Cage redecorating

[elaine7717]

I recently adopted a female seafoam lovie who loves her new cage mate Noel. sHe is 6 months and he is 5 years. They are both peachfaced. They have a small cage. I want to move them into a new larger cage that has been in my garage forever. But it needs a new paint job to make it look more presentable. My mom suggested spray paint but of course I have doubts as to the safety of this. of course I will be letting the cage air dry for several days after painting outside. So what do you think. Is their a nontoxic paint or something. Thanx elaine

[Janie]

Hi Elaine and welcome! :)

I am sure there is some kind of safe, non toxic, paint that can be used for that cage but I don't know what that would be. I am glad you are asking and you will get answers. So many paints will chip and your lovies will also help that paint chip and that could easily kill them so it is important that you use the right type paint. Also, if there are rust spots on the cage, that's a huge problem. Most all good cages today are either powder coated or, if you can afford it, stainless steel.

You can find some great cage buys on line or at bird fairs. The large cage that I bought for my lovie came from a bird specialty store and was on sale for $260. That same cage (or one very similar) was just over $100 at a bird fair but I bought mine before I'd ever heard of a bird fair. Several people here have gotten very nice larger cages for their lovies on line, too. I don't have any of those links for you but other members will check in and give you some advice. It might be the best way to go......a new cage that you know will be safe and non toxic. :)

BTW, I am not familiar with "seafoam"......what are her colors? Is she a peachface? I'd love to see photos of both! :D

[bellarains]

Yep,

It would most likely cost you as much to recondition a cage as it would to buy a new one. I would look into a new one. You can find one at a very reasonable price at bird shows. There is a link in the Library to help you find a show near you, or you might even try the classifieds. You can also find some pretty good deals on line, just watch the shipping charges.

[shylevon]

Appliance paint works fairly well, but your best option is powder coating. Phone around and see if anyone does it in your neighborhood. Sometimes if you just want a common color like white, they will do it for next to nothing with a larger order of white articles they are spraying. Powder coating is baked on, and it really is the best way to go.

[Paulette]

Ohhh....Great tip Shy about the white.

Elaine....I have a huge cage that someone donated to me, but it's "RUSTED"...and sadly that is probably what killed their bird. It will take alot of work to fix a rusted cage. You will have to sand the rust.....and get rid of all the rust particles. Painting over rust is a no no because the rust will just allow the paint to raise up and pop off. The paint would also have to cure for quite a while 1 week at the minimum if you do it yourself. If you had finches who do not use their beaks to climb around it would be a little different. I have only redone one cage myself and it has finches in it. Appliance paint is very tricky, it has to be many ultra thin coats and runs easily. As much as I like to recycle things....I hate to say, a new cage would probably cost you less time, less frustration and possibly less money.

If you sand the cage yourself and use a tack cloth to get rid of the sanding and rust particles....and find someone to powder coat in a basic color like Shy suggested it might not be too expensive.....but typically powder coating runs 75.00 bucks up for any medium size project in Missouri that is.

Shop around.....some feed type stores carry bird cages and when they don't sell, they mark them down....I recently got some decent sized cages and some small ones good for travel or hospital cage for 10.00 bucks brand new, the big ones were 30.00. Today I went back for a couple more and they had the sturdy cockatiel ones marked down to $40.00. If you buy one second hand be sure to look for rust. I get excited when I see a used cage and don't really look for rust and sometimes when you get home and in good light:x.
Good Luck.:)

PS: Wal-Mart recently has began carrying cages....they have that one that I'm not too thrilled about for tiels, it's black and the food cups fit into the sides with the plexi panels that hold them in comes with hefty wire stand, but I think it runs around 40.00/50.00?....and the all favorite tall round cage w/stand 30.00 maybe 39.00 I used to have one of these(but rumor is that birds are afraid in a round cage)...and they even have that cage that's too darn small for any critter.....the black finch cage with angled roof for 14.95.

[Finnysmommie]

If the rust makes painting impossible, I would try ebay. I found a great cage at a pet store that I loved but it was over $300.00 so I was prepared to wait a couple of weeks until I could justify that cost to hubby, but I went on ebay and did a search.... I found the same cage for $163.00 and that included the shipping. It is a HUGE cage but still has the correct bar spacing for lovies.

Just thought I would share... maybe you will find a great deal too.:D

Cindy

[Mummieeva]

To re-paint a cage cost alot of money. I spent over 100 dollars fixing a medium size bird cage. I had to sand it,prime it,paint it and check it over sevral times to be sure a beak could not tear the paint off.In all honesty I would do like others said and check e-bay and such for a cage. One speck of ingested rust can harm a bird.


Steph