Question on cedar

FrancisMom · Nov 15, 2018

Hey all, I've seen info that says cedar is bad for 'toos and other info that says it may or may not be. Can anybody give me more details on it? I went to Home Depot today to get some shims for Francis (hehe) and all they had were cedar shims. Is it really bad, and if so, why?
Thanks!

ChristaNL · Nov 15, 2018

I have no idea... sorry.

I think it has something to do with the controversy around all pine-species.

We allways get warned overhere not to use old X-mass-trees etc for parrottoys, not to use the cones as fouraging toys.
Though you will find them sold as parrottoys at some places...

The problem seems to be the resin (the base of terpentine etc. so chemically not really suited for consumption). Cedar can be very fragrant ...so maybe that is the problem? Too much resin in the wood?

I have always considered cedar to be a 'safe'wood ... but it is not native here so it is only very rarely we see questions about it in the fora etc..
(the nuts are a favorite / so that gave me the idea the rest of the tree might be okay too, but I can be mistaken of course)

EllenD · Nov 15, 2018

As far as I know, Cedar dust is associated with lung and upper respiratory disorders and irritation, as well as eye irritation and swelling, and also tends to cause skin-rashes in birds as well...I know that "Red" Cedar is far stronger than the other species of Cedar, such as Yellow Cedar, but all types of Cedar are known to cause the lung and eye irritations and swelling in birds, as well as the skin rashes. It's the dust from Cedar that usually causes the lung and eye issues, and the rashes I believe come from just contact with their skin. It's due to the oils in the Cedar, mostly Phenols.

Pine wood actually contains very high levels of Phenols as well, which cause the exact same issues that Cedar does: skin rashes on-contact with their skin, and then the dust causes lung/respiratory irritation and swelling with breathing issues, and then also eye irritations.

noodles123 · Nov 15, 2018

Urine and cedar mix to produce fumes that are harmful to rodents...I had a million books about hamsters and guinea pigs and many advised against it for this reason. I would NOT use cedar around your bird, as their lungs are more sensitive than mammals...Especially because pine scents are not okay for birds, and I am pretty sure they are related.

ChristaNL · Nov 16, 2018

(yup, I was mistaken

it happens )

Question on cedar

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