i got 4 of esu fresh air habitats 30x30x18 and the screen is already rusting out . their only 4 months old ,what a shame ,i was on the belief the screen was aluminum must be steel though, that makes alot of sense aluminum frames with steel mesh .

Wow... only 4 months? Where do you live? I was wondering if you live near the ocean air, because that will definitely increase rusting in metals. I would definitely write them, show them a photo, and if you have a record of when you purchased it, show that as well. Your cages shouldn't be rusting at all, let alone in 4 months time.

I have had some Fresh Air Habitats and I haven't had any problem with rusting at all (have had them longer than a year), however, they are a HUGE pain to clean (no lower door to open and the inability to remove the flooring for deep cleaning). I no longer purchase them for this reason.

Talk to ESU and perhaps they will do something about this problem...

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Jenna
www.prismchameleons.com

I've been using ESU cages for over a year. The only part that's ever rusted was the screws. Everything else is coated aluminium.

Same. The screws and hinges.

Hey... I just discovered that if you remove the bottom side screw towards the front of the cage on both sides and remove the bolt on the front, the bottom will swing out like other cages with this feature. MUCH easier for cleaning, especially if you have your chameleons outside and can take a spray hose to the floor of your cage.

I'm always tinkering to make things more efficient if I can... At least those cages won't go to waste now.

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Jenna
www.prismchameleons.com

many of the bottom screws are rusted along with areas of screen towards the bottom and sides also , i will be putting pics here so you can see what i mean.and they are only 4 months old ,they were brand new when i got them from reptile direct.
i live at Reading, Pennsylvania.


the screen is steel ,must be to be rusting out

maybe you got rip off ones. :P

I think it could be because of cheap materials. I cannot believe how cheap those ESU cages are. I made my 2x2x3' aluminum cages for ~$40 each, but I did not get volume discounts on raw materials.

I sold them at a reptile show last year, and was mocked by the vendors there, for buuilding my own cages - they don't understand the idea of a "hobby", I guess...

They buy the largest ESU cages for $20 or less in volume. They must not be composed of the finest quality "ingredients" to sell so cheaply.

I had one of my cages outside for over a year, winter and summer. I broke it down to use as a demo cage at a reptile show. I set it up next to one that was for sale, and I could not tell the difference between the two. I was impressed.

If the screen's rusted, there's not much you can do. If the hinges are rusting, replace them with brass, or something less prone to corrosion. Brass will react to aluminum, but less so than steel reacting to the elements!
You can get nice sheet metal screws that won't rust too. I bought the cheapest ones at home depot, and they don't rust.

what are ESU cages? where did you get them?

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