what would you choose?

[jebediah]

I'm currently in the market for a bigger cage and could use some advice. My boys have recently been bickering and I thought I'd try a bigger cage with more greenery to give them some "alone time". I don't intend on getting more birdies.

I originally looked at a double flight available on amazon. Not HQ or A&E but an off brand. I thought that would be my best bet, but I'm extremely nervous with the 1" gap the divider leaves when it is taken out. Do all double flights have this issue? The birds are in their own room but I still fear escapees. The amount of room the cage takes up isn't my favorite either.

But then I found the prevue f050, which provides more area for the birds, but it's vertical. I know I read somewhere in this forum that finches...prefer? horizontal flight to vertical, but will they be okay with a vertical cage? The width of the cage is 37" so it's still a decent amount of horizontal space.

I thought I'd get everyone's two cents since I can't decide and you guys haven't led me a stray yet.

Double flight: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00CTTCBK ... mp_s_a_1_1
Prevue f050: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0002AQ22 ... ot_redir=1

[Sam007]

Double Flight cage is much better than Prevue f050.

[jebediah]

Could you elaborate please?

[MiaCarter]

Agreed. The double flight is much better due to the fact that it's got more horizontal space and the optional divider gives you more versatility for the future.

All double flights have the problem of a gap when the divider is removed.
But it's easily remedied. You can place a piece of cardboard in there. Finches aren't like hookbills; they don't chew and they won't bother it.
You can also use a strip of plexiglass or plastic (the type that's used to make yardsale signs.)

My neighbor came up with a clever solution by stuffing the gap with fake floral vines. It looks pretty.
So lots of solutions to remedy that problem.

[KarenB]

I happen to have the f050 with Linnies in it. I had considered using it for a pair or two of my African finches because of the large size, but I don't like that there are no feeder doors on it and I would have to reach way in to feed every day. There are several breeder doors on the sides that are spring loaded, so if you wanted to mount a breeder box or two or three, it would be ideal for that. I also do not like the latch for the front doors. It is rather rinky dink and I had to bend it to get it to work right. All in all it's not bad, but there are cages with much better quality and better suited for finches. I guess it all depends on your needs. It's perfect for the linnies, and they use every square inch of it.

[Sam007]

Could you elaborate please?

The quality of Prevue f050 cage is not good. It has less horizontal space & more vertical space. There are no small doors on front side. Its bottom part is very close to ground, so it is kind of hard to clean as you have to bend to take out the bottom tray.

[Sally]

HQ and A&E are best for the double flight cages. This one looks like a knock-off, so you'd want to make sure it is sturdy. It does have numerous small feeder doors. I have an HQ double flight, and the gap is easily filled. You can cut lengths of wood trim, paint it to match, and secure it with either zip ties or pipe cleaners. I found this A&E double flight online:

http://www.hayneedle.com/pets/bird-cage ... tid=phrase

If you don't like the space that the double flight occupies, then a taller cage will work. Horizontal length is important, but as long as the cage is wide enough, vertical height also exercises their muscles, so not necessarily bad.

I also have two of the Prevue F030 cages, which are 37w x 27d, and I love them. You can put lots of greenery in to try to get your guys to get along better with any of these cages.

http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Products-F ... light+cage

If you are sure you are going to keep your population small, even the single HQ and A&E flights are great for just two birds. They are 32w x 21d x 35h, and I have kept single breeding pairs in these very successfully. I actually use them now for male only or female only cages, and keep as many as 6 birds in each cage. These would take up much less floor space and cost a lot less than the doubles too.

[jebediah]

Thanks so much for the replies guys! I think i'll get the A&E double flight. But I do have more questions.

1) Does it have the feeder doors? I can't tell from the pictures, which is a nice plus about the prevue cages.

2)If I wanted to take out the grate, could the tray be placed where the grate was to remove any gaps? Or will there be another gap that I need to cover?

[Ginene]

There are no feeder doors on my A&E Double Flight. Just 2 nest box doors...1 on each end. That is a definite con to this cage. The tray can be put where the grate is without gap issues. I have my divider out on my double flight and have had no issues with the space between the 2 flights. I pushed them as close together as I could and the space is a bit more than a half inch. I house 2 goulds, 2 owls, 2 stars, 1 BCCB and 1 GS in mine. Its wonderful

[Ginene]

This is mine . The finish is sandstone.

[thegatorgal]

I would go with the double flight. Like you I was tempted by the knock off double flight on Amazon, but after reading some mixed reviews I went ahead and got the name brand (HQ). I don't regret my choice. I am absolutely thrilled with this cage, the quality is wonderful. I don't mind the lack of seed doors, and I haven't found that the space where the divider comes out is large enough to be a concern for my Gouldians. Though, if you do take out the grates above the trays on the bottom you will have to cover that gap as it is definitely big enough for even larger finches to squeeze through.

I got mine from Petco. When you sign up for their free member card online you get an immediate 20% off your first online purchase that you can 'stack' with other savings. They were running a sale on the cages at that time and shipping was only $5. I think I paid $240 and it is listed at $372 right now to give you an idea of the savings you can get if you lump your discounts and wait for a sale, which are pretty frequent. If you can't find it on sale like I did check Wayfair and Overstock for good prices.

Good luck!