[Machelle]

GREAT information, Monica!!! I am lucky enough to have a hubby who is an auto painter. Merin's cage was an outstanding deal too and had rust and I had hubby paint it. He did all kinds of research and asked the paint rep that he works with and they found the perfect paint that is actually no more dangerous than powdercoating. If you want to take it to a body shop to paint, hubby used PPG paint, glossy black, single stage and no clear coat. I dont know about painting yourself, because to us this WAS painting ourselves. I do know that hubby had it sandblasted and that he will never paint a cage again because it was such a hassle. LOL! You have to paint from both the inside and outside of the cage to make sure you get all of the bars. Because of this you may choose to have someone else do it. I do know that if you choose to go to a bodyshop, that the single stage painting will probably be less expensive than powder coating because powder coating requires special equipment and not all shops do it. And like I said, if you use the paint I mentioned before, it is no more dangerous than powdercoating. You definitely have to make sure that it is completely dry before you put your bird in it. The best way to tell is if you can smell it. If you can smell it, its not completely dry. Good luck and let us know what you do.