While you really should consult a bird cage building guide or the advice of an expert before delving into building your own bird cage, there are some basic steps that can be taken.
Building an Indoor Cage
To build your own bird cage is challenging, but if you’re up for it, here’s some things you need to know. When you’re building an indoor bird cage, stick with metal or stainless steel materials. You can create a wooden bird cage, but this is more difficult. There are several different kinds of wood that are toxic to birds, which will restrict your wood building materials. You may also have a hard time finding non-toxic staining materials and paint to paint the wooded cage with. Stains and paints are also toxic to birds.
Before you dive into the process needed to build your own bird cage, draw out some plans. Consult books and reliable information about the species you’ll be building the cage for. This should help you come up with the correct dimensions for the cage. Also, measure the area of your house where the cage is going to be placed. You don’t want to do all of that hard work and then be unable to fit the cage in your house!
Building an aviary
Bird owners who have a lot of birds that are of the same species, can consider building an aviary. An aviary is a very large, free standing boxed structure that holds several birds. You can build an aviary inside or outside, but be forewarned that building an aviary will be more time consuming and costly than building a one or two indoor bird cages. To build your own bird cage, or aviary, will also require a great deal of space. If you’re planning on building an outdoor aviary, you will also need to take extra precautions to protect your bird from predators and weather.
The advantages of the aviary
Building your own bird cage is a little less intense than building an aviary, but aviaries also have their own advantages. One advantage that benefits the pet owner is visibility. Aviaries are larger (sometimes they take up an entire wall) so the bird owner gets a better view. The birds get a little something too. Because aviaries are larger than other bird cages, they allow the birds to fly. Aviaries have a large extension from ceiling to floor and are also deep enough that the bird can fly around. This doesn’t happen in other cages. Aviaries also turn into a social reprieve for birds that generally share a space with one or two other birds. To build your own bird cage is a fun way to bring the animals you love into your home.
