Penn-Plax Bird Life Wooden Playpen – Great for Parakeets, Lovebirds, and Parrotlets – Small

I had hoped I could put this in my bird's cage, and he could use it both in and out of the cage. But it's really too big (got the x-large size) to put in the cage. That's okay--he'll use it when he's out. We'll likely put it in the bathroom and let him use it for shower time. I have a pineapple conure, and the x-large size is really perfect for him. I think the x-large would work for conures, ringnecks, caiques, quakers, and other similarly sized birds. It might be a bit too big for cockateils and it's way too big for budgies and parrotlets. It was super easy to put together, fits securely, comes with the glue and everything you need to assemble. Conner the Conure was terrified of it at first, flew off every time we'd sit him on it, but soon, he ventured a peck here and a waddle-waddle there, and now he'll even sit o the swing. I think he'll love it in no time. The swing and ladders move and hang from little hooks, so you can switch them out, change their sides, etc. Bright, colorful, easy to assemble, sturdy when put together right. I think all in all, it was a good purchase and at a decent price. Update: The colors tend to run when they are cleaned with water, so you want to mostly dry wipe to clean this play toy. It's not enough of a concern/problem that it warrants a downrating in stars though, because Conner the Conure absolutely loves his toy now. Whenever he is out and we're in the kitchen area, we put him on his play toy on the counter and he can be with us. I like it and the little red cup/dish it comes with--while we're cooking, I'll slice some veggies and put them in his little cup. He likes the rope perch and he'll slide the shiny plastic wavy rings. If I had one negative, it would be that the colors run if you use water to clean it. One other slight negative is that the swing and ladder don't like to stay 'hooked' and sometimes will fall off when moving the play gym. They are strong and secure when the toy is still, so it's not a danger to the bird or anything but I knocking the swing off and having to put it back on when I move it. This was definitely worth the price for a play area for a small to medium-sized bird when he's out of his cage.

I bought the X-Large activity center for my lovebird since I wanted her to have a place to sit near me, without claiming the back of my couch as "her" spot. It was pretty easy to assemble considering the number of pieces it came in (like 10 or 12 fyi) and there was plenty of glue to go around. I started with it set up on my coffee table, hoping to get my birdie used to it before asking her to actual sit on it. She had zero interest in it and was kind of intimidated, but got over it in about a week of seeing it at a distance. She had an activity set like this when she was younger, but never played on it, so it was a bit risky to think she might now. Lo' and behold old birds can learn new tricks! She's 16 years old, but it only took her about 5 minutes to learn how to go up and down the ladder (having never learned to use one before) in order to get to her favorite treat that I had set on the base of the unit. She loves hanging out on the top perch, particularly when I have the unit set up high. Queen of the roost! ;) She's still not into the bell, which I thought she would be (doesn't have a great sound though--is kind of tinny--and she's picky) and hasn't gone near the swing, but otherwise she climbs all over it! I also love that the ladder attaches with c-hooks because I've actually detached it on occasion and used it as a ladder from my counter down into the sink where she likes to take a drip bath. Size-wise it's a little weird? I still give it 5 stars since my bird (to my surprise) adores the thing now and it's very functional in my space, but the top perch is almost too big to be comfortable for her feet. It's so wide around (1 inch dowel) that she has a hard time gripping it when she comes in for a landing and almost fell face first off it the other day. On the other hand, there's so many perches and dowels close together at the bottom, she won't go in the middle part where the swing is. So even though she's small, it seems a little claustrophobic to her in that area. Anyway, good product! Happy bird, happy mama.

