Prevue Pet Products Flight Cage

I ordered this cage for the one parakeet I had recently bought at a local pet store chain. At the store they had assured me that a little round "Tweety" type cage was plenty big enough. Soon I learned that was not the case. Bird needed a bigger cage for sure. After searching online for HOURS for a cage of the recommended dimensions for one budgie (parakeet) that met both my budget for spending as well as a size that would work within our apartment, this was the cage I settled on. Now some of the budgie "experts" on the budgie sites would tell you that this cage, big as it is, is not appropriate for even one budgie. They would say that a budgie cage should be wider than it is tall. They would say 14" is not deep enough. Well, all I can say is, my bird has PLENTY of room to spread his wings inside his cage. The doors of his cage are opened for probably two to four hours at least every day, so he has plenty of chances to fly around outside his cage if he wants to. (Some days he does; some he seems to prefer mostly staying inside -- but then I'm like that about going out or staying home some days myself!) The "experts" will proclaim that a cage that's taller than it is wide is bad "because budgies fly in a straight line across, not up" or something like that -- in fact, some of these "experts" would tell you that a cage that's 18x18x18 is better for one budgie than a cage the size of the one being reviewed here. All I know from watching my bird in this cage is that he also likes the height. No, he doesn't do a nosedive (beakdive?) straight upwards, but he does get lift to fly to the upper perches in his cage. (Just like when he's out of the cage, he will fly to the top of tall bookshelves or to the top of the curtain rod as well as walking around on the floor!) Also, after a couple of instances of night fright (he's okay, thank goodness), we finally came upon a solution for how to set the cage up for birdy sleepy time. We had tried completely covering the cage (he'd get scared easily), not covering the cage (he'd lose sleep) -- what we do now is, at bedtime, the back of his cage is up against a wall. I place a dark towel over the top of the cage so that the longest part of the towel comes down the front of the cage just to about where the bottom doors start. Then I use an old white sheet and completely cover the top of the cage and one side, once again leaving the front of the cage exposed from about where the bottom doors start on down; same for the one side that's left -- in other words, back to wall, top + 1 side completely covered, front + other side partially covered. We plug a night light into a wall facing the side that's partially exposed. This arrangement means that budgie can go up where the cage is covered and sleep peacefully on an upper perch (or his swing). With this arrangement he also has uncovered cage (as well as light) to see out or come down if he really wants to check something out. I don't believe a shorter in height, longer in width cage could offer any improvement over this arrangement. Also with this cage there's plenty of room to place some perches high, hang some toys or whatnot up, and have other perches etc lower down (mirrors, toys, etc against the walls, for instance) and leave plenty of open space for birdy to fly from side to side. No, I would not recommend a bird be left totally cooped up 24/7 in this or ANY cage (well maybe an outdoor aviary; don't know much about those -- I'm talking about a pet bird inside someone's home here) -- but believe me, this cage is great for a bird this size who also has access to leaving his cage during the day. Heck it might even be large enough for two budgies, not sure on that one. But for ONE? It's a freaking budgie palace! So if you're like I was and find yourself searching for a cage for your budgie, and this one looks to you like the best deal you can find as well as the best size for your living space, don't let the "experts" deter you from buying a great cage for your bird, and most of all, don't let them make you feel guilty that you chose this cage over an 18x18x18 one!! (By the way, people like these "experts" are why I will always be a lurker and never a joiner on those online budgie forums!)

• How did the image on site compare with the actual product? pretty much it
• How accurate was the on site description of the product? accurate
• Please tell us about the quality of the product. It's great, working out just fine