Aviary plans

JeannetteD · Post by **JeannetteD** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 6:31 pm

Hello!!

Alright, so we've finally started making plans for our (FIRST) aviary, which most likely will not be our last.

I need ANY advice you guys can give me, from wood type, to what kind of wire etc..

We want to make it like a wood cabinet style from floor to ceiling. The outside will be oak trim.

My concerns are as follows (so far, as I'm sure I'll have more)

1) Is oak trim okay on the inside of the aviary if it's treated with something

2) If we treat the wood with varathane is that safe for the birds? We know oak is not on the recommended list for birds, but if it's treated would it be ok? Keeping in mind that I bleach.. OFTEN. So whatever we use to treat the wood has to be bleach resistant.

3) What kind of metal should the wire be made of? (aside from rust resistant of course)

4) Should the wire be powder coated or painted? If painted, what kind of paint is safe?

5) What kinds of things have you discovered with your aviaries that you wished you'd have known about in the pre-planning stages? (IE Crystal's wheels.. hee hee)

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Jeannette

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Sat Jun 24, 2006 9:14 pm

1. I am pretty sure that oak (leaves, acorns, shoots, etc.) is toxic if it is ingested--so using the wood is more of a concern for parrots who chew on things. To be safest, however, maybe you can look into using non-pressure-treated pine or aspen wood for the inside of your enclosure?

2. I'm not familiar with 'varathane', but water based polyurathane is a safe treatment, and is a good thing to use to seal the wood if you are going to stain it (or even if you don't stain it). Polyurathane is resistant to bleaching--a common use for it is actually to coat restaurant table tops and science lab benches, because it is so inert and easy to clean.

3. Most wire you will come across will be galvanized hardware cloth. the galvinization makes it relatively 'rust proof' but it's also the zinc used for galvanizing that makes the wire potentially toxic. This is one reason why powder coated wire is so nice.

4. Go with powder coated, if you can find it. Paint tends to chip off.

5. Wheels and good dimensions for mobility (don't make it too wide to fit through a doorway if you feel it may need to be moved into another room some day, etc.) With a tall cabinet like struture, you'll of course want to make sure it is not too top heavy. I like using vinyl tiles for the flooring because they are easy to wipe down, cheap to install, and come in a wide variety of styles/colors. You can always cover the vinyl floor with newspaper or craft paper for even easier cleaning. Plexiglass used instead of wire contains the messes the birds make (seed, feathers, etc.) and is much easier to wipe down. The problems with plexiglass are that if you use a lot of it, you need to find another way to keep the aviary well ventilated, and that because it is clear, the birds may fly into it until they realize it is a barrier--if the aviary is not very large, they won't be able to build up enough momentum to hurt themselves. If you can't have a catch hatch built into the enclosure, do other things to minimize escape of the birds such as small doors that are just big enough to fit food/water dishes through, and preferably located toward the bottom half of the enclosure since birds tend to fly upwards when startled, etc.

JeannetteD · Post by **JeannetteD** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 10:55 am

Thanks Crystal!

I'll check into the Aspen. I'm not sure if I can get that as I've never seen it advertised at the hardware store, but that doesnt mean it's not available. It could just mean I didnt notice because I wasn't looking specifically for it at that time. The vain person in me was just tryign to match my already existing oak interior in my house. LOL

I'm not sure what varathane is made of either, but it could be a water based polyurethane for all I know. I will check into it when I'm at the hardware store next.

Is there another kind of wire that doesnt have any zinc in it? I'll check into powder coating as there is a powder coating place nearby, but what I'm afraid of is that it will cost more than the all the wood put together. LOL. You know how those specialty places are. What kind of wire did you use for yours? and how did you treat it?

I wrote down 'wheels' as one of the first items after reading yoru post wishing you had put wheels on yours! hee hee.. and as for size that can go through doors, yes.. we're in contention about that. I dont want ittoo wide, but my boyfriend has always been a 'go big or go home' kinda guy. LOL Dont do anything half way.. So we'll see..

The plexiglass will come in later. We're going to manufacture it so that we can put wire in it for now, and then remove a few screws, take off the wood and slide in the plexiglass, put the wood back and replace the screws. At that stage though, we will be leaving some wire so that it has ventilation. That or we'll have to check into an internal ventilation system.. we're not sure yet, but that will be way later in the future if we want to fix it up some more.

If you can think of anythign else that would be greatly appreciated! OH.. for the floors we were thinking of that laminant wood..but I dont know how waterproof it is. I imagine it must be pretty waterproof since it's not real wood. I'm not sure exactly what it is made of, that's another thing I have to find out. Either way, it will be covered up with sawdust or paper in the end.

Jeannette

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 11:48 am

Jeannette,

You might look into the vinyl tiles that look like wood rather than the actual laminate wood flooring. Possibly less expensive and easier to maintain??

I went with plexi-glass in the bottom half and green vinyl coated hardware cloth for the top half and am very glad I did. Virtually no mess escapes and there is plenty of air circulation. Once a week I wipe down the plexi & wire, switch out the paper on the plywood floor, wipe off the perches and seed hoppers and I'm done. Once a month I give everything a thorough cleaning.

What size flight are you thinking of building?

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 2:16 pm

For my indoor aviary and my outdoor (on the balcony) flight cage, I was not worried about predators that would try to chew through the wire (like rats), so I just used plastic (polyvinyl) hardware cloth. It is easy to cut like a warm knife through butter, and easy to clean. No metal involved.

You usually can't use it for outdoor enclosures because it is easy to break so any animal that is determined to get inside of the enclosure can.. but if you are building an indoor-only enclosure, you might consider the polyvinyl hardware cloth.

JeannetteD · Post by **JeannetteD** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 9:55 pm

Hi TAmmie and Crystal!

Thanks for the suggestion, Tammie. I'll look into it and see what I can find.Right now we are just in the planning/cost assessment stage. LOL

and Crystal, Thank you too. I will check into the vinyl hardware cloth you mentioned. We do have a dog though. Normally, Max (aka Max-a-million-reasons-why-you're-in-crap-now-buster!) is well behaved and does not bother the birds. He completely ignored them, so we MIGHT be able to get away with the vinyl hardware cloth. I'll look into it and see. In the end, it might be worth the money to go metal and powder coat. I want the birds to be safe, and I dont want Max to be tempted. (Leastwise, not like he's tempted by the gerbils. He will watch them for FOUR hours without moving. I think he thinks they're a snack, cause he's always licking his lips)

Jeannette