no bottom grate?

[raquel]

My cage came with my birds and it doesn't have a bottom grate in it. I can tell it use to. What kind of wire grade can I buy and cut to put in it. I know nothing with a plastic coating, of course. Galvanized? What size? Chicken wire?

I don't think its healthy to not have one. I change the newspaper twice a day and mama's constantly shredding, which I think got her in the mood in the first place. But now the babies are close to three weeks old I kind want that grate in there and keep mama away from the paper and deter her urge to shred. Right?

[bellarains]

Raquel,

You would probably be better off trying to get a new cage, rather than trying to find a grate. I tried to find a replacement grate for one of mine one time, and finally just gave up. The bird show is one of the best places to find a good one at a reasonable price, but in the meantime, PetSmart or one of the other petstores might have one too.

I think the Fin Den closed there in Hendersonville, and I hated that. That is where I got my fist lovie, Bela, and they were wonderful with their birds, and carried some very good birdie stuff. They also had a store in Madison, but don't know if that one closed as well or not?

Anyway, yep, you really do want a cage with a grate, as you said

[Pips mom]

Hmmm, that's funny-----when I got Pip, his cage came with no grate too! and I know it had to have one when he first got it because he bought the cage new! What did he do with it??? He had that corn cob stuff on the bottom of the cage, and to make the adjustment to being here easier, I kept everything the same for a while-----then I read how that corn cob stuff is bad and I got him a new cage! I would imagine trying to find just the grate would probably be really hard to do----I never even bothered to look! Just got a new one!

[Eliza]

For every person I know who leaves the grate in the cage I know another who removes it entirely. There will always be poop in the bottom of the cage AND the grate (not to mention perches) so that concern is kind of a moot point.

However, you mentioned that one of your lovies is shredding so I'd have to agree w/ Lori: it might make more sense to buy a new cage that comes with a grate.

I don't know what kind of wire is truly bird safe and would worry about rough, jagged edges from cutting wire to fit. However, there may be a few folks on here who have contructed aviaries or cages that can give you a better idea.

Best of luck!

[FabFeatheredFour]

If you really wanted to build, stay away from galvanized because it is zinc coated and zinc is toxic. Also stay away from wire that has been dipped in coating AFTER being welded together. You can tell by looking at the joints: if there are globs there it was dipped afterwords, and if your birds chew on it the coating may flake off. Look for wire with no globs around the joints, that means each wire was dipped before welding.

"Hardware cloth" that isn't galvanized and is smooth is usually a good bet, and is sturdier then chicken wire. But a roll is going to cost you $10-15 and a lot of aggrevation to build it, and you can get a good sized cage for $40 on Ebay. (I got 30''X18''X18'' flights for only $15 each)

[Pips mom]

Wow, that is quite the list of pets you have there! nine lovies??? god bless you! I see you also have a Pip! like me!

[thebubbleking]

Lol fab your list of familey is longer then 90 pecent of your posts! lol

[FabFeatheredFour]

Lol fab your list of familey is longer then 90 pecent of your posts! lol

I know, it's pathetic I have a soft heart

I do have nine lovies for right now! After all the **** I went through to get them home, I think they might be staying for good tho and I missed one my "honorary" sunconure isnt on there, but he's part of the original "Fab Four"

[raquel]

I was hoping to do something with my budget and all. If I didn't put a grate down what can i do instead of newspaper? Care Fresh?

[FabFeatheredFour]

I'd probably avoid care fresh because I would think that would invite nesting as well... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. IDK normally I would say newspaper but if you are trying to stop her from shredding thats a stumper!