# making a cage+safe paints/plastic coating?



## radical (Jan 15, 2007)

i was considering making two pretty large cages out of wood and mesh wire soon; one for my rats, and one for my mice. however, i was wondering if it's alright to paint the outside of the cage (the wooden parts?), and if that's ok, what paint is the safest? i also have heard many people mention powder coating for the wire. where should i look to get this done, how much does it cost, and are there any other options? thanks!


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## DonnaK (Feb 8, 2007)

I'm not quite sure of your design idea, but I would strongly recommend you don't have any wood parts that the rats can come into contact with... it'll soak the urine up like a sponge!

I don't know about what paints would be safe - maybe a water based paint? I'm not sure. One thing I discovered recently was that a lot of paints have lead in them - I thought they stopped using lead, these days.

I'm not much help, am I? :lol:


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## Poppyseed (Feb 1, 2007)

Urm, from what I know of paints there isn't a safe one out there that can be digested, and if the rats can reach the wood they WILL chew on it. So the only thing I would recomend is staining with food coloring >_>

Yeah it will soak urine like a sponge though.


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## nancikynz (Apr 6, 2008)

What about covering with stick on "linoleum"? 

Easy to clean and no showing wood


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## Learna (Mar 4, 2008)

I'm also wondering about the powder coating, I think it's done in factorys that make bird cage and such. It's the "plastic" coating of the bars on cages made "professionally", lol. Like the martin cages. If I wasn't in australia I could have a martin cage!!!!! *stamps feet and crosses arms*
Haha, but yes, I'm not sure if you could get it done. Perhaps try asking a hardware store about it, maybe they can help you or point you in the right direction.^_^


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## Gobo (Mar 6, 2008)

i got power coated wire from a home depot. they have it in a lot of do it yourself type store, but it took me forever to find cause its in the outdoor section which is outside lol where i didnt think to look. and an alternative to wood could be particle board with a hard coating over it like melamine or something. they also sell that in home store and most will cut you sizes you need


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## lovinmyworm (Feb 18, 2008)

Stick on tiles will be torn up and chewed! I coated my cage with Killz to seal it (2 coats) and then a few coats of children's room paint. The kids room paint is about the least toxic plus it's super easy to clean up. Just make sure you coat everything several times and make sure you use the killz primer because it seals the wood so nothing can get into it. It takes forever for it all to dry though. As for the power coated wire, you can get it at any garden store or home depo. It's typically coated in green and much easier to work with than regular hardware cloth. The coating makes it less pokey!


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## Learna (Mar 4, 2008)

Sorry to sorta jack your topic radical but lovinmyworm, what if you have wire but just want that to get powdercoated? Can that still be done at the same places?


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## begoodtoanimals (Dec 6, 2007)

You have to seal the seams where the boards join each other. Otherwise urine will work its way into the wood under the protective layer. Check to make sure you have non-toxic caulk or other sealer.


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