Hello All,

I have had my eye on a hanging gym from Wayne's Bottlebrush for Ivy when she comes home. I was just reading over the literature on his site about birds that live cage free, only spending time in a cage when they roost at night.

I was wondering if anyone here has adopted the "cage free" lifestyle. If not, how much time does your flock get to spend outside of their cage? How do they fit into your schedule?

My situation....

My cockatiel, Artemis is out either on top of his cage, on his gym, or with me on the couch when either my husband or I are home. We currently work opposite schedules so that works out pretty well for Art. My husband is getting ready to start a telecommuting job which will make things even BETTER, especially once Ivy gets here. I also work part time hours so I am home quite a bit. And I work in an environment where the birds can come to work with me if need be.

I have 2 dogs and, while they have never shown aggression towards my tiel (in fact, they will warn me with a bark if he jumps down from his cage or gym), I would not feel safe leaving my little one "out" when I wasn't home.

I was just wondering others' thoughts, experiences, and situations. Please do share!

Eve is very lucky! I'm home all day so Eve only sleeps in a cage, but also has a porch cage, and a couple of playstands throughout the house. So he is essentially cage free

I work out of my house and have very flexible hours. Huge bonus! Don't get me wrong, I do leave my house to do inspections and am sometimes gone for 4-6 hours at a time. Then I come home and do all my typing here. Works out great for me. My work days from start to finish are anywhere between 8-12 depending on whether I want a long weekend or not. I'd like to say that I do an honest 40 but in reality I usually do more with the extra hours being in my office.

I was looking into a hanging gym that is selling on eBay to put in the office instead of a floor model. This way when Mango isn't in my lap, he can be playing next to me with mutual interection barely an arm or wing stretch away.

When I'm not working and am kicking back, I have a play gym for Mango up in the family room. Tutu has his play area as well but he's not a regular in my office even though his perch is easily mobile. I do believe I stated before that he bites anyone with boobs. That being the case, I do find myself shying away from him. I give him plenty of attention but leave most of the handling to the males. Safer that way. With some of the environments that I'm in, having fresh open wounds on my hands would not be good!

Anyway, the ways its been with the Grey is that he out of the cage when the boys are home. Mango will be out of the cage pretty much all the time that I'm home. Except of course for night or when I can not directly supervise.

My sun conures only sleep in the cage at night. They pack themselves away in their (shoebox at the moment) house, and I just shut the door. They stay in all night but they wake up earlier than me. If for some reason we all have to go out during the day I put them in the walk in sheltered aviary. I am sometimes working at home. My children are home schooled so they are always here during school time.

You should take a look at Wayne's Bottlebrush. They're excellent and worth every penny. I just ordered some more cage perches from him the other day. My two really like the bottlebrush.

Waynesparrotstuff.com, manufacturer of Bottlebrush Parrot Play Gyms, parrot perches, toys, and more.

Emily, no real comments to your ? (My birds are out of cage whenever I am home) But I was wondering.. how does one go from a cockatiel to a Hyacinth??? Goodness... My jump was from a 150 gram Hahns, to a 215 gram Illigers, to a 250 gram Yellow collared. Heehee! I've played with the Hy's, and they are no small little birds!

I would love to come visit you! Seeing those big birds flying every day must be amazing. Could you post a picture of this Animal Environments play gym? I have no idea what it is, but it sounds really neat!

My babies are caged for their safety. All 4 are fully flighted, curious, and fearless (especially the pigeons!). I would never leave them out of their cages when I'm not home. One of my big fears is finding one of them chewing on an electrical cord.

Ollie is caged 12 hours a night, and about half of her awake hours she's out of her cage. Sometimes more, sometimes a little less, but usually she's out for about 6 hours a day. My schedule with her is pretty easy- when I'm home she's out, when I'm gone she's in her cage.

well, i have wanted a large bird for a while and i wanted to make the right choice, since the bird will be with me the rest of my life. i have spent time with different kinds of birds and have found Hy's to be very special to me. they are no little birds, indeed! i don't think i could give proper attention to any more than 2 or 3 birds at a time, so i wanted to make the right choice from the start, if that makes sense.