Perch material

[Chi]

What do you think of conifer tree as perch material. Is pine tree proper even though it might have some resin in it? I heard that birds can get their feathering dirty from resin but it's definetly not poisonous.

Pine tree is almost all that grows here where I live. I wanted to ask because yesterday I found some really good looking perches and a play tree for my african grey.

[kp_in_scott]

I use untreated pine for blocks in our chew toys. If your grey is a big chewer the pine perch will not last very long, so you may want to take that into consideration before purchasing a stand or perches made of pine. Make sure there is NO Bark on the perch and that the would has Never been treated. If you have pines in your area, do you also have sweet gum or crepe myrtle? These are considered safe and grow in great abundance in middle GA.

[The Outlaw]

Kim:

I'd be careful about using Crepe myrtle. I remember a man on Macaw Talk who made a bunch of perches for his BG out of Crepe myrtle and shortly thereafter he was having symptoms very similar to PDD. It was never diagnosed as such. He removed the perches and after a very, very long time (his bird was almost totally paralyzed for many, many months) his bird started to make a dramatic comeback. He decided when the incident was over that the perches may have been toxic. I shall try to find the story for you. I recently got a new computer and I don't know if I still have the thread. It appeared on MC about 3 years ago and his screenname was Steve. His bird's name was Waddlesworth.

THE OUTLAW

[Chi]

I don't know if he/she is a big chewer type of CAG or not because I don't have him/her yet :) In a few weeks we are going to make a trip, bring the bird here, and introduce a new home for the baby.

I'm having second thoughts of the pine tree. I washed the perches and put them into sauna to dry for a long while. It seems the resin is exuding from the pine tree.

[LissaKokoKiwiKaseySam]

Nanc, I can't tell you the number of times I have wondered about dear Steve and Waddlesworth..I believe he was going to be in a movie that was being filmed in the firehouse that Steve worked in, but for the life of me I can't remember who was in it...