Safety concerns modified cage need suggestions :)

[Zanzi's Mom]

I know this is technically a cage question, but I need to ask a question about bird safe materials. Ok here goes:
I wanted a huge cage for my quaker so I could sort of build a habitat. My cage is three feet wide, four and a half feet tall and the bars are spaced 1 1/2 inches apart. Meaning, he can walk right through them. I thought maybe if I used some sort of bird safe wire, I could go around inside or outside of cage with it or weave wire thru the bars. One person suggested chicken wire but when I called the hardware store and explained my needs, the lady told me it puts off a black residue after awhile and of course it rusts so it would hold up to cleaning with water. She suggested i get rubber coated wire from the craft section in walmart and weave it between the bars., My local pet store was no help at all so I figured my best bet was to ask here. Heres a picture of the cage with Zanzi on top looking smug for having escaped. I havent decorated much in case I scrap the whole idea and put him back in his smaller cage.


Oh another idea I thought about using small wire and putting my four parakeets in it. They don't chew much. Can parakeets slip through chicken wire? Thanks in advance!

[Gator]

I would sell it and get a cage with appropriate bar spacing. Chicken wire is a no no with parrots. Besides some parrots being able to chew through it, it is galvanized and your birds can get zinc poisoning. Plus it is twisted together leaving all kinds of little spaces between the wire for your fids to get their feet caught in.

[Zanzi's Mom]

All my birds have their own appropriate bar width cages already. I just wanted something really big to make a fun natural looking place with a wall scene and trees or something that would be more visually appealing and fun but thanks for giving me your opinion on chicken wire.

Now I shall rephrase, my birds all have their own personal smaller cages but I wanted to put together something fun for them to take turns in like a small bit of natural habitat and if it works out well, I'd like it to be Zanzibars permanent home.

Can anyone recommend what type of wire or any other medium that will keep him/them from escaping that cage that is bird safe?

[Gator]

You could use vinyl coated wire. It is not the same as the stuff in the craft section at Walmart. It's heavier duty. KW Cages is one place that sells it, but there are several others.

KW Cages - Rabbit Cages, Rabbit Supplies, Rabbit Housing