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What Can I Use to Paint Bird Bath That's Non-Toxic (1 Viewer)

sharingsunshine

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I have a concrete bird bath and I want to paint it since it is so hard to keep clean with the nitty gritty texture of concrete. Is there a paint that is non-toxic to birds and critters that may also drink from it?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Donna
 
Nobody answering, Donna? Well, welcome to Birdforum, at least. I think raw concrete is a bit toxic too. All I could suggest is a good-quality exterior latex, if they make one for concrete-- at least it's water-based.
 
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Hi Donna and a very warm welcome to Bird Forum from me ;) and the entire staff here as well.

My neighbor just painted his and I just called him to ask him what he used and he confirmed Charles' suggestion. He did say he used a very high quality paint though. Don't know that it makes that much difference but he felt it would be better and longer lasting.
 
Welcome, Donna! I wonder if swimming pool paint wouldn't be okay? All kinds of critters and birds use backyard pools for bathing and drinking. Perhaps you could contact someone at Cornell's Lab of Ornithology and ask them? I've always had really friendly people responding to my questions over the years. Here's their general email address. Good luck! And please let us know what you find out, would you? I'd love to know what they suggest.

[email protected]
 
Any sort of paint intended for exterior masonry should be suitable..............but why does it have to be clean and shiny anyway........in nature birds drink and bathe in muddy puddles or in fact anywhere that water collects.
 
sharingsunshine said:
I have a concrete bird bath and I want to paint it since it is so hard to keep clean with the nitty gritty texture of concrete. Is there a paint that is non-toxic to birds and critters that may also drink from it?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Donna

Try using a sealant like "Unibond". Once this has dried thoroughly there should be no problems. You could always give it a good scrub with clean water before use to make sure that there are no loose bits lying around that the birds could ingest.

Richard
 
sharingsunshine said:
I have a concrete bird bath and I want to paint it since it is so hard to keep clean with the nitty gritty texture of concrete. Is there a paint that is non-toxic to birds and critters that may also drink from it?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Donna

The safest product would that used to paint fish ponds, as concrete itself is toxic, I can't remember the name; and it's not cheap, any good aquatic centre should have it in stock.
 
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