Disinfecting natural perches

[HalfInsane]

So, as cool looking as java trees are, I don't much care to spend $100 on a wrinkled old tree. I'm going to go and chop down a little aspen tree instead. Now, I normally cook branches in the oven to kill any bacteria. However, i obviously cannot fit a tree in there. It is also the dead of winter so letting the sun disinfect it isnt an option, either.

I was wondering if any of you might know another way I could go about disinfectant the tree?

 

[henpecked]

Not sure what you need to disinfect a natural tree in winter for,Most bacteria and worm eggs from native birds can't take sub-freezing temps.Scrub it clean and leave outside in the open for a couple of very cold nights. That should do it.

 

[IcyWolf]

Not sure what you need to disinfect a natural tree in winter for,Most bacteria and worm eggs from native birds can't take sub-freezing temps.Scrub it clean and leave outside in the open for a couple of very cold nights. That should do it.

I was thinking the same thing. As far as I know, freezing is just as effective as super heating when it comes to killing any nasties that could harm our birds. If you're still feeling paranoid about it I suppose you could use a hair dryer on high, held really close to the tree for a few seconds, I know they get super hot! just be sure not to burn the wood.

 

[roxynoodle]

Well, our winter has been much too warm. If yours has been like mine, you might want to wait for those days or nights below freezing. I'm finally having that!

 

[HalfInsane]

Well, our winter has been much too warm. If yours has been like mine, you might want to wait for those days or nights below freezing. I'm finally having that!

Well, it has been mild, for Northern Canada lol. This time of year 10 degrees below freezing is abnormally warm, though. It's supposed to hit -25C this week, all week (that is normal weather. Read: never willingly move anywhere this far north). That should kill most anything. We do have some pretty hardy species of fungi around here though; pretty much anything that lives up here needs to survive extreme cold, since its winter half the year. I honestly don't know if they're harmful to birds, though. I'll just have to carefully inspect the tree I guess. Maybe use a blow dryer as suggested/peel off any suspect bark that appears spotty, etc.

The cold would logical kill bacteria/disease, you're right. I guess I'm so used to freezing my butt off I sometimes forget how cold it really is...

 

[Remy]

A lot of nasties can withstand cold; in a lot of cases it just slows or stops growth, or they go dormant. What about dousing it with vinegar? Or a bleach treatment (allowed to thoroughly dry before putting with birds, of course)?

 

[roxynoodle]

It definitely wouldn't hurt I guess to use a bleach/water solution to clean it, rinse the heck out of it, and then let it dry thoroughly. I just cut a bunch of Mulberry branches, but there was absolutely nothing suspect looking on that tree.

 

[HalfInsane]

I'd have thought bleach would absorb in to the wood? Vinegar I'll do though, give it a good soak in the laundry sink. It does have a bit of lichen on it, for sure; you'd be hard pressed to find a tree around here that doesn't. I'll just have to scrape anything suspect off the bark.

It also has a lot of rather thin branches on it, but I think I might leave those. Might give the bird a bit of exercise, having to balance on a wobbly branch.

 

[Remy]

Wobbly branches are good. :-D

If you were to bleach it, I'd let it dry out a lot longer, for a while after the bleach smell has gone away, due to that reason. Vinegar is nice because it's perfectly safe to eat. :-D