First off, this is a really great product, and I got it for a great deal. My cockatiel loves it, but the size (I got the large) seems to be much more suited to a parakeet. Had I paid attention to the dimensions (that is of course totally on me as the dimensions in the description are accurate) I likely would've realized before buying it that it would be pretty small. There is no way my cockatiel would fit on the swing for anything. The rungs of the ladder are pretty skinny, but she still uses it. All of the perches vary in size, which is good. The rope perch is great and she likes walking across it now that she is used to it. It is not stiff at all, so it took some getting used to for her, especially when she was trying to figure out how to move across it because she would step on the plastic toy, it would spin, and she would get a little nervous. That is not a negative though because cockatiels need challenges like that as they are smart birds and need "puzzles" so to speak in order to keep their mind stimulated. It says the dyes for the wood are bird-safe, and they are definitely very colorful. She loves to chew on the wood, as all cockatiels do, but it seems to be holding up pretty well so far. The glue works well and holds everything in place. The shorter wood piece at the end of the rope perch is not glued down, which I like because you can slide it up or down the side and make the rope either semi-taut and at a diagonal across the activity center or make the rope very loose and straight across the front of the activity center, so it changes it up. PROS: - Rope perch is a good size for a cockatiel or parakeet and is soft for their feet. It's a nice break from wood perches. - Rope perch is not stiff, so it provides extra exercise for their legs. An added bonus! - Sturdy. - Mixed perch sizes, though most of the wood perches are more suited to a parakeet but still work okay for a cockatiel. - Entertaining for pet birds. - A good way to keep your bird near you and entertained outside their cage. - Easy to assemble. Easy directions to understand. - Cockatiel LOVES it and will stay on it all day. CONS: - Swing is way too small for a cockatiel. Not a problem if you have a parakeet though. - Ladder rungs are too small for a cockatiel, but they can still use them so it isn't a huge deal. - The end piece of wood holding the rope perch sometimes tips a little, but it hasn't fallen over completely (at least not yet) so again not a huge deal. It's just annoying to have to straighten it a lot. One piece of advice, which I would say for any item you are assembling, especially ones requiring glue, is to put this together WITHOUT glue first, make sure everything fits and slides into place and you know exactly how it goes, then take it apart and glue it together. This is a great piece if your bird is new and still getting used to you. My cockatiel will sit on it for hours. I put it on my desk while I'm working and she will sit on it for 7 to 8 hours at a time. She would probably stay on it longer if I let her and even gets upset at me when I take her away from it! I consider that a good thing because it assures me she loves it. I would recommend getting a couple of plastic food dishes (they're usually pretty cheap) or taking the ones from their cage while they're on the activity center to set on the floor of it so that they have access to food and water. That's what I do, and it encourages her to move around more on it so that she doesn't stay in just one place the whole time, and I don't have to worry whether she's hungry or thirsty. I recommend this activity center, especially for a parakeet. I recommend moving up to the extra large for a cockatiel if you can afford it, but if you're like me and tight on money (huge price jump between the large and extra large sizes), this size does still work well for a cockatiel. It's mainly just the swing that's an issue since it's too small for a cockatiel, but that isn't the end of the world and doesn't take away from the other great features. Plus my bird doesn't seem to care about the swing. She just plays with everything else and is quite content with it. It was a great and well worth it purchase!

We really like the size & how colorful it is. Our budgie loves it! But it did come broken, we fixed it as best a we could.

I bought a more expensive one made of natural wood that screws together, and I bought this more colorful one. At first, I was a little disappointed, as this one glues together. I feared it would not be as sturdy, but parakeets barely weigh anything. It's been a few weeks now, and it seems to be solid enough. We almost prefer this one, because there aren't as many activities on the more expensive one. That one has two swings, but the chains aren't steady enough. The birds don't like it. That one also has a bridge, but once they've walked across it a few times, the fun is over. The birds don't love the swing on this one either, but they'll tolerate it for a moment or two. The two different ladders are fun. (Perhaps more fun for us than the poor little budgies.) They do like the rope, and the plastic thing on the rope is one of the few toys they actually play with on their own.

I bought the Large size of this for a cockatiel. This is not large. This is not large enough for her to be comfortable on. She is cramped on all parts of it and it will be replaced as soon as I can afford one that is the correct size. Avoid this if you have anything larger than a Budgie (parakeet). Not only does this not fit a cockatiel (who is still a baby at less than 5 months old, so she's not even full grown yet!), but it is made very poorly. That rope perch pictured with a cockatiel on it? Yeah, if they used nails or screws to hold both end points in place, maybe they got it to work like that. But right out of the box, the end that clips over the edge will stay mostly put, the other end will sag and turn inwards every time. I did use glue. I used extra glue. I re-glued with even more glue. This is a piece of junk and is not worth the money. All those colors? Water soluble, they come off on the glue, they come off on your hands, they come off on the bird. Awful design, awful choices. I cannot in good conscience recommend this piece of junk. It was a waste of my money and time. My bird hates all parts of it because they are the wrong size and she can't even turn around when on the play center. I'll be replacing this with a properly made and sized play ground for my bird. This one will be thrown in the fireplace as kindling.

So I got the XL just because the price was good for the size compared to other play pens I researched. It is a little big for my parakeet but she still has a good time. I think they have really old back stock of these things because my box looked old like it was from the 90s. But the playpen was just fine. I replaced the copper bell with another bell toy from Walmart so that worked out fine as well. All in all it is a good amount of play space for medium to small size birds, I don't really see an African grey on this one but I could be wrong. The glue worked just fine for me I just held down the pieces and let it sit for awhile like they teach you back in kindergarten if you want something to stay with glue. The pen is sturdy and the pieces aren't coming off. It is also easy to clean off. I did take off the bird swing because she would hop from it and it would swing back into her. All in all I'm happy with the product and it's easy to customize based on what your bird likes. Also my bird is happy too.

Overall I am satisfied. It is not very sturdy as some mentioned, but at the $7 price I paid for it, I'm ok with that, besides my kakariki Dale is not rough and it's not like he weighs a ton, it is sturdy ENOUGH for him. Using your own wood glue may be ideal, I'd suggest the gorilla glue brand, it would make a difference in the overall sturdiness of the structure, especially if you have a bird that will actually be chewing and playing on it. I will note the bell that came with mine is not copper. It's a really neat and interesting new toy for your bird to explore, I have attached photos so consider the size of your bird compared to the size I bought (Large), my kakariki is about the same size as a cockatiel maybe just a tad smaller.