1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bird cages.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many designs of cages are shown in the prior art for housing pet birds. One problem that is common to many of these designs is that it is difficult to clean the bottom of the cage where debris inevitably collects. Some bird cages are designed such that the bird must be captured and removed from the cage before the interior of the cage can be cleaned. This is obviously a cumbersome process and can result in injury to the bird or escape. An example of this type of cage is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,963,414 (Little), which discloses a removable bottom 10 positioned above the main bottom 2 of the bird cage. The removable bottom 10 can be removed for cleaning while the main bottom 2 confines the birds and collects debris. However, since the main bottom 2 is not itself removable, it is difficult to clean without capture of the bird.
Other known bird cage designs require that the entire cage be lifted in order to clean the debris from the bottom. An example of such a bird cage is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,549 (Opmeer). Opmeer discloses a bird cage having a bottom and an upper portion connected by a coupling section. The coupling section contains a separator 28 that confines the birds in the upper portion of the cage and collects debris while the bottom section is removed from the cage for cleaning. However, to remove the bottom section, it is necessary to lift the entire cage. Thus, there is a need for a bird cage that can be completely and thoroughly cleaned without removal of the bird or lifting of the cage.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,129,786 (Sacre) and 2,983,251 (Lingis) both disclose the use of replaceable paper sheets on the bottom of bird cages for debris collection. U.S. Pat. No. 3,100,474 (Schneider) discloses a commode for pets that has a removable plate member that collects debris positioned above two removable drawers. The upper drawer contains a screen that strains the debris to filter the recyclable litter into the lower drawer for subsequent use.
Another problem with respect to the construction of bird cages is that many species of birds chew wood. One of the most popular household birds, the parakeet, can easily chew through wood. Though wooden bird cages are known in the prior art (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 1,468,730 (Oster) and are desirable from a home decorating standpoint, they can only be used for limited numbers of bird species. Thus, there is a need for a bird cage that preserves the decorative beauty of wood construction, yet is suitable for species of birds that would normally destroy wooden bird cages.