Aviary Wire?

[ravengypsy]

I know that the zinc used to make galvanized steel is toxic to budgies... I'm wondering if there is a way to remove the zinc to make it safe to use for aviary wire? The only wire I can find for making an aviary locally is galvanized.

If not, what can be used as an alternative? I'd like it to be metal for holding perches, etc.

[Budgietom]

I believe you ccan get some sort of spray at a hard ware store to remove the zinc. Not 100% sure if they are sold in USA though.

[SushiGURL]

I have never heard of a way to get rid of zinc, but if i do, ill tell you!
To be on the safe side, i would try buying new zinc free wire. Just incase.
:)

[Celyste]

from http://www.avianweb.com/heavymetalpoisoning.html -
Can heavy metal be prevented from recurring?
Yes. By providing good levels of minerals and by scrubbing new wire with a vinegar solution to accelerate the oxidisation process which renders the zinc non toxic. New cages can be left to weather for 3 months of longer before birds are introduced to the aviary.

However, http://www.birdvet.com.au/birdcare/NEWbirdinfo2%20budgie.htm notes

Cages and aviaries should be stainless steel, powder baked or the new BHP polymer covered wire. Scrubbing galvanised wire with vinegar and a wire brush and then rinsing off and then repeating will minimise the zinc toxicity but not eliminate it.

http://www.birdclinic.net/avian_bird_articles/avian_articles.htm also suggests the vinegar scrub.

So in conclusion, vinegar may help, but it's much safer just to avoid the wire and look for something else that will do.

I know there is a chemical you could buy that would also reduce the surface amounts of zinc but I can't think where I read it...

[Kate C]

All our aviaries in Australia are made out of Zinc coated steel. Everyone I know uses the vinegar to scrub the cages to put all our birds in, whether they are parrots or other species. I have never had a problem with heavy metal poisoning on cages that have been scrubbed with vinegar. Best to use a hard brush or soft wire brush, the biggest problem is lumps of zinc around the welds. Make sure you get that off. And use it at the recommended dilution rate, more is not necessarily better. The dilution rate is 10% solution.

You are just as likely to get metal poisoning from older cages with a bit of rust on them. Also the powder baked can break off with the birds climbing and that will expose the galvanized wire underneath and cause metal poisoning too. And yes you can leave the wire exposed to the elements for 3 months and that will remove the galvanising too.

All our wire show cages are made of Galvanized wire and we just scrub them with vinegar too.

Just make sure that if there are any lumps of zinc on the welds that you remove that and you should be ok. No guarantees but it has worked for me and I have had budgies and other birds for around 50 years. At the moment I have 5 large standard aviaries and at least 10 suspended aviaries all made out of galvanized wire.

Hope this helps.

Kate

[ravengypsy]

Thanks all, and especially Kate. I found alot of online cages were made from galvanized steel as well and figured there had to be a way. I'll look into possible alternatives but locally I may need to just use the vinegar solution as suggested above to make it as safe as possible. Thanks.