Colored concrete perches

[Joeyx]

I've only used white concrete perches before so i'm a little curious. i don't know
what makes the colored perches.. colored.. but i want to know if anyone's used
them and if they are actually safe for birds.

 

[wwendy104]

I have some colored ones but the ones I have it is a coating on top of plastic. My Cag is fine with them she has one but the Macaw who came with 2 pink ones in her cage chews the coating off them. So I will stick with the concrete ones cause they seem to last longer. Its hard to be sure if the ones in your photo are coated or solid.

 

[LoryLover]

I heard somewhere that it's not good to use a rough texture perch, because it irritates the padding on the bird's feet.

What do you all think?

 

[SandyBee]

Yep we have them and they are safe.
Install with the small flat edge facing up, thats what the pads of their feet sit on. The longer rough side are for their talons to hit and file down as well as they can rub their beak against for filing and maintenance

Safety Grooming Perch - Medium

 

[NWQuakers]

I have one of those near a food dish, so they get the benefit of it, but have plenty of other surfaces to perch on. Never had any foot irritation or other problems, but my quakers haven't been destructive either.

 

[SparkkiSparkS]

I have had a purple one for a while now and its perfectly safe.

 

[CoCo1]

I have a purple one and a green one...the CAG prefers the purple one and the M2 prefers the green one, I have had no issues with them, but I did ask my vet about them as Lola (M2) has a splayed leg and needs things modified. He said they are perfectly safe- but she may not use it as she has literally spent more than 10 years hanging out at the bottom of her cage. I also have rope perches and wood perches. But she loves sitting in her basket~ She is too funny

 

[aliray]

I have a few for the different cages that I got from Walmart. They are made of a hard plastic that are flat on the top and bottom and the sides are rough like pumice or sand to trim the claws and I have had no problems with them . I have had them over a year or two

 

[LoveMyParrots]

I have a blue one for Ozzie, and he shows no sign of illness, so it should be fine.

 

[Joeyx]

thanks for the replies everyone.

i guess i was just worried about if they were coatings that could get swallowed
or if they use artificial coloring that might be bad for birds if they ingest it.

 

[Kiwibird]

Seeing as they are designed specifically for birds, I imagine they use something like food dye, since it's non-toxic. There are also some out there that look and feel like a concrete perch, but are actually made of some sort of vitamin mixture (like the calcium blocks are made of). I recently got Kiwi one of those unknowingly, and imagine my surprise to see him destroying and eating what I thought was a solid cement perch! Turns out, it's some sort of fruit flavored, edible perch instead (and it was purple).

On the subject of damaging their feet, a parrot shouldn't have all cement perches, or all any one type of perch. Their feet need a good variety of sizes and textures to be healthy, so having one cement perch while they have other natural wood and rope perches too shouldn't cause any issues. They can move to a more comfortable perch if it starts scratching their feet. I got a actual cement perch as a replacement for the edible perch (once it was thoroughly destroyed), and he doesn't sit on it all that often. However, I see him all the time on the wood branch below it reaching up and rubbing his beak. No difference in his talons because of the cement perch, but boy has his beak been looking nice!

 

[OOwl]

I have several of the colored ones and have for over five years. I was just looking them over on last full-cage clean out, and they're almost like brand new, no fading, no damage,
very little wear. Once or twice a month I run them through the dishwasher, and just spot clean daily. I have them in with a Grey and a Galah and they aren't really on them very often (like another poster, I have them by their food dishes). I'm not sure how well they dull the nails (I still clip their nails every couple of months) but they really don't seem harmful in any way. In fact, I have been through SEVERAL other types of perches and these are still around. I guess that makes them a good value.

 

[Joeyx]

i just got back home and bought Cloud new toys and more food, and also a yellow calcium perch for her nails. she was attacking it at first and didn't want to get close to it but after hanging a small seed treat feeder above it, she seems to be perching just fine and enjoying some yummy seeds. ;p

the perch itself seems to be very sturdy and SOLID. not sure if it's meant to be eaten because it seems like cloud's beak might break off before being able to chip any parts of it. i hope it trims her nails asap though.

 

[lpolliard]

Be sure to inspect your fids feet periodically for hot spots. I had to retire my concrete perch until Chico's feet recovered. I like the shape of the perches you found. Seems like hotspots would be less of an issue.

 

[Joeyx]

actually the one i got looks like this;

only the laaarger ones look like the ones in the pic i posted initially.

 

[Wulfgeist]

I have one for Jasper's door perch and it seems to hold up pretty well. There's only a tiny little chip from it that might have been there when I got it. I also have a bigger plastic pediperch and they do help with the nails alot but I've noticed there is one toe that must not hit it that is getting pretty long. The cement one has a texture on the sides but I am pretty sure it is the plastic pediperch that is actually keeping his nails dulled and somewhat filed down.