🏠Housing a Budgerigar: a 80 × 40 × 50 cm cage, fully fitted

Budgerigar : For a pair, allow a cage at least 80 cm wide with narrow bar spacing, around 60 to 120 euros, placed in a living area free of draughts. Daily out-of-cage flight time in a bird-proofed room remains essential.

In short: Around 18 cm and 30 to 40 g, lifespan of 5 to 10 years, low to moderate noise level. Lively, curious and gregarious, it chatters almost constantly and tames quickly as long as you talk to it every day. Often underestimated, it needs a cage wider than it is tall for horizontal flight and at least one companion so it does not languish alone.

80 × 40 × 50 cm: the serious minimum

For a Budgerigar, the cage measures at least 80 × 40 × 50 cm, wider than tall: birds fly horizontally, not in lifts. Bars spaced 1 to 1.2 cm — any wider and the head slips through and jams.

Perches and layout

Fitting out a Budgerigar cage starts with the perches: raw natural wood, mixed diameters between 1 and 1.5 cm, mounted at both ends to keep the flight axis clear and never directly above the bowls. Add no-waste feeders, a newspaper floor renewed every two days and bath access — banning smooth plastic and abrasive “nail-trimming” sleeves, sworn enemies of bird feet.

Placement changes everything

The Budgerigar’s ideal address: back to a wall for safety, at eye height, at the heart of the living room but never the kitchen — an overheated non-stick coating releases fumes lethal to birds. Natural light without direct sun, 10 to 12 hours of calm darkness at night.

Frequently asked questions

What cage size for a Budgerigar?

80 × 40 × 50 cm minimum, wider than tall, bars spaced 1 to 1.2 cm — plus daily free flight, the cage being only base camp.

Where should a Budgerigar’s cage go?

Against a living-room wall at eye height, away from the kitchen (toxic fumes), direct sun and draughts, with 10 to 12 hours of quiet darkness.

The guides that apply to you

The rest of the Budgerigar’s gear

Bedding & habitat for related breeds and species