Got some pine tree branches, now what...

[irvinds]

Hi all,
Last night I started searching on how I can make my own perches and started looking at what my local park had in store. Found out that they have Pine tree's and that they are in fact not treated. I searched google and on this forum and said that pine tree branches are safe to use as perches and if my lovebirds chew on them that it would not be a health problem.

Just wanted to re-run this by you guys as I cannot hold a candle to the emount of experence and knowlege that you guys have.

With that being said... can i use this pine tree branch? How can I make sure it is 100% not treated/safe. What do i do now with them? bake them?drown them in a bucket of bleach water?

Thanks everyone for the help (mango) (peaches)

 

[irvinds]

Also, can i give them the actual pine leaves/pinecones for my lovebirds to chew/play with? Should I wash them with bleach water first/dry?

 

[Lovie]

I'm not an expert on this (so don't just go by my advice alone), but here's what I heard:

Make sure that there isn't any sap running down (fresh sap).
Baking it will get rid of any bugs or eggs (but if it doesn't fit in your oven, never mind). You can bake it at around 250ºF for an hour or maybe a little more.
You can shake the wood really well, or hose it down and let it dry.
You definitely shouldn't use bleach (or if you do, make sure you rinse it off REALLY well).

And about pinecones... some people have said they boil the pinecones in water for a little over ten minutes and let the cones dry in the sun.

Good luck.

 

[DallyTsuka]

you can bake pine cones the way you bake branches.

but lovie had really good advice and is right

 

[irvinds]

Okay great! Tonight I will measure out the lengths that I would like my new perches to be, then I will bake it for an hour or more tomorrow, assemble it and post it here

The leaves and the pinecones ill just build for a while and fry it out a little and give it to them as a toy.

If anyone else has any other suggestions please do so, and as always thank you guys very much!

 

[Kalidasa]

I use pine wood and cones also. Baking at 225 F* for 20 mins is adequate. the birds love chewing and peeling the bark

 

[irvinds]

Perfect, so I won't even have to boil them in water, just throw them in the oven, crank it up to 225degrees and leave it there for 20-1 hour,

That should remove all the sap that ozzes out, all germs/bacteria /eggs everything lol

 

[irvinds]

I have the branches in the oven baking, cant wait to get all the hardware.

I do have 1 more question. I boilded/baked the pine leaves/twigs for about 5/20min, Would it be okay to give it to my lovebirds even though theres a little bit of sap on the leaves?

 

[MomtoPercy]

I was a bit suspicious about the pine leaves (needles) and quickly googled it. The 3 sites I checked all said that pine needles and berries are TOXIC to birds. Please don't give your birds the needles - the bark, branches and cones are fine.

You will find that often the branch of a certain tree is safe but the leaves not.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http:...0QFjAB&usg=AFQjCNFq-dnmtxXsYB7ddBEP4sdnXI4bbQ

http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http:...8QFjAC&usg=AFQjCNF4qC84DoHZkCKBIueBkPeOfav24g

 

[irvinds]

Okey that is great to know, Im a little proud, got to build a fairly good perch for them to hang out now that they trust us enough to get out the cage and not leap out when we come near them...

As for the pine cones... one side has a good amount of dried up sap, is it okay to let them eat/play with the pinecorn even with the dried sap?

BTW thanks everyone for all the help, me and my lovebirds appropriate it.

 

[MomtoPercy]

I don't have experience with sappy cones but I'd imagine it would be best to give it a miss.

Hopefully someone can come along with better info on the sap.

 

[Lovie]

Just to be safe, I wouldn't use the pinecone. I would rather be safe than sorry. I'm glad they like the other pine stuff, though.