# Tell me if this indoor enclosure idea is stupid.



## GladWingsOfDestiny (Jun 2, 2020)

Take the inside plastic shell of an old refrigerator (door and everything else removed). Along the bottom/front add a small (couple inch) lip of plastic from right to left and seal it so that the bottom can hold a little bit of water. Then screen the entire front (with screened door openings). Cut the top off and screen the top. Add a drain hole at the lowest point of the plastic shell. Bulkhead the hole and add a ball valve and hose if you so desire. Elevate the enclosure enough to sneak a bucket or some other water catch below it. Add perches and fixtures and whatnot. Ta-daaaaa. Indoor enclosure for birds or other reptiles (although high temperatures might be a problem for the material).

The plastic is food grade and has rounded corners everywhere. If you wanted high insulation value you could leave the inner foam block and even outer metal layer. The majority of debris would be contained and cleanup could be as easy as just removing the birds and hosing it all down (with maybe a bit of scrubbing too). 

With the top removed and screened, I imagine airflow would not be a problem for birds, even though 3 sides would be plastic. Bedding material could be added if you make the drain hole big enough for the stuff to fall through when you unplug the drain. The majority of bedding would still have to be removed by hand, but then the left overs could just be flushed away. One of those nifty paper roll conveyor belts could be added too if you put some slits on the sides of the unit near the bottom. 

Standing up it wouldn't be very much space. Maybe ok for smaller birds. Sitting on its side it would be pretty decent for a couple pigeons. Iv'e never taken a fridge fully apart so I don't know how feasible it actually is. But I live in Los Angeles and the sidewalks are sometimes cluttered with the things so I might give it a try sometime. I just figured I'd see if anyone thought it was a really stupid idea or something I should maybe try. I'm looking to set up something in my apartment that is as easy to keep clean as possible. The birds would likely have tons of outside cage time when I was home (I don't have any yet).

Opinions plz. Saving money is good but that's not really what it's all about. It's more about making it easy for me to build and clean and get rid of when I want to upgrade. I would probably paint the outside just for looks.

Edit: Oh yeah, I also had the same idea for one of those prefab shower units. They are just less commonly seen when I'm out and about.


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## beachwood45789 (Jul 15, 2014)

Hi ,it's stupid, buy a big dog cage or build a small coop, is there any way you could build a small coop on the roof of where you live?


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## GladWingsOfDestiny (Jun 2, 2020)

Thank you for your reply. I don't have roof access. I planned on providing some full spectrum artificial lighting daily though. I actually have a spare dog crate but was afraid the bar spacing would not be appropriate. The spacing is a little less than an inch and a half, and most places online recommended smaller than that. Although, just eyeballing it, it looks like it would be pretty hard for a pigeon to get their head stuck.


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