Parrot Cage Paint - What paint are you supposed to use?

[texascowboy1979]

I got a free old Metal cage with the "Blue and Gold" macaw that I got... Its made from a metal, dont know if its steel or what, but it looks like iron. What type of paint can I use on painting the parrot cage, or does it not matter? I dont want to put the parrot in harms way. I wanna use the color "Black"

Thanks

 

[Alkonost]

The ONLY paint that is safe to use for cages is powdercoating, which is pretty expensive to do on your own. If the cage is stainless steel, it doesn't need to be painted at all. If there's any rust on the cage, or if the cage is any color other than kind of a shiny platinum, I would assume that it isn't stainless steel and is therefore not a safe cage. Please google "heavy metal toxicity in parrots" to learn more about it. In the meantime, I would start looking for a good used cage on craigslist. Look for ones without rust, and with bar spacing 1" to 1.5" apart. An appropriate sized cage for a macaw is at least 5" x 3.5" x 2.5", but depending on how big she is and how active she is, you may need one bigger than that. The other thing to check when buying a used cage on CL or anywhere else is to hold a magnet up to the cage bars. If the magnet sticks, it is NOT made of a bird-safe material. If it's made in China, it's almost certainly NOT made of bird-safe material. If it's made by HQ, Avian Adventures, California Cages, Kings Cages, just to name a few, it IS made of bird-safe material. Best of luck!

 

[texascowboy1979]

Thanks... Ill keep my eye out.. Im not looking for a cage for my Macaws... they have there own breeding pens... Im looking for a nice indoor cage for Hunter... He's supposed to be an indoor bird... you know the kind... spoiled rotton... not really, but will get MOST of my attention....

 

[SummerChick]

We screened in a small porch for out macaw, sun conure and cockatiel. We put a tree branch to look like a tree but no leaves..also tree branch perches the length of the porch so they can climb and walk all around. They seem to like it.

 

[texascowboy1979]

Quote:
Thats a great Idea... My african Grey still needs time before I put him in his cage... I wanted to find some really nice pirches for the house... like one in the kitche, one in the hall, one in the living room, and one near the piano.. that way Hunter, the african grey, can follow me threw the house when he's on play time.

 

[SummerChick]

If you can find a tree branch that is maybe 5 or 6 feet tall and mount it(we used an old x-mas tree stand), take off all the small limbs but leave a few as if were a tree but no leaves...your african grey can climb on the branches and also use it as a perch.

 

[TGarcia]

Also you want to make sure that any branches that you use are not toxic to the parrot. Most parrots are chewers. I had a senegal parrot that chewed up everything I put into her cage. My other parrots are no where near as destructive as she was.

There are some sites that will give you info on those that are safe and not safe, and how you need to prepare them before introducing them to your bird. But if you are buying them from a petstore they should be OK.

As far as the paint on the cage.....I have heard that anything that is kid friendly is OK....I personally would NEVER take a chance with anything other than powder-coated. There are places that can do that....but I think it's pretty expensive. Probably better to just invest in a new cage to be on the safe side.