Repainting a cage

[Laurasea]

Hi all,
How do you repaint a cage? Where do get,and what type of paint do you use? I am thinking of getting a large cage I saw, is a bit Rusty and needs to be worked over.

 

[itzjbean]

I would personally ditch the rusty cage and opt for a brand new one, either stainless steel or one that's powder coated to prevent rust. If done incorrectly your bird could end up ingesting toxic paint or the rust.

There are several cages we can recommend here that won't break the bank. Amazon is where I found my cage, and has tons of space for my cockatiels to play and fly.

 

[Kiwibird]

Repainting at home is not possible to do safely with any paint. Parrots bite down on the bars of their cages to climb and sometimes just to be little $!@#$. Any kind of paint, even low vvic or "non-toxic" is NOT safe for parrots to have oral contact with or worse, potentially ingest. If you want to get a cage professionally refinished, it has to be done with a non-toxic powder coat. Sometimes auto body shops can do it, but it'll cost as much if not more than a new cage and is almost never worth it.

Your best bet is to just pass on the rusty cage. Birdcages4less.com has a great selection of nicely built cages at good prices for all size birds (and are really helpful if you have questions). I'd recommend looking there if on a budget. Just not worth the risk to try to refinish a cage nor the hassle to find somewhere that can do a new powder coat that they can actually guarantee will be non-toxic for parrots.

 

[Laurasea]

10-4 will ditch this idea I just liked the idea of recycling, and it's huge! But I think the bar spacing was to wide anyway

 

[EllenD]

Yeah, please do not ever paint a cage with any paint, as no paint is going to be okay for your bird to eat, and I guarantee they will chew on the bars. The only type of outer coating that can ever be on a bird's cage is powder-coating. And as far as rust goes, it is very possible to refurbish an old, rusty cage into a beautiful one for your bird, but not by painting it. You have to sand/grind the rust off, I've done this using both a Dremel and a metal grinder, and then after you sand the whole thing down and get all the rust off, then you polish it with an electric buffer or a dremel, or other rotary tool. Works great, takes some time, but works great. But you absolutely cannot paint a cage.

 

[Jottlebot]

There should be plenty of second hand cages that are in perfect condition - depending where you are in the world. If it's a real bargain you could get it stripped and re-powder coated yourself by a company that does this.

 

[Taw5106]

The last two cages I purchased I ordered offline, Amazon to be exact. I got the cages at a fraction of what I bought my first cage for and actually one is the same exact cage. I had to put them together but that wasn't too difficult. Good luck!

 

[MonicaMc]

Sometimes, it's best to go to a car shop to get a cage repainted... They can strip the cage clean (re: sand blast the cage down) and repaint the cage with safe powder coating. That said, you need to speak with them on what colors are actually safe vs ones that are dangerous as some colors are *NOT* safe to use on parrot cages.

And...... depending on how much they charge, you might as well be better off going with a new cage. Sometimes you get lucky though and can find someone who can do it for cheap!


If bar spacing too wide, best to avoid anyway.

 

[Goldenconure1]

Personally perhaps look into a new cage?

 

[LeslieA]

I would personally ditch the rusty cage and opt for a brand new one, either stainless steel or one that's powder coated to prevent rust. If done incorrectly your bird could end up ingesting toxic paint or the rust.

There are several cages we can recommend here that won't break the bank. Amazon is where I found my cage, and has tons of space for my cockatiels to play and fly.

I agree!!! There are lots of good cages on sale right now. Buying another cage is better than killing your bird anyday.

 

[LeslieA]

Sometimes, it's best to go to a car shop to get a cage repainted... They can strip the cage clean (re: sand blast the cage down) and repaint the cage with safe powder coating. That said, you need to speak with them on what colors are actually safe vs ones that are dangerous as some colors are *NOT* safe to use on parrot cages.

And...... depending on how much they charge, you might as well be better off going with a new cage. Sometimes you get lucky though and can find someone who can do it for cheap!


If bar spacing too wide, best to avoid anyway.

Often, going to an auto shop for refinishing is MORE expensive than just buying one brand new.

 

[Laurasea]

Hi all! Thanks for help info!!! I just bought a new cage!!!!! Safety and piece of mind,!!! I had hoped that maybe there were safe paint you could order, and do yourself.... But not worth the headache!!!! Penny is very worried about her new cage am sitting with her now in a show of support.

 

[MonicaMc]

Often, going to an auto shop for refinishing is MORE expensive than just buying one brand new.

It really depends on the autoshop. I've heard of some doing the cages within the $70-$200 price range, which is still cheaper than buying a brand new cage that could adequately fit a macaw or cockatoo. That is, unless of course the cage is already within the $200+ range and you are buying it used... in which case, new is best anyway! I mean, if it's going to cost $200 for the cage, $200 for the paint job... that's $400 that could go towards a new cage. A free cage or an old one that you already have that's actually a good cage might be worth the auto-shop price.

For a cage for a smaller bird, not necessarily worth it to get one repainted...