Wire spacing?

Molcan2

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Location
Lake Co., Florida
Parrots
Princess Rome- Moluccan Cockatoo (18yrs old), Rosie - Galah/Rose Breasted Cockatoo (2yr old)
Okay so I've found the manufacturer that I'm planning on using for fencing (kind of, I keep switching who to use). I'm just going to go with the welded stainless steel. From everything that I have researched its really the only thing that seems to be 100% safe. My question is what spacing should I go with? They have a 2x2 opening 10g wire that is cheaper than doing 12g 1x1 opening. Is 2x2 wire opening to large? I'm not worried about animals getting in but don't want any birds to injure themselves.

I was going to go with this company:

Welded Stainless Wire mesh data,prices, helpful information
 
Too funny! I was researching for the same thing. A lot of professionals recommend using wire spacing of 1"x2" or 1"x3" rectangular for larger species of parrot with strong beaks. They also recommend a heavier gauge such as 14 to 16. However, taking a look at the link you provided, the closest thing to that ( in stainless ) would be 1" x 1/2" or 2" x1/2". The only thing i would see wrong with 2"x2" would be if the bird is able to climb it easily as well as making absolutely sure they cannot fit their head through it. GAW (that is Galvinized After Weld) is the next best choice so long as you clean it using a firm bristle brush and vinegar, then leaving it outside to weather in the sun. That is the best way to remove any leftover zinc dust and particles. In this case, they have 1"x1" quite a bit cheaper. There are a lot of sites out there to help aid your research. Hope this helps! Good luck!
 
Yeah they have a 1x1 12g thats $950. The 2x2 is cheaper, I read that you want to increase your gauge size if the wire spacing is larger so that it maintains its strength. The 2x2 that I was looking at is a 10 gauge and priced at $700. I need at minimum a 14g because of how strong the M2s beak is and I may possibly be getting a GW which requires a minimum of 12g. Thats the only reason why I'm looking a the larger gauges. I cant seem to find anything on wire spacing. Would the larger birds be okay with 2x2? or is that just simple too large?

After everything that I have researched the GAW wire is not 100% safe (birds have still been shown to become toxic from it, and with my luck mine would as well), the only wire that is 100% safe is stainless steel. After talking to the wire companies (I called several because of conflicting information online) its a misnomer that you can 'age' the wire, the zinc comes from with in the wire itself and can never be taken out of the wire or the amount of it lessened by those practices (I asked because I also read online about the scrubbing and aging, the companies told me I would be wasting my time). Apparently, from the companies themselves, there is no way to make it safe to use on birds and every company that I talked to about GAW did not recommend it to be used on birds. Much to my dismay because its sooo much cheaper. When a company tells you to try a different company and they don't want to sell you their product because of safety concerns for my bird, it is a big deal to me. For a company to take the financial loss of a customer and refer me to another completely different company tells me that GAW is not safe.

I called 15 different companies and got the same answer from each. I called so many because I was hoping for the 1 company that said 'yeah our stuff is safe to use for birds.' They all said the only metal that I could use that is safe is stainless steel.
 
Yeah i dont know what i was thinking. thanks molly. My head has been in the wrong place lately and i also forgot i was shopping for mesh for my BHC hence the wrong gauge. Sorry you guys... Molcan2, you can request for a sample too just to see what it is like...
 
Thanks FreedaGirl, good idea, sometimes it just takes someone else to point out the obvious. :D I swear I should have been born blonde.
 

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