Painting A Birdcage

wrvgirl · Feb 18, 2013

I've been looking at zero VOC paints that are completely safe and natural, no Zinc or hazardous materials.

I found a zero VOC latex paint with no zinc or anything in it, and the lady at Lowe's said she's used it to paint her ferret cage with before and it's safe...

Has anyone ever sanded and repainted a cage before?

My baby hasn't even been hatched yet, so I think 3 months is plenty amount of time for the paint to dry and settle before the bird arrives.

Any tips would be awesome.

Featheredsamurai · Feb 18, 2013

When I repainted a cockatiel cage I used a human safe enamel spray paint of high quality. I used the same brand for the primer. I wish I remembered the name of the brand.

Here's a useful web page to read on painting bird cages

Kiwibird · Feb 18, 2013

My honest opinion would be to not paint the cage. Unlike ferrets, parrots have a lot contact orally with their cage (climbing, rubbing their beak on the bars, some like to chew/bend the bars). While it may be safe for some animals, I just don't see it being safe for birds. It doesn't matter how "non toxic" it says on the label, store bought paint applied at home does chip, and just like many other things that are "non toxic" to other animals, parrots are very sensitive and you really have no real way of knowing if that paint contains a toxic to birds substance. That said, professional factory-made cages come in a wide array of colors. Even better, they are painted with guaranteed bird safe specialty paint applied by a special process so they cannot chip it off easily. I would say, since you have months until your baby comes home, you have a lot of time to shop for the perfect color cage to suit your needs.

If you are REALLY wanting to make your bird something special, you can paint something for him/her that it will not really come in direct contact with. Perhaps a really nice box for toys/supplies you could paint a beautiful color and stencil it's a name on. A large sheet of plywood or even the wall could be painted up with nice scenery as a backdrop for the cage. Or if you are getting a smaller parrot who's cage will need to be on a stand, you can paint the stand whatever color you like, and just buy a neutral color cage to put on it. There are plenty of options of how to customize your bird area without potentially exposing your bird to toxic paint on the cage itself. Best of luck!

wrvgirl · Feb 18, 2013

Copperarabian said:
When I repainted a cockatiel cage I used a human safe enamel spray paint of high quality. I used the same brand for the primer. I wish I remembered the name of the brand.

Here's a useful web page to read on painting bird cages

Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what I thought. I just read that the Krylon H2o series is zero VOC and safe as well, but I bought edible paint. Lol.

Spray paint would have been much easier.

Thingamagigs · Feb 18, 2013

I don't know about the USA, but in AUS the paints list their ingredients so you can choose one that is appropriate. Like copperarabian I have used safe enamel spray paints previously. It was a rust guard enamel, our brands are different here so I can't recommend one for you

But I did my research before hand and took a list of harmful ingredients with me to the paint store to make sure I was getting a safe paint. Some paints will even have printed on the side that they are safe for painting bird cages and animal enclosures.
There are bird safe paints, but they cost a bit of money and I found once I had painted the cage it cost me nearly as much as it would to buy a new one! It took four bottles to do the whole cage and really I should have put another coat on, which would have brought the total to 8 bottles!

If the cage isn't enormous and hard to come by (and would cost an arm and a leg to replace)... then I suggest just buying a new cage. Ideally you would spray the whole cage, wait a week for it to dry and then do a second coat... and third coat if you wish. After the last coat the cage needs to air out for at least 2 weeks but ideally longer than that. There must be zero smell to the cage before it is used, the smell indicates residual gases which ARE toxic, no matter what brand you buy.
Its a lot of messing around and I wouldn't bother doing it again personally.

Featheredsamurai · Feb 18, 2013

Thingamagigs said:
I don't know about the USA, but in AUS the paints list their ingredients so you can choose one that is appropriate. Like copperarabian I have used safe enamel spray paints previously. It was a rust guard enamel, our brands are different here so I can't recommend one for you But I did my research before hand and took a list of harmful ingredients with me to the paint store to make sure I was getting a safe paint. Some paints will even have printed on the side that they are safe for painting bird cages and animal enclosures.
There are bird safe paints, but they cost a bit of money and I found once I had painted the cage it cost me nearly as much as it would to buy a new one! It took four bottles to do the whole cage and really I should have put another coat on, which would have brought the total to 8 bottles!

If the cage isn't enormous and hard to come by (and would cost an arm and a leg to replace)... then I suggest just buying a new cage. Ideally you would spray the whole cage, wait a week for it to dry and then do a second coat... and third coat if you wish. After the last coat the cage needs to air out for at least 2 weeks but ideally longer than that. There must be zero smell to the cage before it is used, the smell indicates residual gases which ARE toxic, no matter what brand you buy.
Its a lot of messing around and I wouldn't bother doing it again personally.

I think it cost around $14 for two cans of paint when I did Dante's cage, but I agree that I wouldn't want to paint another if I could help it. When I got Dante he was thrown into my life suddenly and i had no supplies. He spent his first few days in a mesh vivarium with a few text books to hold a perch off the ground for him and food and water. Then a small parakeet cage for a week until the large cage my friends cage me was primed and painted.

Short term it's ok, but long term the paint doesn't last as long and you'll eventually need to repaint.

antoinette · Feb 18, 2013

Kiwibird said:
My honest opinion would be to not paint the cage. Unlike ferrets, parrots have a lot contact orally with their cage (climbing, rubbing their beak on the bars, some like to chew/bend the bars). While it may be safe for some animals, I just don't see it being safe for birds. It doesn't matter how "non toxic" it says on the label, store bought paint applied at home does chip, and just like many other things that are "non toxic" to other animals, parrots are very sensitive and you really have no real way of knowing if that paint contains a toxic to birds substance. That said, professional factory-made cages come in a wide array of colors. Even better, they are painted with guaranteed bird safe specialty paint applied by a special process so they cannot chip it off easily. I would say, since you have months until your baby comes home, you have a lot of time to shop for the perfect color cage to suit your needs.

