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| | | From: pat22 (Original Message) | Sent: 3/22/2005 9:18 PM |
We just invested quite a bit of money on a large cage with powder coat paint finish. We didn't realize our Senegal would be able to bite the paint off. The manufacturer is King's Cages, and they assured us the paint is lead free and non-toxic. I'm happy to hear that, but I still would like the cage to last for many years and still look good. Since Boomer bites on the outside of the cage when he is at the top in the play-pen area, we are trying to train him to stay in the playpen area, not climb all over the outside. He is making some progress. I'd like to try the bitter tasting spray I'v heard of for feather picking. I thought I would paint it on with a small paintbrush, only on the areas of the cage he seems to enjoy chewing on. Has anyone tried this with luck? Or am I the only one who would like to have the cage look as pretty as my bird? |
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| NONE of the cages are as pretty as the birds.lol. I'm really surprised. King cages are as good as you can get. I have one picked out for my GW macaw as soon as I can get it. That little guy must have quite a bite on him. Have you contacted the maker? My understanding is that they have a good warrenty on their cages. If Katz sees this she can offer more help as she works for Love On The Wing and they sell King cages. If you decide to touch it up just be sure to use a good lead free paint and don't put him back in there for a couple of days. The last one I painted I left on the porch for a week. Good luck with the little guy. |
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I would go to the King site and contact them I really have no idea of how they will handle it because we get so few complaints about the top of the line Kings--however they make 3 lines of cages so the name Kings alone doesn't tell me much --And you don't say what color your cage is?? If its white or light colored and you have a beaky bird--it will chip. All powder coated cages will chip. The dark colored cages do too but its much less noticable.This is from personal experiences not from the store. I paid over 1200 dollars for what I still consider the best cage by AE (Beige) for my macaw and he had beaked off paint the second year I had it. Now I am replacing that with a Kings--but I am going with stainless steel this time because I don't think any paint will hold up to how he lives with his cage. My M2 on the other hand is in a white powder coated cage that still looks like new 4 years later--he just isn't what I call a "beaky" bird so his powder coated one may last a life time. Katz |
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Too add--I don't think bitter apple would work--Its never worked for anything that I can figure out. But you might try getting a branch--manzanita--grapevine root--or plain old wood and fashioning a play top on the cage--something where he isn't actually sitting right on top of the cage. If you have a cage that opens on the top work up from there to keep him away from the cage itself. If its a play top maybe something added off the side? Just a thought. Main thing to remember is-they use those beaks for everything and they are strong enough to plow through wood so any paint is easy for them-so substituting chew toys may also be an answer for you?? Katz |
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My Senegal "strums" the bars of his cage by popping the bars between his upper and lower beak. It makes a very loud ping every time he does it but it's never chipped the paint and the cage is powder-coated in white. Your little guy must be working very, very hard to break through. Although you want the cage to stay looking nice, my greatest concern would be that he might ingest dangerous paint flecks. The bitter apple spray is practically worthless and might become an irritant to his feet over time. As Katz said, covering his favorite picking spot with a perch or toy, raising his play area, distracting him to other sites up higher might be the only way to stop him. I don't know exactly how because I don't know whether the spot is flat or curved, but you might figure out how to slip a length of pvc pipe over the picked place, if it's considered to be bird-safe. He couldn't even stand on it because it would turn. It's a thought. |
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Good Lord! I forgot I have a sennie-again!! Chaka is on his third cage in 7 years! I really don't forget about him but he always seems to be in the shadow of the big dudes and I just haven't looked at Kings cages for him-does that make sense? He isn't neglected but is very hard on paint and I know to spend a fortune on a cage would be a waste. He doesn't deliberately chew or beak paint--he merely insists on being at the highest spot in a cage for everything--sleeping eating etc. And gets there by using feet and beak on the cage bars. He often hangs by feet AND beak upside down from the top of the cage. He grinds his beak with the cage bars through his beak.All of this is wear on the finish of the cage and with him it shows. On the other hand the little girl sennie I sent off to live with my daughter has been in one cage the entire time both of us have had her--8years--and it still looks like new. So I think maybe its a know your bird type thing? I have seen cages M2s have destroyed--but not my Oscar--I have seen cages macaws don't destroy --but not my Vin(he will even damage this SS--I just know it!!) And I have had senegals on the opposite end of the spectrum too. The only birds I have seen that never damage a cage finish seem to be greys--but I am sure their are some of those out there too. The new textured powder coat finishes are aimed at stopping some of this. Katz |
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