Are antlers safe?

[IamJolyn]

Hello everyone, my boyfriend is very much getting into making new toys and perches for our Davy Jones We have researched the various woods and what is safe and not, but he has access to a lot of antlers, natural antlers that have been dropped (we live in Wyoming so we know a lot of people who have them laying around). Does anyone know if they are safe? Thanks!

 

[jiannotto9492]

From my knowledge they are safe as long as the antlers aren't laquered and are not varnished. There's not much information on antlers being used just that birds typically do not like them.

 

[Kiwibird]

I would bake them to sterilize them, but they are very similar to bone, and bone is fine for parrots. What's inside them? Parrots are known for cracking bones and eating the marrow inside, so if antlers have marrow or something similar, I might take that into consideration (i.e. will it spoil/rot?).

 

[SilverSage]

Agreed on if you keep them, bake them! Also, please keep in mind that due to the extremely hard nature of antlers they should not replace wooden toys. I bet they would be easier to clean than wood! But be sure your bird always has access to lots of wood to chew on, because they need it for their beaks.

 

[henpecked]

Yes antlers are safe, i've used them for many years.

 

[IamJolyn]

Thanks everyone, I will bake them, my next question would be how to clean them, and now i know!. Most of them are dried, as having fallen off after the rut, so there shouldn't be anything inside. And yes, these would be just to give him different options.

Davy only had the same size wooden perches for his first 5 years and was never let out of his tiny cage, I have already gotten him a few other sizes to give his feet more exercise. He is pretty unstable when using his new perches, but he is using them and i hope that will get better. As far as toys, I got him a new wood toy but he hasn't touched it yet. His intern owner (who rescued him from the original owner) only had a plastic toy and a bell toy in his cage, both of that he plays with, so i am hopeful he will start playing with the wooden one.

His beak is on the long side, I have a awesome vet here in town that can trim it, but I would rather he learn to play and chew and do it more naturally.

 

[Sunset_Chaser]

Thank you for asking this! Bought some stuff from my friend and someone had made a few smaller antler perches, I wasn't certain if they were okay to use or not and haven't had time to ask

 

[jiannotto9492]

Could you possibly boil them and vinegar wash them as well to clean them? If this is the case I might actually try them out as well.