How to make homeade playgrounds/perches

Nov 18, 2011

How to make homeade playgrounds/perches
by: Linda

This is very good question, and hope I can snswer it to your liking. First of all, never use any branches that are close to a road or that have ever been sprayed with commercial fertilizers/pesticides as this renders them toxic to birds. Use safe wood, and there is a list of safe and toxic wood and plants on this site.

When using the wood, make sure diameter is right for your bird. Since the diameters vary a little with natural branches make sure the smallest is the right diameter and that the largest does not go over much from what is correct for your size bird.

You just scrub the perches down really good. Make sure wood does not have any worm or bug holes because the bugs will hatch out and leave the branches. Use wood from very healthy trees, and this will not be a problem. Wash them using hot water, a scrubbing brush with a safe bird cage cleaner like Pet Focus found here. The focus is safe for perches, cage and toys. Do not spray it on in the presence of the birds though because it could irritate their eyes and nose. When cleaning cage, spray it onto a cloth or sponge in another room and clean like that.

Once the branches are scrubbed clean, rinse them off really well. You'll probably want to do this in the bathtub so water doesn't get everywhere. If you have a nice clean place to put them, lay them out on a clean table or something and allow to dry for a few days days making sure no bugs come out and that they are nicely dry. A warm room in the house would be best.

The other thing to remember is to NOT use fresh pine branches and never use fir tree branches. The only pine safe for birds is the kiln dried material found in lumber stores with no treatments or top coats, just the natural kiln dried wood. Since you really need branches look at the safe and toxic list here to make sure wood is safe. Cherry wood is also not good because the seeds, leaves and juice of the branches are all poison. I've used Cherry branches before, and they had been cleaned and dried out for up to a year in the warm attic.

Your bird will be very excited about his new playground, and thanks for thinking enough of him to do the work.

Linda

How to make homeade playgrounds/perches

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How to make homeade playgrounds/perches

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