Has anyone had experience with stainless steel cages? Are they worth it?

We've found an excellent breeder of African Greys and it looks like we're going to bring one of these little guys into our family. They've got another couple of weeks left for weaning, so we need to get everything set up.

I was looking at the stainless steel version of this cage:
http://www.parrotdiseperch.com/parrot/shop...s.php?prod=1095

or this one:
http://www.parrotdiseperch.com/parrot/shop...s.php?prod=1096

The stainless steel is obviously more expensive, but it seems like a good idea.

Any advice is appreciated

I would advise anyone who can afford SS to get it!!

Especially with the bigger birds who are at an even higher risk of getting zinc toxicity. (larger beaks break and chip of paint and powder coatings easier then the smaller beaks.)

I have one for my sun conure and LOVE IT!!! So much easier to clean and looks great too..

Joey's cage is stainless steel as well. and as mentioned it is easier to clean. No toxic's in theses cages.

ooooh! Sorry, just noticed you are in Calgary! I have ordered from them before (parrotidse perch) and was really happy. I keep telling myself one of these weekends I am going to drive down there for a real visit!
PM me if you ever want to meet...

And the cages look great. I used to live in Vancouver and got my cages from West Coast Tropical
http://www.wctropicalbird.com/

I already posted this question in another section of the forum, but I'm going to post it here too because it seems to be more active here then where I posted it before!

I'm researching stainless steel cages & found this site http://www.legacycages.com/ (which appear to be high end USA made stainless steel cages). They're not out yet, so I know no one has one yet to give feedback, but I'm wondering if anyone has heard anything (good or bad) about the company?

TIA for your advice/replies.

Cathy

Stainless steel Hands down and remember visit your new bird and handle it before you bring it home so it knows who you are and that it isn't such a shock when it wakes up with new sounds and smell it will bond to you stronger in it's new home because you will be the one thing it can be sure of.

I would LOVE a ss cage. They look so easy to clean.. and no paint chips!!

How interesting. My experience with the one SS cage that we have is completely the opposite. I think it is the hardest cage to clean. Poop and food really get stuck to it, and we have to scrub and scrub to get it off. It doesn't clean up with the power washer as easily as the powder coated cages do, either.

It's true that you never have to worry about paint chipping though, and they should last pretty much forever. Still, I'm hoping to replace it this year with a powder coated one.

Shelly,

What brand is your stainless steel cage? Based on all the opinions and reviews I've read, the cheaper brands of stainless steel cages don't wipe clean easily. However, the top brand names that are a true 304-grade wipe clean much easier than powder-coated cages do. So I'm curious about what brand you have.

Cathy

It's from Animal Environments.

Is that a good brand? I haven't heard of them during my research.

Cathy

I think most people would say that they are. They are in CA and have been around since the 80's. We have 4 AE cages (one SS, 3 powder coated), all purchased between 1995 and 1999 I believe. Back then, there were less options if you wanted to buy a fairly nice cage. This was one of them.

They have held up really well, and they have some nice features that I haven't seen in other cages. For example, the tray is PVC (lighter, doesn't rust, easier to clean). And I love the door latch and the feeding system. I just don't much care for the stainless steel.

Animal Environments

Thanks for the feedback Shelly. Based on what I've read over the past week or so, I'm guessing that your stainless steel cage has a brushed finish. Supposedly the brushed finish stainless steel cages hang on to poop and other gunk a lot more than a smooth finish stainless steel cage. The reason for this is that the brushed surface has a "grainy" surface that hangs on to gunk. According to what I've read the stainless steel cages with a glossy finish are actually easier to wipe clean than a standard powder-coated cage. I emailed the folks at Legacy Cages and asked them about the type of finish on their cages. I got a reply about 10 minutes after writing them. They said the stainless steel they are using is a standard smooth finish, so I don't think food/poop will stick to it too much. From what I've read a standard smooth finish is the way to go. Brushed finish looks good but hangs on to gunk, and mirror finish looks great but once you scrub it, it dulls down wherever you've scrubbed and looks patchy. The more research I do the better the Legacy Cages sound, so I'm fairly confident that I'll be preordering one of them on Valentine's Day when they open for preorders. I'll let everyone here know what I think of it once I get it!

Cathy

I'll tell you what...If I could afford it all my guys would be in Stainless steel...They never wear out...won't rust etc. But as you guys have already discussed, make sure its a good quality Stainless and make sure that 2 sides have more horizontal bars than vertical.