Making a natural hard wood perch. (Help on safe woods?)

jugoya · Sep 18, 2013

Here in Texas we have a species of oak we call 'Live oak' and I plan on cutting one of the smaller one's in my yard down stripping it of bark and then sanding it down after leaving it to dry out over a series of weeks; then applying a saline and vinegar dip to kill anything off.

Before working on it some more.

My question is..
Is oak a safe bird wood?

weco · Sep 18, 2013

It's safe & sounds like a good choice, though why would you want to sand it ? ? ?

I understand removing bark, but some woods are naturally slick and sanding just makes them difficult for birds to negotiate.....actually all those little bumps, ridges & grooves help birds feet.....

henpecked · Sep 18, 2013

Oaks are listed as Not safe, because of the tannin in the wood, leaves, etc. I haven't found this to be true when i used to use live oak. I would age it for several months until well dry. Here in Fla the feral amazons and many other animals feed on live oak acorns. I've switched to using dragonwood and it works great.I can not recommend Live Oak on the forum because it does make the toxic plant list. The folks who make that list are like me and tend to error on the side of safety.I'm unsure of where in Tx you are but maybe look for Pecan (lots of wild stuff in many parts of Texas), Hickory and Ash. You can also use the "forum Search" and look for safe woods/plants , lots of old post with list of plants. Of course no wood is safe if treated with pesticides so be aware of where you collect it , ie; areas that spray for mosquitoes, or orchards, residential areas, etc.

PieMaster · Sep 18, 2013

I hope it is okay to add to this thread - does anyone know if sycamore wood is safe? American sycamore, that is. The avian vet gave me a list of good/bad plants, but it is not on either list!

weco · Sep 18, 2013

Here are a couple of lists where your sycamore are listed on the OK side of the isle.....

Bird; Birds: Safe, Toxic Trees, Woods. Safe Tree Wood. Parrots. Parrot cages.

Wood / Trees / Bushes Considered Safe for Birds

Fae · Sep 18, 2013

I checked the list and "pear" is listed as controversial, does anyone have any experience with this tree? There's a nice fat pear tree ripe for chopping across the road from me.

weco · Sep 18, 2013

Fae said:
I checked the list and "pear" is listed as controversial, does anyone have any experience with this tree? There's a nice fat pear tree ripe for chopping across the road from me.

Here's 4 votes for & 1 reserved with notes.....

Safe and Toxic Plants for Pet Birds List, poisonous and toxic plants for pet birds, safe herbs for pet birds, safe flowers for pet birds, safe garden plants for pet birds, safe garden flowers for pet birds, safe seeds to grow for pet birds, safe hous

Bird; Birds: Safe, Toxic Trees, Woods. Safe Tree Wood. Parrots. Parrot cages. (listed in both columns)

Birdsnways - Safe Plants & Trees for pet birds, pet parrots &exotic birds

Non-toxic for birds list and a list of things that are toxic for birds.

The secret, when researching anything on the internet, you almost have to check out the sources.....websites have very often simply extrapolated information from somewhere else and there is no validating/supporting data available other than some purported "qualified review" by some unknown or from vendors and/or manufacturers who have a vested interest in seeing customers flocking to their websites/stores.....whether there is any real validity to their so-called reviews or other ravings.....hold out for the 3rd party data produced by those with not interest...outside certified data sources, universities, etc., etc., etc......

jugoya · Sep 19, 2013

I think I'm just going to go with Grapewood.

I've used it before and many other people do too xP

Making a natural hard wood perch. (Help on safe woods?)

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