FINCHforum

Thinking of getting one or two Budgies as companion pets. Had to give up my Society finches several years ago due to increasing weekends away to visit family, and, lets face it, prolific Societies constantly causing overcrowding/mess issues. Budgies travel more easily by car, do not have egg laying binges. However, they are a bit messy. So......looking at Vision II cages that promise less mess on the floor. Biggest difference in design is that whole cage lifts off base rather than pull-out tray eliminating crevices that catch seed and poop. Cage is long but a bit narrow in style- nice horizontal bars for climbing. In reviews, people either love them or hate them. Would like to hear your opinions of suitability for a Budgie. Considering the single level Medium size.

Hi FinchLady, here's my two cents and experience with a vision cage. I have the large horizontal one (friend bought it) and only use it as an emergency cage. The bars are horizontal so cage accessories you want to add don't fit right. I do not care for the accessories that came with it. The door is very small and split in two so each panel flops in and out, I had to zip tie them together. I had my lovebird in it while I got her a proper cage and she hated it, she could not climb around like she wanted to. My lovebird would just sit at the bottom and watch herself in the plastic (the seed catcher) that goes around the bottom. Because of this plastic, there is of wasted space at the bottom. My finch were in it for awhile and wanted to slide down the bars but could not. The corners of the cage have gaps because the clips provided don't work well so I had to zip tie those together for the finch. Its a nightmare to clean, you have to lift the whole top off and hope the bird(s) stay perched at the top and don't try to escape. I like to change the cage paper every day so this is truly a pain.

birder: Thank you for responding. I was wondering about the unusual horizontal bars and 6 inch deep clear plastic base. Wasn't sure if birds would like it or if it would be a pain to keep clean. The plastic clips that hold cage together were also a concern. As far as lifting cage off base to clean, I thought grill was attached to upper cage portion. After looking at the pictures, I see it is not. Birds could easily escape as cage is lifted off base. Visually the cage seemed a bit narrow and top heavy. Think I will stick with my boxy traditional cage with slide out tray. I was hoping to find a way to contain the seed/feather scatter. Oddly, most birdcages do not seem to have seed guards like the ones of long ago. (perhaps showing my age a bit here).
Thank you again...very helpful

FinchLady

I agree with birder. I pet-sat a pair of budgies for a month or so in a similar cage, and it did not work great. They mostly just sat at the top and did nothing, or ate down in the floor where they were more difficult to see through the plastic. The food dishes also gathered seed hulls, although the dishes may have been bought seperately from the cage.

The cage itself was a bit annoying to clean; rather than a tray that one could quickly slide out, replace newspaper, and slide in, the whole top of the cage had to be set elsewhere to clean the bottom. As a result, the budgies would often poop on the surface I put the top of the cage on, so I had to use an extra piece of newspaper to stop them from pooping on the table or floor while I was cleaning the cage bottom.

The cage itself seemed a bit on the flimsier side, as well.

Thanks Icearstorm.... think I'll pass on Vision cages. Only other cage I've seen with seed guard is Preview Clean Life: has flared plastic base- not sure if that really keeps seed/feathers off floor. Online Reviews are just about useless. So, thought I'd ask the 'experts' on the Forum.

I use this seed catcher on my big finch cage and it does help some to control what falls on the floor.

https://prevuepet.com/product/301/mesh- ... white-820w

birder: Thanks- sometimes the simplest solution is the best. I'm going to set up my boxy traditional cage with the pull out tray and order mesh seed guard. Now on the hunt for Budgie/s.

One more birdcage question: any advantage or disadvantage to using bottom cage grill with Budgies? I took grill out with my finches so they could forage. Grill advertised as a benefit to keep 'birds out of poop' on bottom of cage. Seem to remember Budgies I've had in past enjoyed playing on the bottom of their cage.

They like walking on the cage floor and so a grate is best removed.