
A recent article in about.birds.comstated that cement perches were bad for birds.
To say cement perchesare not safe for your birds is not entirely accurate. Cement perches have their place. We're not a big fan of cement perches, we prefer Sandyperch brand abrasive perches because of their Manzanita core. The problem with cement perches is that most people use them improperly.
Many bird owners have told us they use abrasive perches up high in the cage and the cement perch eventually becomes a sleeping perch. If the bird spends a lot of time on a cement perch or worse yet sleeps on the perch, yes foot problems will probably manifest themselves in that application.
We suggest placing an abrasive perch- yes even cement - on the INSIDE of the cage door. when you open the door, the bird is excited because they are about to get out of the cage. Typically they will do a little dance until you come and get them. While they're doing this little dance, they are trimming their nails. If you have a wood dowel and/or Manzanita perchand a rope perch for sleeping, up high in the cage, your bird will not spend a lot of time on the cement perch. Just make sure the diameter of the perch is large enough to the birds toes don't touch each other and the nails come in contact with the abrasive surface.
Hello-
Im concerned about your posted info on restoring cages... according to 2 well-respected avian vet specialists in my area,it is NOT safe to use any type of store-bought paint on a parrot cage-powdercoated is the only acceptable method. These vets have no reason to push powdercoat other than genuine care about bird safety.
my sources: Dr Fern Van Sant,DVM-she has published articles on zinc toxicity and other topics-owns avian practice in San Jose,CA Dr Michael Murphy,DVM-head vet at a specialist practice in Monterey,CA
Just wanted to let you know. -Sue and birds Bodhi & Chipper
Hi Sue
Thank you for contacting us
We appreciate the feedback. Prevue Pet the worlds largest manufacturer of bird cages PAINTS many models right here in Chicago and has assay results on file as to their safety. They (Prevue) are the only company to include touch up PAINT in all their wrought iron bird cages. Because they supply these bird cages to the big box stores like Petco, Petsmart and so forth, their potential liability is so great, they must be certain the bird cages are safe.
Most people do not understand powder coating. Unless the metal (substrate) is prepared properly, the powder coat will not adhere well. As a former partner in a small powder coating facility (Shelf-Kote, Barrington Illinois) and having sold thousands of cages, I can say with certainty a bad powder coat job is far more hazardous to birds because of the potential for flaking off an ill prepared substrate. UNLESS YOU KNOW WHERE THAT CAGE CAME FROM YOU WON'T KNOW THE POWDER COATING IS BAD until your bird starts dropping chips on the bottom of their cage (or they get caught in their digestive system)
There are differences between Thermoplastic powders that will remelt when heated, and Thermosetting powders that will not remelt upon reheating. Some powder coat companies recycle the powder coat - great for out door furniture - bad for birds. Further, a powder coat job over metal with too much zinc or rust will not protect the bird. There are factories in China with leaky roofs that produce thousands of bird cages that have been powder coated over rust and are sold here in the US
So to say powder coat is the ONLY way to coat a bird cage is actually not correct. If you look at the cheap bird cages on Ebay, with no brand names they may look just like the ones we sell from HQ, AE & Prevue. I would not trust them to place a rescued street pigeon in, in spite of the fact they have been powdercoated.
Click here to learn more about bird and parrot cages
Mitch Rezman
General Manager
WindyCityParrot.com
4726 W. Walton
Chicago, Illinois 60651
312.492.9673 ext 104
312.492.9674 Fax
877.287.0810 Toll Free
Between climbing, grabbing, scratching and chewing, your bird can wear the finish over time. Chips from old powder coat may not break up and may cause intestinal blockages.
Preparation
The paint you choose
Before you paint
When you're done
Make sure there are lots of interesting perches to climb on
Every parrot cage (for hookbill birds) should have at least 3 textures of bird perches - soft wood, hardwood & rope (or fabric)
Birds love to climb, and paint damage often occurs from birds' gripping the cage with their beak and nails to assist them in climbing up the cage. Aviculturists have reported that, by wiring (We use cable ties) perches or appropriately-sized tree branches onto the inner sides of the bird cages, the birds will be encouraged to climb from place to place by gripping these with their beaks, so that they do not even touch the wire bars when climbing.
Save $50 - Any Cage Over $250 Coupon Code - 50OFFCAGE - Thru 09/01/2008
Click to save and learn more about bird cages at WindyCityParrot.com



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