Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

After reading as many reviews as I could get my hands on I decided to purchase this cage. We are using it to house two Gold-Breasted Waxbills. What I couldn't find were many reviews on using this cage for finches and so I thought I would add our experiences for those looking for a cage for finch or waxbills. Some of the other reviews were negative based on the guage of wire that the bars are made of. Using this cage for finches I don't see any problems with the guage of wire used. The M01 model is very sturdy when put together. If you are using the cage for hooked bills and worried about the guage of wire then spend the $10 extra and get the M11. The M11 is the same cage with thicker guage wire for the bars, then problem solved. Others complained about this cage being difficult to clean. I really don't understand this. My soon to be 5 year old son was able to clean the cage very easily. In fact, of all the cages I have owned over many years of having finches this is by far the easiest to clean. All you do is release the latches and set the upper part of the cage on a towel while you clean the tray, grate and dishes. Reline the bottom with newspaper, replace the grate and put the top back on the bottom and latch. This is a 15 minute or less job. You can also remove the included perches, from the outside of the cage, and clean them. I really like the way the cage is designed for cleaning! As far as the cage helping to stop the seed outside the cage mess, this is spot on. I have tried the plastic guards for other cages and nothing really worked. This cage is in our living room and I haven't seen any seed or feathers spread outside the cage. As long as you use the lower food and water dishes everything stays in the cage making the birds easy to care for. If you were to use additional food dishes attached higher in the cage then seed would still be able to be spread outside the cage. The food and water acess doors are very helpful in keeping the water and food fresh. My son can easily access each and cleans and refills them daily. The doors also latch with a turning catch which makes it more secure and less likely that the birds can escape. This cage is easily a 5 rated cage. You can't go wrong getting it for finches. If you have breeds that don't like to bottom feed then it could cause difficulty. Also, it's not really big enough for any more then one pair of finches and if used for breeding pairs once the babies are weenied they would need to be removed. The only complaint I have about this cage and it really isn't against the cage at all is that it is hard to find additional perches online or in pet stores. I haven't been able to find the shorter perches listed in the accessories catalog that came with the cage and very few online shops sell the longer perches. It would be helpful if these were more readily available as they are easy to clean and work well with the cage. If your looking for a cage that will reduce the mess around the cage, is easy to clean and not over-priced then this is a great cage for finches. Amazon has the best price with the super saver shipping of any of the online stores and at the current $63 is about $20 plus cheaper then the local big pet stores.