Best cage for a baby cockatiel

A newly weaned cockatiel is one of the riskiest stages for cage safety — their heads are small enough to push through bar spacing that would be fine for an adult, and once they're through, they can't always get back. Cage size is the single most important factor long-term (most commercially sold cages are too small for a cockatiel to properly extend its wings), but right now bar spacing is your urgent concern: you want no wider than 1.25cm. Is this one bird or will you be adding another? And how much space do you have available for the cage?

Good — that's enough space to do this properly. At 10 weeks she's fully weaned but still physically smaller than she'll be as an adult, so you need bar spacing of 1.25cm or less right now, and ideally that stays true as she grows too since cockatiels never need anything wider. For your dimensions, I'd look at a cage in the 60–70cm wide range with horizontal bars on at least two sides — cockatiels love to climb and horizontal bars make that much easier. What's your rough budget?

That budget gives you a genuinely good option. I'd recommend the Ferplast Cockatiel 80 cage. It's specifically designed for cockatiels — the bar spacing is 1.2cm which is safe for a young bird and appropriate for life, the dimensions are 78.5cm tall by 57.5cm wide which is solid for a single cockatiel, and it has horizontal bars on the sides for climbing. It comes with perches and feeders, the door is wide enough to be practical, and the base pulls out for easy cleaning. It's well made, holds up over time, and it's been around long enough that you can trust the quality control. At around £70–85 on Amazon UK it's well within your budget and you won't need to replace it.

Yes — ditch the dowel perches that come with it and replace them with natural wood perches of varying diameters. Uniform round dowels cause pressure sores on the feet over time. Get two or three perches in different thicknesses so her feet are constantly adjusting. Avoid putting perches directly above food and water dishes. For a 10-week-old I'd also keep the cage relatively simple at first — not too many toys cluttering the space — so she can move around freely while she's still finding her coordination. Add enrichment gradually as she settles in.

Good choice. She'll have room to grow into it and the bar spacing will keep her safe right now when it matters most. Enjoy her — cockatiels at that age are hard work but they bond really quickly.