Perches
Having proper perches for your bird ensures their safety and comfort for their homes. It’s easy to forget they spend a majority of their time in the wild going from tree to tree and exploring, when we only see them in their cages.
What type is best?
Number one rule of perches, is NO DOWELS. They don’t provide any movement for the feet and are known to contribute to early arthritis and pressure sores, even bumblefoot if they aren’t cleaned regularly. Parrots need a variety of sizes, from wrapped all the way around up to flat footed ledges. The more variety, the better for the bird. If you have the dowels that cages come with laying around, you can cut and drill them for toys or use them for household projects.
Safety First
Knowing what types of wood are safe and usable for perches is paramount to your bird’s health. Anything with lots of natural oils or treated with chemicals can be dangerous, even fatal, to them.
This is our list of known safe woods for toys and perches:
maple, pine, osage orange, apple, honesysuckle, grapevine (small birds), aspen, birch, willow, sycamore, dogwood, fruit trees, most US natives are safe. bark on is even better. Java and dragonwood are good, solid perches for the big guys, but also the most expensive.
This is our list of known UNsafe woods:
cedar, redwood, juniper (same as cedar), oak (too hard), ANYTHING treated with pesticides, fertilizers, or unknowns. Only use trees you know are safe.
There are also a number of options that are NOT wood branches, from rope to wire platforms, wood platforms, and more.
We like the soft rope perches by Booda or similar brands. It is very soft underfoot and really easy to attach. You have to watch these because they may get chewed up and loose strings can easily lead to wrapped toes or crop impaction. Remove them when they get unruly. We don’t use any cement perches. We’ve seen countless sores and bumblefoot from birds who use them as the main sitting area. Sandpaper ones are a similar issue.
Toys
Building toys can seem overwhelming or difficult at first, but if you know what you’re looking for with materials, it makes all the difference.
How do I begin?
We like to make the vast majority of our toys. It’s easier, cheaper, faster, and no need to make an extra trip to the store. We can also make toys for individual birds without getting unwanted parts. Too many times I’ve been to the store to find a perfect toy, just to settle on something that’s not what I really wanted.
We use empty stainless steel skewers from expandable habitats, but other brands can be found at smaller pet stores as well. The small animal section (guinea pigs/rabbits) sometimes have really small skewers for little birds. These are the best way that we’ve found to make safe, practical toys with ease.
A lot of commercial toys are hung on chains. You’ll see it repeated a lot… UNDER SUPERVISION. We say this because anything can become dangerous if left without regular safety checks. Large wood blocks on chains are weighted on the bottom, and can lead to birds being hung, unable to free themselves because of that weight. Toys strung on natural/paper rope is often able to be chewed through, meaning it’s less of a hazard.
So what IS safe vs unsafe?
Not all toys are made equally. Some commercial toys are inappropriate, even dangerous, for parrots
Materials we like:
wood (see safe woods above), NATURALLY dyed wood (if the color runs when water is put on it, its usually a natural dye), paper rolls, leather scraps, pinecones that have been baked, certain plastic parts (like silly links), wooden balls, cardboard (nothing from the mail), natural ropes/cordage (jute, paper, leather), unbleached coffee filters, tissue paper, stainless steel measuring cups/bells, wiffle balls, and so much more.
Materials we don’t like:
Synthetic rope, unsafe woods, artificial dyes, cardboard that’s been through the mail (dirty, sprayed with cleaners), super hard wood, soft plastics, anything small enough to be eaten (looking at you, pony beads), any paper that’s been bleached, very soft/shreddable rope (under supervision only-things can go south fast if they ingest the rope).