Building A Flight/Aviary. Help & Ideas Appreciated

[DanteD716]

So today I was looking around my basement looking for inspiration and I found a metal shelf. It is (LxWxH) 30x12x60. It is 4 metal pecies bent like an L with shelves crewed into the L parts. So I thought 30x12 is too small for breeding cages. But idea! I could unscrew the 5 selfs, keeping the parts. Drill a piece of wood (length doesnt matter, but the height must be 60inches) onto the back, and plexi glass sides, mesh front, not final yet just throwing ideas around. So, think it is a good idea?? I could probaly put the back wall on tommorow.... Can dry-wall be used in a bird cage??

[gsjohnson]

Careful when using plexiglass for siding as the birds can fly into it and can hurt themselves. The bottom 30 inches of my 7 foot high panels are plexiglass and I have on a few occasions seem my birds fly into them when leaving the floor after feeding when starteld.

[debbie276]

Rather then drywall, not sure how that would hold up with water and such, I would look into whiteboard or paneling. At Home Depot or Lowes in the paneling section there are several that are slick and easy to clean.

[DanteD716]

Rather then drywall, not sure how that would hold up with water and such, I would look into whiteboard or paneling. At Home Depot or Lowes in the paneling section there are several that are slick and easy to clean.

Good idea.

[Nerien]

Take a look at this link:
http://deguworld.proboards.com/index.cg ... 18&page=13
Go down about 11 posts, and you will see someone starting with a metal shelf unit like you found in your basement. Theirs is bigger, but it will show you how they worked with it. I have seen this shelf unit available at Lowes on sale for about $70.

Now, they are building a Degu cage, not a bird cage. Degus are Chilean ground squirrels, sometimes called Mini-Chinchillas, tho they are more closely related to guinea pigs and rabbits than chinchillas. Degus chew like crazy, just like Chinchillas, so degu-builders have to be very careful with what kind of wood they use, hence all the kiln-dried pine, and also hardwoods. For finches, you could use many other materials, there is panelling designed for bathrooms and damp areas that is water resistant and would wipe clean easily. You could cover a sheet of plywood with linoleum, either the sheet type, or stick-on tiles. If you use plexiglass, you might then cover it with something like deernet, which is very fine so not all that visible, but might give enough warning to the birds not to fly into the walls. But this link to degu cages will show you all kinds of enclosures that are home-built, using old shelves, cabinets, entirely from scratch, all kinds of things, and even for degus many of the requirements are similar--visibility, ventilation, pee & poo cleanup, etc.

Hope this helps a little.

[DanteD716]

Take a look at this link:
http://deguworld.proboards.com/index.cg ... 18&page=13
Go down about 11 posts, and you will see someone starting with a metal shelf unit like you found in your basement. Theirs is bigger, but it will show you how they worked with it. I have seen this shelf unit available at Lowes on sale for about $70.

Now, they are building a Degu cage, not a bird cage. Degus are Chilean ground squirrels, sometimes called Mini-Chinchillas, tho they are more closely related to guinea pigs and rabbits than chinchillas. Degus chew like crazy, just like Chinchillas, so degu-builders have to be very careful with what kind of wood they use, hence all the kiln-dried pine, and also hardwoods. For finches, you could use many other materials, there is panelling designed for bathrooms and damp areas that is water resistant and would wipe clean easily. You could cover a sheet of plywood with linoleum, either the sheet type, or stick-on tiles. If you use plexiglass, you might then cover it with something like deernet, which is very fine so not all that visible, but might give enough warning to the birds not to fly into the walls. But this link to degu cages will show you all kinds of enclosures that are home-built, using old shelves, cabinets, entirely from scratch, all kinds of things, and even for degus many of the requirements are similar--visibility, ventilation, pee & poo cleanup, etc.

Hope this helps a little.

Thanks Nerien, I will check it out! (btw I know what a degu is lol!)

[DanteD716]

I was thinking of doubling the size of this cage so it would have been 60x24 or 30x48, but am going to make it 30x24x30 for now. It is a pretty decnt sized cage and I have the frame finished

[Nerien]

Thanks Nerien, I will check it out! (btw I know what a degu is lol!)

You do?! That is rare. I have only found one person IRL who knows, and she was from France.

(For those who don't know, Degus are much more popular pets in Europe, especially Germany, and growing popularity in the UK)

[DanteD716]

Thanks Nerien, I will check it out! (btw I know what a degu is lol!)

You do?! That is rare. I have only found one person IRL who knows, and she was from France.

(For those who don't know, Degus are much more popular pets in Europe, especially Germany, and growing popularity in the UK)

Yes, they are so cute!

[debbie276]

Thanks Nerien, I will check it out! (btw I know what a degu is lol!)

You do?! That is rare. I have only found one person IRL who knows, and she was from France.

(For those who don't know, Degus are much more popular pets in Europe, especially Germany, and growing popularity in the UK)

I had several and bred them for a while, they are not all that rare around here in NJ. There were several people I knew that also had them. The babies are super adorable!

[h2olilee]

I had a pair as classroom pets when I was teaching preschool. They were really fun. When I left that school I took them with me since I couldn't find another teacher who was willing to take care of them. I had them at home for about a year when I finally found another classroom for them to go to.