8 Best Open Top Bird Cages: In Search Of A Rest And Play Area

We’re all mostly looking for clever ways to provide our birds with the best things possible without sacrificing too many resources like money, space, and time.

The focus is also on bird cages and toys that your bird will spend using for the majority of its life. An easy booster to keep it interesting would be to get an open top cage.

In case you don’t know what these are, what they’re for, and who they’re for, you can learn all about them here.

The Summary

How Does An Open Top Cage Look?

Open top cages have a double door on top that you can unlock and open. The doors are made out of wire so it’s easy to place a perch in between to keep the doors open. Assembled like this, the top then serves as a rest and play area for birds when getting the out-of-cage time.

Top Shape Styles

Most commonly, you’ll find open tops on cages with dome and victorian style tops. Less frequently, they’re found on flat top cages but this is a trait of many smaller cages rather than bigger ones.

Play Top

Play tops can sometimes be confused for open tops because they too have a rest and play function. The difference is that play tops don’t feature doors you can open. They’re always flat tops and come with a perch, metal bowls, and ladders situated above the top cleaning tray.

Open Top Cages: Pros And Cons

We haven’t really explained yet why you should opt for one if it’s something you’re considering. You can’t go wrong with them really because the benefits heavily outweigh the negatives if the negatives even exist.

The Pros Of Open Tops

Birds will often climb to cage tops as much as the cage allows them so that they get a sense of security. They usually do this when they feel endangered because of predators. A play top can be that perfect safe spot when the chances of them feeling stressed are high. Secondly, birds are less likely to rest on your furniture or other home pieces that will be difficult to clean if the bird poops in those locations.

The Cons Of Open Tops

Open tops can pose an escape threat if the locks are not safely locked. Additionally, if you’re buying a cage for its mobility, in case there are handles for carrying, they’ll be attached to the doors which will have you risk the doors opening if the cage is not quality made.

Before Buying, Know These Things About Open Top Cages

Not all bird owners will have the need for an open top cage although it doesn’t hurt to have one. It’s not like they’re far more expensive because of it or that they’ll take up more space than needed. Nonetheless, it’s important to know what to focus on if you plan on getting one.

Double Door Locks

You’ll have to lock the double top door eventually just to make sure that your bird can’t escape through the open door. Standard locks should be fine unless you’re getting a cage that you can also carry. In that case, special mechanisms should be provided just to make sure the cage doesn’t fall while carrying it.

Door Opening

All of the doors are hinged but it’s crucial to know whether the doors open fully or just to an extent. This will dictate the size of the entrance, perch size, and the space your bird gets for resting or playing there.

Top Shape

Dome and victorian style tops will have the added benefit of making the cage taller and allowing you to place more perches way up high and more toys on the cage bars. Put simply, they give birds more space inside the cage while flat top cages don’t

Perch Size

You’ll commonly get a perch for the play top and you’ll need to make sure you know the measurements to replace it efficiently when needed. Another thing to worry about is perch diameter. We suggest making it different from the interior perch diameter so that your bird can exercise its feet.

Cage Height

There are two variations of these cages in terms of proportions. The ones whose highest point is freakishly tall and the ones whose height is small. The height you’ll choose depends on the bird you own. Smaller birds like budgies will generally need smaller cages and the same goes for the cage height. Larger birds like macaws will need an overall bigger cage so the height will be bigger as well. You can check out the recommended cage size for your specific bird online.

Bird Flight Ability

Many people clip their bird’s wings and although we don’t agree with this action, we can’t singlehandedly put an end to it. If that’s the case with you and your bird, getting an open top cage might be useless since the bird won’t get the chance to fly to it.

Choosing The Material

The main focus should be that the material is easy to clean. Avoid wooden cages and focus more on metal ones. Ideally, you’d get stainless steel or an aluminum one but these are expensive so the next best options are wrought iron and iron. These two metals rust easily so you’ll have to worry about the finish to protect them from it.

Why You Should Think About Bar Spacing

Birds smaller than the wire spacing of a cage can easily get their head or wings stuck in between the bars. Another option is that they’ll manage to escape their cage. Each bird species has its own recommended wire spacing but generally speaking, up to 0.5-in is appropriate for small birds, up to 0.75-in for medium birds, and up to 1.5” for larger birds.

Easy Clean Cages

Not only will you have to look out for cleaning the cage itself but also the accessories like perches, food bowls, and toys. Remember, cleaning the cage is a weekly, if not daily, occurrence so it’s important to get one that cleans the easiest with easy interior access doors, easy-clean materials, and extras.

Best 8 Open Top Bird Cages

All of the cages you’ll see from now on have open tops. Some are different than others in terms of shape size and the cages are also different in terms of which birds they can house. We tried to make it so that everyone can find a cage for their bird here.

