Vision L01 Wire Bird Cage, Bird Home for Parakeets, Finches and Canaries, Large

This is a modified review of the MO1 that I wrote for another website after upgrading to the L01 via Amazon. I like the variety of cage styles available with a pull out drawer, but they lose their appeal when you realize that no matter what you do there will always be a one foot radius of seed husks strewn about outside of the cage. I have tried a Clean Life cage, but found it to be equivalent in mess to a traditional cage due to large openings where the skirt connects to the cage walls as well as debris collected in corners below the drawer. I have also tried a traditional cage where the grill remains in the cage when the drawer slides out. I had problems trying to finagle my arm at uncomfortable angles through the cage door while attempting to clean the grill as well as the narrow space below the drawer. I got my budgies from a local pet store, completely untame and terrified of human hands so any trust and comfort forged between us throughout the workweek was quickly undone during weekend cleaning.Enter Hagen Vision which lives up to its claims of containing seed husks and feathers inside of the cage, eliminating the once daily hassle of cleaning cage surroundings to just once every couple of weeks. The Hagen Vision L01 cage body easily detaches from the base and grill making cleaning easy and quick for me, while being a non-event for my happy, rambunctious budgies in the cage body. This leads to the true value of the Hagen Vision L01, which for me is creating a sense of trust between my budgies and my hands. They both now step up voluntarily not only for me, but anyone that is with me. This has also allowed me to get a playstand and let them outside of their cage because I know I can easily and peacefully get them back inside of the cage.I was initially skeptical of all the plastic bits that hold the L01 together, but it’s been almost one year and I have found it to be quite durable even after taking it apart and reassembling it. I've assembled it by myself both times and found that the brackets holding the walls together require a little bit of muscle to assure that the bracket locks into place with a second locking click after the initial loose positioning click. Assembly over carpet also helps.My birds completely ignored a ladder I bought to help them get to the food and water dishes and took to jumping down on the grill before I got some wooden multi-branch perches that they now use like a jungle gym to get to their dishes. One of the branches screwed in straight but I had to screw the other one in at an angle to get it to extend downwards and the wire cage walls have held up without any weakening. The horizontal bars are strong enough to hold different size perches without any issues although I will place a small perch perpendicular to the edge of any perch longer than 10 inches for extra support since my birds love to jump and slam down on their landings. The plastic sleeves do a good job of protecting food and water from falling poo and feathers.Take note that the dimensions of the plastic area extend slightly outward (maybe a half inch on each side) from the metal bars that constitute the living space where the birds spend most of their time, and it is this plastic space that is reported as the length and width of the cage. I have found this difference to be negligible in the L01, and there is enough room for my two budgies to live and play. I have tried different cage configurations but usually try to create a variation with three or four different levels. The lowest for food and water, two opposing perches at slightly different heights for flight from one side of the cage to the other, a toy level above this, and various swings, perches, and toys above that.Overall the Hagen Vision L01 is a great cage that allows you to create a sense of trust even if you start out with two wary, skittish budgies like I did.

A++ to Amazon. Here's how it all went down...I read, and researched, and read some more, and decided to get this cage - the Vision L01. Amazon sent it out via 2-day shipping, and knowing how reliable Amazon is with shipping, I made my plans to bring our new Parakeet home. Arrival day came, and dragged on. Through NO fault of Amazon, the cage did not arrive. I had a frightened bird, and no bird home, so I was forced to get the same cage through a local retailer for around $20 more. Upon checking the tracking information, I learned that the item was set as "delivered". Maybe the shipper made an error, or maybe it was stolen from the front porch...not sure. Anyway, I reported this to Amazon, and during a 5 minute instant message chat, they refunded every dime I spent, and sent a confirmation, and long-story-short, they fixed everything. Is nice to know that a giant of a retailer like Amazon actually cares about, and takes care of their customers.Now to the cage. Huge, bright, easy to assemble, sturdy and well designed. I feel I can EASILY house 3 birds in it; the 1 little fellow in there now looks tiny! As I mentioned above, I did a lot of research, and all the things "they" say parakeets prefer are actually hard to find in a single cage - large size, horizontal bars, more wide than tall for easy flight, flat roof, square corners, can be cleaned without disturbing the bird, large landing-style door(s). This one has it all. The odd, plastic perches that are included are admittedly awful, but I use tree branch style anyway, so whatever. It's still A+ to the cage, as well; it's going to be perfect.Update: I just cleaned the cage for the first time, and I am now even more impressed! It took all of 10 minutes, and my very new and still nervous bird wasn't disturbed at all, as he was able to simply sit the whole thing out resting on his favorite perch (I simply unhooked the top, and set it on a towel that I laid on the bed). Completely awesome cage!Oh, and the Vision "floors" or "cage liners" or whatever they are called, are a must as well. A thin, glossy cardboard that fits the base of the cage perfectly means that they simply wipe, disinfect, dry, and go right back in...no scrubbing wires!A final addition: to those who have trouble with the little white corner clips coming off...I don't think yours are on all the way. Clicking them all the way into place took a little bit of effort, and now that they are solid, I can't imagine how I would INTENTIONALLY remove them. There are little notches on the inside of the clips, and the wires clip into those.