Ask Lafeber

Question:

June 2, 2020

Wood for perches


Is there any way to make safe woods safe for our parrots (free from disease) to make perche out of (grapevine, bamboo)


Answer:

Hi CC,

Yes, there is. However, there are so many natural wood perches available these days, unless you have a lot of parrots, it is easier and probably even cheaper to just buy them. Manzanita or grapevine can last a lifetime for a parrot unless he is a particularly hard chewer. And the perches you buy have already been disinfected and had the hardware added for easy installation in the cage.

If you do want to make your own, the disinfection process can take a while. But  most importantly, you need to be sure the tree or area has not been treated with pesticides. A bleach solution or white vinegar is the best thing to use. If the wood has a bark, you should remove that because it can be harboring pests. Manzanita and grapevine can usually just be scrubbed. After the disinfectant, some people will bake the wood in an oven. “Back in the day”, the practice was to bake the wood in the full sunlight and many people still do this. You need something for the wood to be on to keep it off the ground, and it should be placed indoors or somewhere that critters can’t get to it at night. Generally you do this for several days to a week. Once it is ready, you have to cut to size and add hardware to attach it to the cage. You can also do a Google search for other methods or opinions on this.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda

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