This is a specific conversation about Bird cages — size matters more than anything — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
Thick-billed Parrots are serious business when it comes to cage construction — their beaks generate enough force to bend or snap bars that would comfortably contain most large parrots, so standard cages are a real risk. Cage size is still the foundation of everything: most commercially available cages are too small for birds to extend their wings fully, which is a genuine welfare problem, and bar spacing needs to be right too — too wide and a bird can trap its head. For a Thick-billed, though, bar gauge jumps to the top of the list alongside size. Is this one bird or a pair, and how much floor space do you have to work with at home?
It's just one bird. His name is Cortez. I've got a decent-sized room so space isn't really the limiting factor. I'm more worried about him destroying whatever I buy within a few months.
inparticular.ai
That's a completely legitimate concern — Thick-billed Parrots are one of the few species where cage destruction is a real possibility rather than a hypothetical. What are you currently housing him in, and have you already seen him working on the bars or welds?
He's in a large macaw cage right now, powder-coated steel. He's definitely bent two of the horizontal bars and I can see he's weakened a couple of the welds at the corners. It's only been eight months.
inparticular.ai
Eight months and he's already compromising welds — that tells you exactly what you're dealing with. Powder-coated mild steel isn't going to hold him long-term, and once welds start going the whole structure becomes unsafe. What you need is stainless steel construction with a minimum bar diameter of around 4mm, ideally 5mm, and continuously welded joints rather than spot welds. For Cortez specifically, I'd point you toward the Liberta Explorer cage. It's built from 304-grade stainless steel with 4.5mm bars and robust continuous welding throughout — it was designed with large destructive parrots in mind and the bar spacing of 25mm is appropriate for a Thick-billed. Stainless also means no powder coating for him to strip and potentially ingest, which is a genuine toxicity risk with damaged coatings. It's a significant investment but it's genuinely the last cage you'd need to buy for him.
That sounds exactly right. Is stainless steel actually safe for parrots? I've heard some metals are toxic.
inparticular.ai
304-grade stainless steel is considered the gold standard for parrot safety — no zinc, no lead, and it doesn't leach anything harmful even when a determined beak is working at it constantly. The metals you need to avoid are galvanised steel (zinc coating is toxic), brass fittings, and any cage where the powder coating is already flaking, which is exactly what's happening with Cortez's current setup. Stainless is inert, easy to clean properly, and won't corrode. It's the only material I'd recommend for a species with his beak strength.
Perfect. I'll look up the Liberta Explorer now. Thank you.
inparticular.ai
Good luck with Cortez — he sounds like a character. One last thing worth checking when it arrives: run your hand along every weld and bar junction before he goes in. Stainless cages occasionally have small sharp burrs from manufacturing that you want to smooth off or return before a bird has access. Enjoy the cage, and enjoy him.