If you are REALLY wanting to make your bird something special, you can paint something for him/her that it will not really come in direct contact with. Perhaps a really nice box for toys/supplies you could paint a beautiful color and stencil it's a name on. A large sheet of plywood or even the wall could be painted up with nice scenery as a backdrop for the cage. Or if you are getting a smaller parrot who's cage will need to be on a stand, you can paint the stand whatever color you like, and just buy a neutral color cage to put on it. There are plenty of options of how to customize your bird area without potentially exposing your bird to toxic paint on the cage itself. Best of luck!

Kiwibird I agree with you 100%

Never paint a birds cage. You will obviously be painting the bars, these are the most likely of all parts to be chewed on. Nontoxic refers to humans, and most paints and chemicals are not routinely tested on pet birds, so it is impossible to guarantee safety.

:grey:

wrvgirl · Feb 20, 2013

I used unearthed paint on the cage.
100% natural, no chemicals, zero VOC....it's pretty much edible paint [Hey low iron pregnant women, want some paint chips that won't kill you?]

It turned out great. The paint was kind of pricey, but it's worth it for the safety of my bird....and I still saved money!

I treated the rust with boiled tea bags [the antioxidants in tea stop rust] I also used the two coat system and wet sanded between coats and buffed afterwards, there isn't a rough spot on the cage and it looks awesome.

blackhawk007 · Feb 20, 2013

I checked into having an old cage sand blasted and repowder coated about 2 weeks ago. Just outside Chicago the place will do a 34x24x60 cage for about $145. It's the safest from what I understand. I personally just don't trust painting them. Like others have stated, just because its human safe does not mean its bird safe. Just look at chocolate, avacado, salt, caffeine the list goes on.

robertclan4 · Apr 4, 2013

Which material is good to get for birds health and easy to clean as well?
_________________________
Bird Cages for sale reviews

critterman · Apr 4, 2013

kiwibird good advice I agree totally. Better safe than sorry!

weco · Apr 4, 2013

Hey Copper, that was nice of your friends...at least they didn't put you in a small cage....."the large cage my friends cage me was primed and painted."

I've only repainted one cage & for the work, I doubt I would do it again.....the sanding was just too tedious for me, but now I do repaint & decal model trains & work on laptop computers, so go figure tedious.....anyway I used Krylon primer & Krylon for the finish coat & was very happy with the outcome.....it became a parrotlet cage.....

WeimerHeimer · Apr 4, 2013

blackhawk007 said:
I checked into having an old cage sand blasted and repowder coated about 2 weeks ago. Just outside Chicago the place will do a 34x24x60 cage for about $145. It's the safest from what I understand. I personally just don't trust painting them. Like others have stated, just because its human safe does not mean its bird safe. Just look at chocolate, avacado, salt, caffeine the list goes on.

I have to agree with this person!

I have a cage slightly bigger than the cage mentioned above that I'm looking at rehab'ing. I contacted a "Metal Finishing Company" that is a local business here in my town. My quote was similiar to that mentioned above, around $150.00 estimate.

All modern day cage manufacturers today finish their cages in Powder Coat. It's a baked on process, will out lasts spray applied paint,subject to less chipping than paint, etc....

Google "metal finishing" places for your area. Places that do automovtive restorations usually have the equipment big enough to do the larger cages, too. Remember to review the "powder" material ingriedents and MDSD sheets.

Now, the only thing I'm a little uncertain about is, I was told that old powder coat cages can NOT be sand blasted. When the sand is jetted onto the old finish is starts to heat the surface of the old powder coating up and it ends up becoming "gummy" and will not come off easily. I'm told that an old powder coated cage needs to be stripped by a "dipping" process with a special solvent to remove the old powder coat. It is then "neutralized" and "rinsed" so that it is safe, then the new powder coat is applied to the bare metal.

Hope this helps!

Good luck!

Niner10Tango · Apr 4, 2013

WeimerHeimer said:
blackhawk007 said:

I checked into having an old cage sand blasted and repowder coated about 2 weeks ago. Just outside Chicago the place will do a 34x24x60 cage for about $145. It's the safest from what I understand. I personally just don't trust painting them. Like others have stated, just because its human safe does not mean its bird safe. Just look at chocolate, avacado, salt, caffeine the list goes on.

Click to expand...

Now, the only thing I'm a little uncertain about is, I was told that old powder coat cages can NOT be sand blasted. When the sand is jetted onto the old finish is starts to heat the surface of the old powder coating up and it ends up becoming "gummy" and will not come off easily. I'm told that an old powder coated cage needs to be stripped by a "dipping" process with a special solvent to remove the old powder coat. It is then "neutralized" and "rinsed" so that it is safe, then the new powder coat is applied to the bare metal.

Hope this helps!

Good luck!

A friend of mine owns a powder coating business and he has done bird cages in the past. It costs anywhere from $100 - $200. depending on size of the cage.

Depending on the type of metal and it's application, sand blasting will work. But with a bird cage, the old powder coat must be stripped by using a special solvent.

I have a powder coated cage myself and I love it. I usually take it outside a couple times a year (Spring & Fall) for a good scrub and rinse it with a power washer. Still looks brand new. :white1:

Painting A Birdcage

wrvgirl

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Featheredsamurai

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Kiwibird

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wrvgirl

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Thingamagigs

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Featheredsamurai

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antoinette

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wrvgirl

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robertclan4

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