Hi all, I am from far Northern California near Eureka. We are coastal with moderate temperatures rarely below 30 in the winter and rarely above 80 in the summer. I used to have an aviary filled with over 60 budgies, but that was over 10 years ago. I got back into budgies when I caught a loose male cobalt budgie in my yard two months ago. I then found two free ones on craigslist, bought 2 more then found another 6 free ones. That brought me to 11 budgies. I currently have them in cages on my front enclosed porch, but would like to build an aviary for them outdoors. I have a 4 foot by 8 foot structure made of 2 x 4 framing, it just needs a new floor and roof, the walls are sound. I have an option of moving it to my asphalt driveway in a protected spot with a south and east exposure to it. My plan is to remove the floor, attach a bottom plate of pt 2 x 4's to the asphalt, then put on a 2 x 4 frame 8 feet square on the outside and erect the structure on that. I have over 300 cement paving blocks that are 5.5 inches square and over 2 thick that I want to pave the inside with. The measurements of the inside plates are 88 inches across and would fit 16 blocks to the side or 256 blocks total. This would be directly on top of the asphalt with 1 inch by 1/2 inch wire beneath the blocks. The original structure would be expanded to 8 x 8 and would include 3 windows 4 feet wide and high and a door with a window that would enter the safety area of the aviary. I would also use metal flashing around the perimeter and add exterior siding over the plywood sheathing and use more of my paving blocks to surround the building and to create a patio in front of it. My question is; do I need to wire the inside of the plywood walls? I eventually want to also sheath the inside with plywood and insulate the space in between. I know I have to wire the windows, but will they chew out of 3/8 plywood? A person on another site said that rats can chew through both asphalt and concrete. The asphalt driveway is over 6 inches thick. My concern about putting aviary wire on the inside of the plywood walls is the dust and feathers that would collect there and be difficult to clean out. I am using 1/4 inch hardware wire/cloth and am going to double side the panels that access the outside.

Hi Dragonslayer, welcome back to the hobby. In answere to your question, yes, budgies will chew through plywood. The solution may be to paint the ply internally [with water based paint] to deter chewing and maybe put the wire or iron sheets on the outside for protection. Also yes, rats and mice will chew through asphalt, maybe you could put a marine ply floor in. Cheers Clearwing