Homemade perches?

Hello y'all, so I was wondering if its safe to use branches outside and around your home as perches for your birds (with proper cleaning of course) and if all branches were okay or if only some. I know pear branches are pretty safe to use, but out of everything I've read, nothing has said anything about using pomegranate trees and if they are okay or not okay to use?

According to this page, pomegranate wood is high in tannins and is best avoided. https://www.beautyofbirds.com/safewoods.html That is the only mention I’ve found in my quick search, but there are a number of sites that do list other safe woods. We live near a lot of manzanita and our state allows the purchase of a permit to harvest it, so we make our perches and stands from that.


Loki - Sun Conure [emoji169]
Clover - Lineolated Parakeet [emoji172]

Each region has trees that are safe and those that are not. Short, a long list of what is safe and than your saying that most are or are not common to your area, it is best that you research what trees in your area are safe.

Now, just because a tree maybe safe, does not mean that this specific tree is safe as what the tree is exposed to can be toxic to Parrots. Some states, cities and towns spray the road shoulders to keep tree grown to a minimum. This can provide a toxic that a crewing Parrot may not handle well.

Having some idea of what region you are living, helps in understanding what to look for and what to avoid. Most backyard Trees are rarely sprayed and are commonly a good choice (but verify first).

We target our backyard maples and oaks. We harvest healthy branches from our trees and cut to length. After that, we debark them because that is where the bugs and any toxic chemicals that may have floated in would be. After debarking, we use Hot Water with Dawn Original with a scrub brush. Rise with fresh water and let dry in the Bright Sunlight on the driveway, turning them during the day to assure that all sides are exposed to the Sun. We target doing this during the Summer when it is easy to identify healthy branches. This last year is the last year we will be using Oak wood as our area has become infected with Oak Wilt and the cutting could attract the infection.

Do not use fresh cut Pine Tree branches as they are rich in sap!!!

Use Google and search for bird safe woods. Read those articles. Grapaevine is fairly easy to acquire if you're sure of the source and they haven't treated the plant with chemicals. I mention grapevine because it is fairly chewable and rough textured, not to mention light and easily worked. It will be harder to debark and finish cleaning but is only an opinion. jh

My avian vet recommended I get branches from outside to make into perches and she told me which woods are safe but I forgot. lol. I live in the middle of downtown and I don't trust the tree branches. Instead, I just go online and buy 'all natural wood' perches that are pre-made.

I have found people over conscious about birds. being over conscious may cant be good for them. Never forget that birds are trained already by nature. filters, protectors are fixed in the birds by nature.
the birds who are not pets and live on their own in woods, they don't have any birds forum to consult about their lives and livings.
take good care of them but don't be over conscious.
I am witness of this thing that birds, parrots don't eat the things which are harmful or not good for them. keep yourself easy and ur bird too

ailourn said:

Hello y'all, so I was wondering if its safe to use branches outside and around your home as perches for your birds (with proper cleaning of course) and if all branches were okay or if only some. I know pear branches are pretty safe to use, but out of everything I've read, nothing has said anything about using pomegranate trees and if they are okay or not okay to use?

Click to expand...

You also need to be careful about where the tree comes from (even if it is a safe tree variety). Pesticides, fertilizers, road-salt and run-off all are taken in by trees in areas where they are present, so you need to make sure that the tree is in a remote enough area and has never been exposed to these sorts of chemicals (the chemicals remain in the bark). For instance, a tree growing near the street would be a poor choice, due to chemical runoff from cars.

Baking safe wood is a good way to ensure that it doesn't have harmful parasites, insects, bacteria or viruses on it.

In the wild, a bird would not have access to the same trees-- being aware of what woods are safe etc= very important. Wild birds also have totally different immune systems than captive birds, so it's comparing apples to oranges.