This is a double-height flight cage, 31" x 20.5" x 42" (stand adds 11" for 53" total height) that can be turned into birdy apartments by splitting it into 2 levels top and bottom of roughly 20" in height each.
There are instructions and idea for how to do this elsewhere on this forum, or my idea for how to do it follows.
As is, despite all the extra vertical space, you can really only keep 2 finches in this cage. My finches are in a 28" tall cage and they just sit up high all day long. So, for finches, as-is this cage is sort of a waste of vertical space.
HOWEVER, you can convert this to 2 stacked cages for finches by adding a pan or other "catcher thingy" just under the top half. I will grant you that those white 30x18x18 flight cages such as they have at countryfeather.com (total $156 with shipping) or even a little cheaper at at KPETS (total $135 with shipping) (in a case of 4) work out cheaper - but this cage is sturdier and more attractive, and at the current price ($90) not really THAT much more expensive.
So $90 to house 2 pairs of birds in an attractive sturdy cage that comes with its own stand, vs 4 pairs of birds housed for $135 to $156 in cages that are only adequate - because you have to buy all 4 cages to get that price.
Bulding a better birdy apartment
My thought would be to make a "floor" for the top cage by making a "trampoline" using some of that rubberized shelf liner (and attached with re-usable zip ties or some kind of removable clips) or window screen (easier to mount) to support element # 2 of the new floor, which is:
A piece of vinyl cut to fit as per these instructions (but using the interior dimensions for this cage), and voila, there's your pan-slash-seed catcher, and one VERY affordably priced bird cage has been turned into a stacked duplex for finches. You can now keep FOUR finches in this cage, 2 up top and 2 in the basement apartment.
The rubberized shelf-liner is washable, cheap, and easy to cut. It comes in 12, 18, 20, and 24" widths. I would suggest the 24" (Lowes has or can order it for you). You would need two pieces that overlap if you used anything narrower.
You could simply lace it to the frame, or if you want to make it easy to remove and replace, use reusable zip-ties or any other kind of hook, clip, or fastener you can think of that will keep it tight enough that it doesn't leave a gap for the birds to get through.
If you want to be REALLY fancy about it, you could hem and grommet the edges where you'll be attaching it to the cage.
And if you want to make removing and replacing it even easier - use dowels or thin curtain rods on the outside of the cage, ABOVE the highest center horizontal so you can slide it up (this will come in handy later if you decide you want to replace this part of the upper floor and still keep all the birds seperated).
Clip the alligator side of this type of curtain clip to the shelf liner, and slide the hook part onto the dowel on the outside of the cage. Cap the ends - as simple as taking a large silicon or rubber band and wrapping it around and around each edge to create a "bumper" so they don't slide out by accident.
But I think the easiest solution would be to rig up a support floor using window screen. Simply zip tie the screen around the horizontal metal frame, or lace it to the frame with just about any type of twine, and don't worry about removing it intact. If you use the black poly window screen, and black zip ties, I don't think it'll show up that well when you look at the cage. I think it'll be "stealth" enough to pass muster.
It doesn't have to support much weight, and frankly I wouldn't worry much about removing it for cleaning. With a properly sized vinyl seed catcher up top, nothing is really going to get through to make any serious cleaning necessary. Just make sure you don't leave any gaps for the birds to fly between cages when you remove the vinyl seed catcher for cleaning. This is why I REALLY LIKE the window screen solution, because it is the easiest way to close up all the gaps and requires the fewest tools - basically just a pair of scissors and maybe a staple gun, at worst.
If you want to get fancy about it and make it look neater, just take doweling, or 1x1 or 1/2" square stock (or even sandwich it between 2 pieces of flat stock) cut to length for each of the 4 sides, cut a piece of window screen about 4" larger than the external dimensions of the cage, and use any kind of clip or zip tie to attach it to the dowel (or just staple it on) mounted on the OUTSIDE of the cage. You can paint or decorate the doweling if you'd like. Don't forget to cap the ends if you use any kind of hook or closure that can slide, so the doweling doesn't accidentally slide out.
However you choose to mount it, you will need to cut a slit in the window screen to go around the little vertical bars that attach the barred panels to the frame - there are two each front and back, and one at the sides.
Now that you have whatever sort of subfloor floats yer boat, the entire vinyl seed catcher can be easily removed at any time - just roll it into a tube (it'll roll up nicely even with those sides, unless you got SUPER stiff thick vinyl - in which case you'll need to release the corners first to roll it up) and remove it carefully, you should be able to get it through the door at either end - then just drop your extra vinyl liner into place while you take the other out to the back yard to hose it down.
Now. As to taking 2 of these cages and putting them together side to side with the side panels removed to make one big long flight cage. Which I have suggested recently.
This CAN be done, but not simply. Here's why.
Take a look at the user manual for the F040 flight cage.
You will see if you look closely that there are 2 side panels on each side. All the panels consist of the square frame stock on all four sides of the vertical bars - like a framed picture.
So if you remove the side panels, you have removed part of the frame that is integral to those panels, and part of the frame of the cage as a whole will thus be missing.
You would need to replace the uprights and cross pieces to fit into the rest of the frame - that means you would need to build a bar-less frame (two of them, actually) out of wooden or metal square stock and attach it to the frame in place of the side panels. Additional bracing may be necessary.
This CAN be done, but its not a simple process of just removing the side panels and then zip tying the frame together - because the frame pieces you need to zip tie together are integral to the side panels.
You COULD clip a lot of the vertical bars out of each panel, but that is (1) a major pain in the tuckus and (2) irreversible. It also may render the entire frame less stable if you cut too much out. It also also requires good heavy duty wire cutters or a hacksaw or possibly a dremel cutoff tool, plasti-dip to coat any rough edges, and a fair amount of strength and endurance. Well, the dremel tool would require quite a bit less in the strength and endurance category. But its not a simple solution of just NOT installing a couple of parts.
So the idea of making a super-long-flight path by attaching one or more Prevue flight cages end to end is not impossible, but also not a no-brainer.
And no, tempting as it is, I am NOT getting this cage, because I AM NOT BUILDING A BIRDY EMPIRE! No I am not! I am standing firm! ONE cage and 2 birds. Well, maybe four. But I don't want to push my luck, so maybe not. I just hope my little white one is a female, because the little brown one is DEFINITELY a female. If I've got 2 females, it doesn't seem smart to push my luck and hope any new birds are also female when its so hard to tell with society finches. So JUST the two birds!
But its sure an economical option for someone who wants more birds, and different breeds to boot, without breaking the bank or taking up a lot of room.
Gosh those little owl finches are cute ... No, I must be good!