King’s Cages Slf 3221 Bird Cage

The top edges of this cage are concave so the top is still flat. It has an additional rest are above the front door: The rest area is arched and opens like a vertical door. Apart from the top perch, you’ll get 2 more for the inside.

The open top cage comes with a stand featuring 4 wheels so you can easily move it and a storage shelf. The cage interior can be equipped with 4 bowls that you’ll attach on the feeding side entrances. It even comes with seed guards made out of plexiglass.

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Mcage Parrot Bird Cage

Apart from the 2 doors and perch on the victorian style top. You’ll get 2 clip-on bowls that you can place onto the perch to create an even better rest and play area of this cage with an open top for parrots.

It has a large arched front door with bird-safe locks, a nesting box door, and 4 feeding doors. Each of the feeding doors comes with its own stainless steel bowl and you’ll get another perch for the inside. It sits on wheels and features seed guards.

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Yaheetech Transparent Bird Cage

Unique is the best way to describe this cage. Its front panel is made out of clear plastic so you can keep a constant eye on your budgie in this open top cage. The rest of the sides are made with wire for proper ventilation.

It comes with a stand that you can remove it from. On the bottom, you’ll find a clear plastic base with a grid ad pullout cleaning tray as well. The stand features a wire storage grid and you’ll get extra perches and clear feeding cups with it.

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A&e Cage Co Victorian Bird Cage

The cage has a total of 4 half arches and the last one is curved and somewhat flat. The door opens wide so the perch you can place in between is also very large. It’s coated with a blue powder coat to look more interesting.

You can’t remove it from its stand with angled legs that give it even more of a vintage vibe. It comes with 3 feeding doors, bowls, and an additional perch for the inside. The seed guards are small so that it doesn’t look ugly and out of place.

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Echaprey Open Top Bird Cage

Although it features a top, it’s not fully curved as it still has corners. Nonetheless, the doors of the top are somewhat curved but also flat. It’s a simple and small cage perfect for housing many small birds including budgies, canaries, and lovebirds.

It has a metal tube frame and wire sides. The front door is 10.4-in tall and 7.4-in wide so you can easily reach for the inside. There, you’ll find 2 feeding stations you can place on the feeder doors, a nesting box door, and an additional wooden perch.

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Mcage White Bird Cage

The cage and even the stand of this open top cage are colored white. The stand has curved and hollow legs that make it look more antique. You can take the cage of this stand that also features wheels and a grid for storing bird extras.

The top doors are small so the entrance is also small as well as the perch. You’ll get 2 additional wooden perches for the inside as well as 2 stainless steel bowls that can be placed on the side feeder doors.

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Nova Microdermabrasion Medium Bird Cage

The way this cage looks is the most classical approach to an antique cage you’ll get. A dome top and curved/hollow legs stand it’s all that’s needed to make it appear this way.

It has a decently sized front and top door and the perch you can place in between is 20.4-in long. You’ll get a smaller perch for the inside, and 2 bowls you can clip onto the perch or place on the feeding doors. You can remove it from the stand.

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Lilithye Stainless Steel Bird Cage

The only reason why this isn’t our top three picks is that the cage is too small to house birds constantly. You can use it as a travel cage if you’d like or as a regular indoor cage provided birds get plenty of out-of-cage time.

It’s doesn’t require a finish because of the build material. The top doors are almost as big as the sides of the cage. It does sit on a stand with wheels even though it’s small and comes with 2 perches and 2 stainless steel food bowls.

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Why Do Birds Go To The Top Of A Cage?

No matter the bird species, all birds will flee to the top at some point. It’s nothing to fear but it’s important to know why they even do it in the first place

Bird Sleeping Habits

Budgies and other birds like conures are very light which means gravity isn’t an issue for them. They will often go to the top of their cage, hang with their beaks and sleep like it. Another reason why they can do it is because of their leg’s shape (lock in legs).

Fleeing From Predators

In the wild, birds will fly high up to escape any predators, especially ground ones. The same applies when they’re in a birdcage and when perhaps you also own a cat or a dog. It’s just their way of fleeing to safety and feeling less stressed.

No Perch Variety

Perches aren’t made just for resting. If you have perches of different diameters in the cage your bird can efficiently exercise its feet. If they don’t have that variety, they’ll often flee to the top to sleep there because it’s the most comfortable for them.

No Perch At The Top

If you want to make it easier on your bird to do the things we listed above, we suggest you get a perch for the inside and place it high up there. This will somewhat eliminate the non at weird behavior because the bird will then get to use the perch. The perch needs to be placed low enough so that they can get their body in between the perch and cage top.