Death of a cage

[cml]

Noone with experience at building aviaries?

There is a thread in here somewhere to tell how to build an indoor aviary.

Ive searched, but all that comes up are outdoor aviaries and how expensive it is.
I dont agree with this, even if I am a tad off with my calculations of 200$ for an INDOOR aviary it shouldnt be anything more than 300$, even if you run into a lot of things you hadnt planned for. I just figured someone here had built one and might want to share their ideas and plans =).

Anyway building an aviary wont happen for me for at least 6-12 months, but I'll post the results here when I do!

[Cage Cleaner]

I'd imagine the wire alone would be over 300, depending on the type you get. If I were building an aviary I'd go stainless steel. I've heard about people using galvanized after, as well, but it contains zinc. As does galvanized before. For a cage where they will be spending all their time in, I would opt out.

However, I was looking at aviaries that were 10'x10'x10' so I'm not sure what size you were thinking about, since it was indoors.

[cml]

I'd imagine the wire alone would be over 300, depending on the type you get. If I were building an aviary I'd go stainless steel. I've heard about people using galvanized after, as well, but it contains zinc. As does galvanized before. For a cage where they will be spending all their time in, I would opt out.

However, I was looking at aviaries that were 10'x10'x10' so I'm not sure what size you were thinking about, since it was indoors.

A smaller one, about L6.5' x W3.5-4' x H6' or there abouts. From my understanding galvanized steel is okay, as long as you use vinegear on it first. It will then get a "grey" and a little ugly surface, but it removes the risk with galvanized steel. Ive talked to a firm that builds aviaries and this is what they do for most of the pieces they sell. Sometimes someone orders a specially built one with stainless steel but they cost a fortune and according to them its unnecessary, the risk of zinc is very low with "hot-galvanized" (sorry I dont know the english term for this treatment) steel and non-existent if you treat it with apple vinegear.
Anyone else know differently? Maybe its best to pay up for stainless?


The wire is definatly the largest cost when building one, around half of the 200$ I estimate. The rest is for beams, hinges, sash angles, screws and flooring.

EDIT: I shopped around for stainless steel to see what the pricing was, and it was quite the sum here, to build the aviary im planning for next year it would be around 300$, just as you said Cage Cleaner, spot on .

[Cage Cleaner]

I'm interested in this, too. Though If I were to build that aviary I'd probably still go stainless simply because it would be an outdoor thing that I wouldn't feel like fixing when the galvanized steel gives in to the weather.

[TheNzJessie]

i would say as long as thye cage is not showing its cage (no chipped paint or rust) they could last a life time

[CheekyandMalolo]

We've had one cage for about 7 yrs or so, it's still in perfect condition. Our other one I bought second hand 3 years ago, it's still looking pretty good.
You can get cages re powder coated can't you?

[purplepit]

I had a cage for about 6 years. I would still have it except that I sent it with a foster bird when she was adopted. I got it off of ebay.

The cages I have now are going on three.

[CinnamonParrots]

I feel that many cages purchased roughly a decade or half a decade ago are most likely great cages, but even monitoring Hagen cages, they have been decreasing in quality ever so slightly just over the last 10 years. And My worry is that they are going to continue to decline with quality as the demand goes higher and competition rises, well and basically everything's made overseas almost, unless you're dishing out 5k for a cage like those at Cagesbydesign.

I'm not sure if anyone else notices the decline in quality for some brands when they browse around. There's a shift from metal trays to plastic trays, almost all dishes are stainless steel, and personally I enjoyed the Ceramic dishes as they were heavier and were topple friendly to small-med sized birds (can't say that for the big guys, macaws have broken a few ceramics lol!) but that part doesn't have much to do with quality... lol I just want ceramic dishes and most cages do not sell that anymore!

[Zooey]

What is the model and brand? That looks like a great cage. Can you put a link on here? The cage I have is in okayish condition, but it looks like my birds are going to absolutely wear it out to nothing in months.

[Cage Cleaner]

What is the model and brand? That looks like a great cage. Can you put a link on here? The cage I have is in okayish condition, but it looks like my birds are going to absolutely wear it out to nothing in months.

The company that made this cage is unfortunately now out of business. It was called Elite Cages, designed to use Fenix Crocks. It is -indeed- a great cage, and that feeding system is unbeatable. It even has acrylic lining around it to keep food from splattering out. Shame, really.