FINCHforum

Okay, I was thinking.. and it hit me!:

A cardboard box, with the front and top, maybe a sid eor two cut out. use old grates attached to the removed sides, you have a cheap easy bird cage!!!

I know, it's stupid. Just a thought.

what if it gets wet? or something falls on it and crumples it? it would be a pain to clean too I dont think it would work lol

Dante...I agree with Dee. The urine will soak the box, not to sanitary. I think it is a creative idea though, I like your thinking...recycle! But would pass on it.

How about a plastic box using a cage wire front?

Never call yourself stupid, that only gives others permission to do so. Recycling is good!

It might not work for permanent housing but you could certainly use it periodically as a travel cage if it is sturdy enough!

Maybe if you can get a nice STURDY thick box(we all know those amazing things are out there somewhere!) And possibly glaze it with a good bird safe glaze or paint, it would keep it nice and clean so that the urates did not soak through... But like the others said, i'm sure it would not be good for long term.

I like the idea though! My finch's nest box was made of cardboard that i sewn together with fishing line! VERY cheep and very sturdy! and it held the weight of two parents and three chicks easily

I like your innovation, Dante.

Whenever I'm sweeping the floor of my bird room, I'm always thinking wouldn't a great invention for aviaries and such be a low level baseboard-style blower that as seed falls to the floor, it gently blows it all across the room into a nice neat pile. Later, you come by with the vacuum and voila! you're done in 10 seconds flat and the room always looks clean!

Heres a nest box that I made for the goulds and they love it..... LOL

Mine was sort of a half open box.. Lux liked it a lot though

the inside:Lux's handy work!

I'm all about cheap and DIY kinds of things.
Cindy's idea could be an alternative.
Get one of those large plastic storage bins and put netting or wire on the front.
Not sure what an easy cleaning solution would be, but I'm sure it's possible.

My homemade cages are made of coroplast (corrugated plastic).
Coroplast looks like corrugated cardboard, so you could make a cage with cardboard.
But as was mentioned water and urine will be the problem. So as long as the urine and water do not hit the sides and bottom of the cage it should be OK.
I have poop trays made of corrugated cardboard, because I ran out of coroplast, and they get warped and start to separate. So cardboard for that is NOT a long term solution, The poop tray will have to be rebuilt every few months.
And as was mentioned, it is NOT sturdy. If you stack, you have to use a shelf to stack the cages as the cardboard will NOT support much weight. And shelving can be expensive.
You have to be creative in many things
- how you attach the cage front to the box
- how to make the poop tray
- how to install perches
- etc

Dante if you were using them for temporary travel cages you could also line the sides with contact paper like what I used for the trays and dividers in our flight cages.

But that might be getting a little too complicated in terms of investing in it - if you have a lot of old cardboard boxes you could just recycle the grates and swap out the cardboard when it starts getting funky.

I actually think it's a nice way to reuse for transporting if it's sturdy enough.

Guys, I was not serious about this Idea!!! I know it could get wet and fail.


Brian, I was thinking that too, but thought about the birds flying into the plastic.

Guys, I was not serious about this Idea!!! I know it could get wet and fail.


Brian, I was thinking that too, but thought about the birds flying into the plastic.

cindy wrote:

How about a plastic box using a cage wire front?

It would just need some tray adjustment!! What about turning it upside down.. the tray could be the bottom of the thing just lift it a bit and pull out to change paper!