Choosing wood planks for your bird

[RemiBird]

Hello everyone!
Have a quick question for those parronts of strong chewers, lol. Petey has been working on our kitchen cabinets unfortunately... She started chewing diligently around the edges as she loves to sit on top of the cabinets. So, we are thinking of getting a few wood planks from Home Depot or Lowes and make her a good size platform up there so she can chew the planks instead of the cabinets.
Anyway, has anybody bought wood that is safe for birds, something I can find at such stores?

 

[KawaiiTori]

Balsa wood is our go-to! You can get pretty thick stuff at hobby shops for cheap On Amazon as well...

 

[SailBoat]

Visit Home Depot and other like big box stores when they are not busy with Carpenters and other Professional Types!!! Bring pictures of your 'Wood Chipper' (the Parrot)!!!

Target soft white pine 'Trim Lumber' as it is soft enough for small to large bills, to work away at, but not too hard to not maintain their interest.

Check out the 'End Cut or Short Piece' barrel, first!!! This is a Low to no cost chew toy barrel in my opinion.

Testing for use for Parrots. Can you dent the wood surface with your finger nail? If yes, its great for your Parrot.

Never buy 'Treated (outside) Lumber'!

 

[noodles123]

Visit Home Depot and other like big box stores when they are not busy with Carpenters and other Professional Types!!! Bring pictures of your 'Wood Chipper' (the Parrot)!!!

Target soft white pine 'Trim Lumber' as it is soft enough for small to large bills, to work away at, but not too hard to not maintain their interest.

Check out the 'End Cut or Short Piece' barrel, first!!! This is a Low to no cost chew toy barrel in my opinion.

Testing for use for Parrots. Can you dent the wood surface with your finger nail? If yes, its great for your Parrot.

Never buy 'Treated (outside) Lumber'!

Must be untreated and NOT pressure washed--- they treat it with chemicals to prevent rot and insect issues...Not safe unless it is totally free from all of that..

 

[RemiBird]

Thank you everyone! We went to an arts and crafts store and picked up $15 worth of balsa wood planks. Should be nice and clean for her. We lined up the top of the cabinet with the planks and now she has decided that it's not interesting any more, lol!
Birds...

 

[Inger]

Thank you everyone! We went to an arts and crafts store and picked up $15 worth of balsa wood planks. Should be nice and clean for her. We lined up the top of the cabinet with the planks and now she has decided that it's not interesting any more, lol!

Birds...

Well you just lined it with radioactive material [emoji23]


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[Betrisher]

Are you able to get untreated pinewood pallets? My birds *love* chewing pallet timber and, having done so for over seven years, they haven't passed on yet so I guess it's OK. The art is in finding someone with fresh, new, untreated pallets to give away (plenty in my local area).

I use a hole saw to cut circles out of the planks, then drill holes in them and string them on leather straps (which I cut thinly from the waste bits of 5mm calf-hide). I put one plank on top of the cage and the Beaks will spend hours hanging up there and chewing their little beaks off. Right now, I've got a plank threaded through the cage bars to make a sort of perch. The Beaks have chomped about half-way through theirs, but Rosetta's still working on her first inch (her beak is considerably smaller than Barney's and Madge's).

Other than that, if you have any Australian native trees growing in your area, see if you can get any fallen branches or nuts from those. Birds *love* them!

(NB. Eucalyptus, melaleuca, grevillea, banksia, callistemon etc). Melaleuca's pretty good as it rips off in long strips and birds like turning it into frass.

PS. Duh! Am I right in realising you have a Conure? LOL! The requirements of a Conure beak and an Alexandrine beak are quite different, I find. Me Beaks would make matchwood out of balsa in seconds! So would Rosetta. Sorry about that. I think balsa is a great option for your Conure!

 

[RemiBird]

She finally decided this morning that the new thing is worth her royal attention:25:
As far as untreated pine crates, it's so hard to tell if the wood is untreated or not. So I just went with balsa wood from the craft store as suggested.

 

[RemiBird]

Big thank you to KawaiiTori for suggesting balsa wood!! Success at last
She has been working on it all afternoon, and to our astonishment made a hole in it the size of a golf ball, LOL!

 

[KawaiiTori]

Big thank you to KawaiiTori for suggesting balsa wood!! Success at last
She has been working on it all afternoon, and to our astonishment made a hole in it the size of a golf ball, LOL!

No problem! I’m not surprised that she has put a good dent in it, LOL...at least it’s cheaper to replace than the cupboards!