its talons, making for a nicer ride on your arm or hand. Pedicure perches are great on the inside of the doors for this reason and are also placed near food dishes that serve a similar purpose.
Note: pedicure perches should never be used as the high and in the rear sleeping perch. Pedicure perches belong low and in the front or sides.
Dear Sandy
It is hard to clean some cages for sure. Locating one with a larger front door would help so the need for a rear door would not be an issue.
Thankfully more manufacturers are rethinking their designs and are starting to offer wider doors.
Hi Catherine,
thank you so much for the quick response.
My intention was purely for cleaning. Getting the perches and toys out of the back of the cage is very difficult and I often find myself laying on the ground reaching up and under to get them.
Also, I have to take the cage outside to clean the bottom back, also a difficult task and takes two people.
Luckily, my bird and I are a good fit, she comes right to me and we normally leave the door open if we are home so she can sit on top or join us. She is a very pampered little bird and thanks to all you articles, her cage is set up as you describe in your note below.
take care,
Sandy
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