# Cage Material - Will this work?



## Kai (Jan 28, 2008)

So I have a HUGE cage for my cockatiels and decided to divide it so that my conure can live on the bottom 1/3 and my tiels on the top 2/3. In order to divide it I found some galvanized vinyl coated hardware cloth at Orchard Supply Hardware. Before I go opening the package and setting things up in my cage I wanted to make sure it was safe enough. I know Galvanized can be toxic and I'd have to keep an eye on the vinyl coating but should it be ok otherwise?

The hardware cloth is made by a company called Grip-rite. Here is what they have to say about their vinyl coated product.

*Vinyl coated fence is first galvanized and then vinyl
coated for additional protection against corrosion, as
well as adding a more aesthetic appearance. Vinyl
coated fence is for yards, gardens, and pets, and blends
well with the environment.*


----------



## Peanutbutter (Jun 29, 2009)

"I know Galvanized can be toxic.... but it should be okay otherwise.... "

I'm sorry that sentence doesn't make sense to me... Galvanized wire is Toxic, and because it's toxic it is not okay.

Can you take a pic to show what you are trying to do... maybe the board can generate safer options.


----------



## Kai (Jan 28, 2008)

Here is my birdcage. (Old pic from when I first got the cage so don't mind the sparseness)









I want to divide it horizontally by attaching wire mesh to the inside of the cage right above the bottom door. I just need to know if what I have purchased can be used. I know people use galvanized wire but they really scrub it down with water and vinegar to make sure it is safe. I'm hoping the vinyl coating will be extra protection.


----------



## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

Vinegar does NOT remove the zinc on galvanized wire at all 

both conures and tiels are chewers I wouldn't use it 

I won't use hardware cloth at all around the birds 

I know a lot of people say "I've used galvanized wire i scrubbed with vinegar for years nothing ever happened" yet in the same breath " ive had birds die" When asked why they don't have a clue and i bet if they would of ever had a necropsy done it would of no doubt been from metal poisoning (from the galvanized wire)

if you could get an old tray from a cage that would work might have to cut the lips off and zip tie it on but It would work and be much safer


----------



## Kai (Jan 28, 2008)

Thanks ATV. I do not have an extra cage tray (at all or even one that would fit). I guess I'm perplexed as this hardware cloth was advertised as suitable for aviaries so I thought it would be great for my needs.


----------



## Peanutbutter (Jun 29, 2009)

Kirby has a post in the "cage pics" thread about how he divided his HQ flight by using the slide out cage grate panel. 

Empty the cage, (takeing off a side panel might be easier), slide the grate in up where u want it... 
I tried it with my HQ: the pull handle on the grate is where I ran into trouble-- I think it would have to be cut off... I got my grate right below the top door, but after that I couldn't close the top door because the handle was poking out.
Cut the handle off the grate & wedge it in... Play with this idea some though... u might be able to make it work better than I could. I only played with it for about a half hour just to see how it would really work.

Have you thought about plexi glass/acrylic sheet with holes drilled in it & hung horizontally?


ETA: I've also read that vinegar will not remove the zinc from the wire. It possibly helps, but not much. I've read that galvanized is 'okay' in huge outdoor aviaries because the tiels have more places to perch and therefore pretty much stay off the sides of the enclosure. No personal experience though.


----------



## Kai (Jan 28, 2008)

I thought about that with my cage but my problem is that the tray at the bottom has a tendency to fall out (it's cheap plastic that sags in the corners a bit). Since it is in no way secure I would not trust it to keep my rambunctious conure secure.

Would the vinyl coating be no protection at all?


----------



## atvchick95 (Sep 17, 2007)

Kai said:


> Thanks ATV. I do not have an extra cage tray (at all or even one that would fit). I guess I'm perplexed as this hardware cloth was advertised as suitable for aviaries so I thought it would be great for my needs.




I understand where your coming from but if you think about it there are a lot of things sold as "bird safe" when they're not

Plus its not just Companion parrots who live in aviary's some build them for their pigeons, chickens etc And those types of birds can use Galvanized wire because they don't use their beak to climb around 


one of my cages that i divided we used a big piece of plastic, it was thin but not to thin, it rolled up like rolling a newspaper (thats how i got it in the cage ) and it was easy to bend with out breaking 

I dont know the name of it because it wqs given to me but i used that then laid their newspaper over top and I had birds in the top half and bottom half 

the 1st way I had it was with a piece of stainless steel it worked except for when the tiels chewed up their paper and made a mess into the cage below them


----------



## Bea (Jul 26, 2007)

I would like to add that green cheekies are super active, i don't feel like 1/3 of the flight cage would be roomy enough.


----------



## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

I personally would do it the easy way. If you can I would get a cage like this http://www.parrotdiseperch.com/parrot/shop_details.php?prod=1803 and sell the old one. Or just get another single flight cage for the conure that might be safer as the conure could not nip any tiel toes.


----------



## Kai (Jan 28, 2008)

Thanks for that info Spike but I live in an apartment and I have no room for that cage to fit. I think I need to explain why I want to divide my original cage. My conure already has a roomy cage all to herself that she thoroughly enjoys. This is her primary cage. When school starts back up in the fall C.B. and the cage will be coming with my to my classroom (at first on a trial basis to see how it goes). I don't want to leave her alone in the classroom overnight or on the weekends so my plan is to divide my large cage. I would really like to do this with some sort of wire so that I'd have a place to hang toys from and the like. There would be no place to do that if I used a tray or Plexiglas as the bars to the cage run vertically. If I put some sort of wire where I want then C.B.'s part of the cage will be a bit shorter (about 16") but much wider and longer.

So with all that in mind, can someone recommend something I CAN use? What if I found the same style of wire in Stainless steel. Would that be acceptable? Any suggestions for helping me with this are greatly appreciated.


----------



## xxxSpikexxx (Jul 30, 2007)

Can you get some smaller cages for the class room? Sorry Iam not much help, I thought some stainless steel wire is galvanized. So you would have to make sure it is ungalvanized stainless steel wire


----------



## birdieness (Jul 28, 2007)

Well i do have an idea but the Bottom cage wouldn't have a grate. i have the same cage aswell and it might be a bit trickey to get done. The handle on the grate, get rid of it and then see if you can work this pannel up where you want it to and use some cable ties or so to make sure it stays in place.

Might take a lot of work and may not even work as i don't know if it would be possible to get the grate without a handle up into the cage.


----------



## Kai (Jan 28, 2008)

Thanks birdieness. I had that idea as well but I need the grate on the bottom as the seed tray is not very secure at all (it has a tendency to fall down for no reason at all). I would hate for that to happen, especially when I'm not around.


----------



## Peanutbutter (Jun 29, 2009)

could you not fix the seed tray somehow so it won't fall down & just use the grate as the divider like previously mentioned. It does work if you remove the pull out handle... you don't even need to secure it in place really because its a super tight fit.

I'm thinking run a couple bars across the stand horizontally *under* the tray so it can't fall. Wouldn't even matter what material you used under the tray for support because the birds wouldn't be able to chew it.


----------

