Chipped Paint on a Used Cage

[frankensteinsmother]

So I bought a used Hoei cage for my budgie only to get it and find out it's covered in chipped paint. The cage itself seems ancient judging on its beaten appearance but doesn't seem to have any real flaws aside from the chipped paint. Thinking I could repaint it myself, I looked into it and realized I'm not comfortable using paint without a powder coating.

My question: Does a bird cage need paint on it? Could I theoretically spend the next five years sanding the paint off the metal on this cage so I don't feel compelled to recycle it? I feel bad throwing it out but I'd feel worse creating a hazard for my animal or someone else's.

[Hezz]

Unless the cage is stainless steel, the metal needs some sort of coating to prevent it from rusting. If the cage is in as poor condition as you say, I wouldn't waste the energy and time needed to getting it back into a safe condition. If the paint has chipped, most likely there will be rust underneath so you would have to get not only all the paint off but all the rust as well. Heavy metal poisoning is not something you want to be dealing.

[frankensteinsmother]

I've been trying to figure out if there's such thing as bird safe paint even after I decided not on cursory internet research. It seems to be debatable whether paint is more flexibly durable than powder coating but that whole non-toxic thing and the fact that it's a thin wire cage (not something a big ol' parrot will be gnawing on and chipping) is kinda persuasive.

On a fun side note, I actually called the one powder coating company I found in my county and got a quote on re-powder coating the cage. (Yeah. I have a lot of time on my hands these days.) For the record, I live in Washington State in a mainly suburban area and was told it would be $300 to coat a 18"x18"x22" cage.

Clearly, I'm having heavy issues junking a cage I paid $15 for sight unseen. I'm taking Frankie to see his first vet for a check-up in a week and I might just keep it in the back bathroom until I can get a vet to tell me there's no saving it through years of laborious sanding and rust removal and painting. In the meanwhile, I got REAL mad that I couldn't use a cage I paid good if not that much money for and impulse bought a 31x20.5x53" Prevue flight cage. Nothing beats a bad mood like rage shopping for a small bird.

[mona]

I feel you!

Trust me, the birdies are unpredictable! My hen is chewing the cage bars (though that might apply just for the hen), but both of them use the cage bars for navigation.. it seems they forget sometimes that they can fly!!

I had a cage which was damaged during relocation and it caught rust in a while. I had been trying to clean off the rust every day, but there were some nooks and corners, bends, which you cannot clean. Sand paper cannot be used with birds around..i don't find it safe. I was so worried about metal poisoning.. since you can't keep an eye on them all the times. I did buy another powder coated cage for them. Will powder coat the old cage in a few months again to keep it as a spare cage.

With birdies at home, I have learnt that you have to go through a thorough research before moving ahead with any kind of purchases, which also includes a lot of enquiries for me regarding the material used in making their toys.. a lot about their seeds (if it's unpolished, organic, if it sprouts and is nutritionally active), the cage material and what not!

[frankensteinsmother]

I had budgies as a kid and a cockatiel as a teenager but I had no idea how much care those animals actually required. With this lil guy I'm googling *everything* only to find out that pretty much every aspect of owning a budgie requires research and specific knowledge. I currently have a fix-it pile of perches and toys that aren't safe or comfortable but could be given a tweak or two--I suspect that, given my limited creativity and technical know-how, that pile will shortly be renamed the trash pile.

Is powder coating more affordable where you live, Mona? I have no idea how much it usually costs or how much the cost varies.

[mona]

frankensteinsmother I know.. I had a couple of plastic perches, which I had covered with jute rope.. but thinking about replacing it with natural perches instead. Got a couple of natural "bird safe" wood perches from a forest away from the city... Though I have stainless steel utensils at home, I had the plastic water drinking bowl. Learnt a lot from this forum, my mom and a bit of personal research.

I live in India..I haven't yet enquired about powder coating, but I don't expect it to be very costly..

[Hezz]

Powder coating is definitely more durable to a budgie's beak than paint. A determined budgie, like mona's hen, can chip bits off the paint in a very short time. You may not have a chewer, but then again you just might. For $15 I'd be cutting my losses and adding it to a scrap metal pile. I'm all for re-cycling but some things just are not worth the effort.

[frankensteinsmother]

I junked it! Thanks to everyone for helping me nip my bird cage hoarding habit in the bud.