Painting Bird Bath

I've been using RustOleum Hammered Metal Paints around my yard to brighten up things and make them Snazzy again. I posted a thread about it in the trash to treasure forum (and wrote an article too). Someone is asking me:

I painted mine a couple of weeks ago and have seen no ill effects on my back yard birds, but I don't have many out there to begin with. I thought I'd better check here with the experts before I gave her a definite answer.

30 Views and no one venturing an answer? I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I'd really like to be able to give the gal an answer soon.

Thanks,
Janet

I don't know the RIGHT answer, but I do know that I've seen many birds drinking from puddled asphalt after rainfall. The puddled asphalt has gas, oil, and who knows what else on it. The birds are fluttering their wings and having a great time. I never see their dead bodies anywhere.
So how a nice, clean, beautiful painted birdbath can be worse, well, need I say more.
Pam

Thank you for your response. I'm no expert, but I feel the same way. Having been asked by someone wanting to paint theirs, I thought I should find out more about it. Mine hasn't been painted all that long and I thought others might have tried this and could weigh in on their experiences.

I also painted a huge bird cage at the same time. I would never "house" a bird in it though because I know that birds sharpen their beaks on the bars of the cage, and I'd think the paint would be toxic in that case. It now has a plant in it, which is why I picked it up on the side of the road in the first place.

Thanks again!

Janet

Don't know, but on general principles, make sure the paint is thoroughly dry before using the bath. Put it in a position where it is exposed to sun and rain, but at an angle so it doesn't hold any water, for a while until it has had both plenty of sun and some heavy rain.

Resin

I think Resin has it right. The paint takes about a month to thoroughly cure inside a building and a week plus out in the sun.

I almost think that the painted ones would be "cleaner" than the raw concrete. After all that stuff absorbs a lot of yucky junk in it's life and if it were painted, it would wash right off every week.

Hi all. I'm going to try a non-toxic paint cuz I too need to paint my birdbath too. The resin is flaking off from me cleaning it and that could be harmful so I'm going to paint it.

Ask in the paint department of your store what kind of primer to use so that you don't end up with more flakyness.

Thanks muchly nanbernier. Very important tip.

Thanks so much everyone for your helpful answers and discussion. I really do appreciate it. I would never want to do anything to harm our feathered friends.

Janet