Anyone have experience with A&E Double Flight Cage?

[limeslide]

Hi! I was wondering if any has had any experience with this cage before? I really like it and I am considering purchasing. My only issue is the cage door, it is very big and it scares me to think that a finch will escape when I am cleaning, what do you think?

http://www.birdscomfort.com/double_flight_cage.html

Is there a place that sells it for less? I am trying to save money.

[EyesofFreedom]

You can always try amazon...

I got this awesome flight...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00176 ... UTF8&psc=1

I ordered it on a Tuesday night and had it on my door step Friday... with free shipping

With the two doors I can clean the cage and feed and water them while they stay up top... and the two piece bottom makes it easy to clean the cage floor without leaving them an escape route...

[skyjump100]

I've got single flight cages, 1 with a single door and one with the two doors and to be honest I've had escapees from both (always re-caught though ). I personally prefer the two doors as well as it is easier to acess everything however the single door does allow greater mobility when working inside the cage.

[EyesofFreedom]

I haven't really had any difficulty doing anything inside the cage with these two doors... they are quite large...

[skyjump100]

Here are the cages I use. The one on the left (2 doors) is 30x18x35 and the one on the right (single door) is 32x21x35.

[EyesofFreedom]

Really digging that "rock" water bowl in the single door cage

[skyjump100]

Thanks shame they dont use it though, well at least whilst I'm watching.....

[Sally]

I have the HQ double flight--they look the same, so don't know what the difference is, other than price. I have an older model, it has the two large doors, but there are also four feeder doors on the front, so I can hang seed hoppers on the outside. I love it. I rarely have an escapee, but that is where the divider comes in handy. You shoo all the birds to one side, put in the divider, and then you can work all you want on the other side without danger of an escapee. If I just want quick access to the cage, I hold a large net in front of the door while I reach in, so even if a bird tries to get out, all it does is fly into the net.

http://www.birdscomfort.com/doubleflight_bird_cage.html

[EyesofFreedom]

Sally that is one thing that was weird when I got my cage... there are no small doors on the front for seed hoppers... but each side has 3 small doors at different heights/depths... perfect size for nest boxes and external bird baths... and for holding a branch when you are adjusting the height...

[skyjump100]

Ah, I think the cages I have are more for small animals rather than birds as there are only the big doors on the front and two doors at the very top of the sides which are ok for attaching nest boxes but not for hoppers or anything else.
Think one day I will need to look for something similar to your flight cages whcih are more suited to keeping birds.

[dcompt]

I have one and really like it - it's fine for birds. I have it attached to another single flight, but even when I was using it by itself, I never had an escapee through the door. It's a long cage, and when I am working at one end through the door, they all naturally fly to the other end and watch.

I have had them get out a couple of times via the tray. There is a gap on the floor if you are not using a divider. I just stuff some greenery in it to block it. A couple of times I have carelessly not noticed that after I worked in the cage it was askew, leaving the gap open. Or no, that's not right. Often I notice and fix it. It's only had consequences twice. The birds haven't explored down, but what apparently happens - I saw it once - the bird was standing right there and another bird jumped on him and he dropped though. The most obvious move then is out the front, not back up into the cage. I've read there of other ways of dealing with this issue - a dowel set over the crack or some other cover. When the divider is in, it's not an issue at all. The same gap continues up the front of the cage (not the back). I solve that the same way with greenery. I have also used an upright dowel for that.

I also agree that you can use divider to prevent escapes. If I am going to be doing something in the cage that will take quite a while, I may shut the birds in one end. But they hate that and it never seems to be a problem with my guys. They keep their distance until I stop messing in their space. Anyway, it's a hassle because I always have to remove greenery or perches; I use it so rarely, I don't keep it's track clear.

It's true there really isn't a way to use external feeders or baths, but the cages are roomy, and I've always just used internal ones, either on the floor, or now, the seed hoppers often recommended here that I hang on the inside. They love having the tops of them to perch on so we're all happy with that arrangement.

[Finnie]

Hi! I was wondering if any has had any experience with this cage before? I really like it and I am considering purchasing. My only issue is the cage door, it is very big and it scares me to think that a finch will escape when I am cleaning, what do you think?

http://www.birdscomfort.com/double_flight_cage.html

Is there a place that sells it for less? I am trying to save money.

I, too, have the HQ version of this. The HQ does have feeder doors on the front, and breeder doors up high on the sides. (I can't quite tell by the photo in this link if the A&E version has those.)

But I keep budgies in my HQs, and haven't tried it with finches yet, so I didn't realize that they (finches) could get out if the divider isn't in place. I will have to look mine over in regards to that.

I have found that even though the doors on the HQs are large, my body pretty effectively blocks the opening when I am removing food or newspapers, or doing other work in there. Most of my budgies will stay back, but I do have a few friendly ones who will come near me, and who are intending to come out for some play time, but so far it has been pretty easy to prevent that, just by blocking the opening.

This is my favorite cage, and I recommend it highly. (My 2cents opinion. )

Now, about the Prevue...

[Finnie]

Here is my opinion, for what it's worth, about the Prevue cage mentioned in this post:

You can always try amazon...

I got this awesome flight...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00176 ... UTF8&psc=1

I ordered it on a Tuesday night and had it on my door step Friday... with free shipping

With the two doors I can clean the cage and feed and water them while they stay up top... and the two piece bottom makes it easy to clean the cage floor without leaving them an escape route...

I have mine divided top from bottom, so that it makes a two-level breeding cage. That may be a mistake, as far as finches are concerned, because I find that with the huge door that opens sideways, I can't be very stealthy when working in there. I have to open the door at least wide enough to fit a saucer or a feeder through it, or to be able to pull the newspaper out, and that leaves plenty of space for a finch to fly out.

I guess if I didn't have it divided, they could go to the top, like Eyesoffreedom's birds do, and they wouldn't get out so easily. But I still don't like the long wire latch of the Prevue that has to be raised up and down and inserted into a loop to secure it. If the wire bends a little, it requires two hands, one to raise and lower, and one to direct it into the loop.

But I'm going to stop using mine for finches, and move my finches to a breeding cage that has the guillotine-style of door, so that I can just raise that a few inches to slip things in and out.

For a large space flight cage, my vote goes to the HQ double wide. (Or I guess the A&E, if they are the same.)

[finchandlovebird]

I'm not sure how well you can see on the pic, but a breeder at a bird fair once told me to hang a chain or some kind of thing in the center of the doorway to provide a kind of visual barrier to the birds to keep them from flying out the door. Just a thought. It works marginally well.

IMG_0258 (256x192).jpg (70.06 KiB) Viewed 891 times

[finchfunaddict]

Good idea to hang something in front. i have both cages, I do prefer the two doors cages. However my gouldians do fine in the single large door. The double flight cages are nice they are a little bulkier and harder for me to maneuver but if you have the right community of birds then I think the double is great. I got mine off ebay might save you a bit...