Aluminium mesh, black or silver?

[Mad Dog Murphy]

Hi all, Just ordered my fine mesh aluminium for what will be the door, no matter how hard I tried I could not source black only in fabric or plastic, so had to settle with silver, I’ve read that you can get a glare from the silver so I would like to spray it black, I have some black stove spray which I could use and then cure with a heat gun. Your thoughts please.

 

[JacksJill]

I have a friend that refurbishes cages and he does spray them. He uses a professional sprayer. First I would test a sample to see if the spray clogs the mesh and second to see if any flakes off if you flex the screen. You will have to let it cure for quite a while so the fumes are not an issue for your lil guy.

 

[Mad Dog Murphy]

Sound advice, hadn’t thought of it clogging the holes up, I may wait and just see how the silver sits when it’s up and running and then decide.

 

[nightanole]

You want to use a paint with a self etching primer or something similar. You are spraying "raw metal" which no paint likes to stick to without some kind of primer coat. So make sure the paint is meant for raw metal.

 

[Mad Dog Murphy]

stove paint is out then, I will look in the diy shop next time I’m there for something more suitable, cheers

 

[Beman]

I would be cautious about spraying the top screen of the cage... If the paint clogs the aluminum screen you are further reducing your UVI level that will penetrate through it. This can then cause major issues with the cham not getting the correct UVI levels at basking.

 

[Mad Dog Murphy]

Sorry probably should have mentioned that it’s the door screen I intended to spray, top I will leave in its raw colour which is silver

 

[MissSkittles]

Sorry probably should have mentioned that it’s the door screen I intended to spray, top I will leave in its raw colour which is silver

You could make your door of clear pvc or acrylic instead of screen. If you need the additional ventilation, you could drill some small holes at the base of the door.

 

[Mad Dog Murphy]

Yes I had thought that and would probably like the look of it better, would help raise humidity and might make it easier to regulate temperature but I was concerned about enough through air, would some holes and the open top be adequate air flow ?

 

[Beman]

You could run a strip across the bottom that is about 2-3 inches high that is screen. This will create full air flow pulling air up and out the top. Then put the door above that and it could be acrylic.