Perches: which are safe/unsafe?

[buurd]

When my Rosy Bourke's parakeets were rehomed with me, they came with their cage, which had a sand perch, and two others with rough exteriors, meant to "trim" nails.

I read that these were horrible for their feet, and caused sore feet, so I bought self-adhering bandages and wrapped them all.

Sand perches and nail filing perches are everywhere. If these are bad for parrots, what are safe for them?

I bought some small manzanita perches, but Im not sure how I should clean the poop off them. White vinegar mixture?

I would like to get natural branches, but I really dont know where to go to harvest some branches that isnt private property :24:

Id love fruit branches, but I cant tell which are good fruit or not. Also, I am afraid of bringing mites, bugs and diseases home to my lil guys.

Id like to get some fresh eucalyptus branches via mail, but I dont know how safe they are, as they seem to be wild picked, too.

I did a few searches, and read through some threads, but too many come up to possibly read through, and Id like to replace these perches, asap.

Also what can the birds use for filing their beaks and nails, if the rough surfaced perches are out of the question?

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[buurd]

https://www.mysafebirdstore.com/PERCHES-PEDICURE_PERCHES.html

I was looking at these perches on a site literally with the words "safe birds" in the name, and still confused as to what is safe or unsafe.

 

[Jottlebot]

Two things to consider with perch safety is:

1. Material, mainly is it safe. There is a lot of information out there on what is safe, I do a Google search and then cross-reference a couple of sites to be sure. I mainly use shop bought perches, but I have apple trees in my garden that I give too. They don't last long though as they're quickly shredded! I don't bake these branches, but some people do to get rid of the bug issue. I don't actually worry about that. I don't think there's anything here that would live in or on an apple tree that would be risky for a parrot.

2. Size and shape. The sandpaper or perches with sand or shell coating them are fine as long as the bird has the option to stand on something else, the best ones change shape and diameter along different parts so the bird isn't standing with the same part of the foot on the rough surface all the time. I think sandpaper perches got a bad reputation because pieces of dowel used to just be covered in rolls of sandpaper and this was all birds (especially little birds like budgies) had to stand on all day every day and so they got bad feet. I have had only sanded and rough perches in my parrots cage for about 6 months, but I changed them recently because he's worn the shine off his beak! His feet are perfect

As for cleaning I rarely have to clean perches or toys because I place them carefully and leave "pooh drop zones" clear. When I do I use very hot water and a scrubbing brush. If the perch or toy doesn't survive the cleaning I replace it.

As with most things parrot, variety is key!

 

[wrench13]

Perzactly right. One sand perch and a few others with varying degrees of diameter of NATURAL material will be fine. My Salty prefers to roost on his sand perch, so his nails are pretty good. But give him a good selection and your birdy will be OK. Make sure they are BIG enough in diameter. Bigger is better. Those little 3/8" diameter perches that come with cages are way to small except for finches and canaries.

Scroll thru the I Love Amazons stickie in the Amazon sub forum. The writer has a section on perch diameter that is appropriate for ALL parrots. You wold be amazed at how large they should be, and gives a good idea of how parrot feet work.

 

[ChristaNL]

I don't know where you are, but there are some agriculturalists out there who do not spray their fruitbearing trees with poisons.
After a decade or so (some say 20 years for trees) of non-toxidity the branches will be fine for parrots.

Try to find people who have a few trees in their garden (non- commercials are less likely to use pesticides etc.). Try your local gardening-groups.
(I really despise facebook, but give it a try?)

I had some luck with contacting the local public-green-maintenace-people (no idea what their official jobtitle is) and find out where they were pruning trees (what kind and where -> you do not want treebranches that are near a busy highway etc. of toxic ones) and begged a few cutoffs ...
Just pluncked them in my bathroom and gave them a good soaking shower and scrubdown (and another shower with very hot water).
Yes- you will run a risk bringing in pests in your house but to enrich my birds life it's a risk I am willing to take (insert nobel longsuffering facial expression here )


Oh..and keep an eye out on the adds -
most people around here will advertise if they have free branches (mostly willow) after pruning for others to use for 'projects' (hedges, basketweaving, animals, etc.) it saves them the effort (and costs) of disposing of them, and it makes for a lot of good fun.




On stubborn poopstains on perches: wrap a wet towel (or tissue for small perches) around them- wait for half an hour/ hour or so and they will come of easily.




+
wrench: thank you for pointing out suitable diametres / it's always a gamble for me - I provide most sizes in the hope of hitting the right one, that sticky will help!

 

[MonicaMc]

Natural wood perches are the best, even manzanita is fine!


Here's a link if you can find trees locally that are safe to use.

Bird; Birds: Safe, Toxic Trees, Woods. Safe Tree Wood. Parrots. Parrot cages.
Parrot, Birds, Perches: Bird Perch. Bird Safe natural wood perches. Parrots Supplies.



I usually use soap and hot water, sometimes I'll go the route of the dishwater (no soap, just hot water) but also use diluted vinegar.

 

[buurd]

Thank you all very much for the info and tips

MonicaMc, I already had both of those links bookmarked, but your guys' advice is so invaluable. If you add up the years of personal bird experience ...Im just glad you guys are here for everyone like me, who's new to caring for birds. Its hard not to be confused about a lot of things, sometimes