non-toxic wood for birds

[NoOne N Particular]

Hi all,

My daughter has just purchased a Sun Conure (a type of small parrot) and is wanting me to make some wooden pieces to put in the cage like ladders, perches, etc. I'm all for it, but I don't know if some woods may be toxic to parrots, so I just thought I would ask any experts that might be out there. This bird is much too expensive to find out later that I shouldn't have made a perch out of . . .(fill in the blank).

I have some Pine, Red Oak, Mahogany, Purpleheart, Poplar, and Jatoba right at the moment. I could also get some cypress (from a Leyland cypress that used to be in my back yard). I would like to use the red oak since it is a hard wood and should be able to withstand some chewing, but I am a little wary of that one. Think I might use the poplar. I can buy something else if it is known to be safe.

In the meantime I will keep looking through the Internet to see if I can find some info on this. I have seen a lot of info about the care and feeding, but nothing about what "toys" should be made out of.

Thanks in advance for all advice,

Wayne

[Doug Winterburn]

I gave a conure owning friend some madrona(sp?) brances from blow down. The little buggar loved these small "trees" in her large cage. She nibbled off all the twiggy stuff, but never did get through anything larger than 1/4" or so thick. Bingo was her name and she used those branches for many years before her demise - while the owners were away for a day, she turned her insides out trying to lay an egg :-(

-Doug

[Jack Casuso]

Hi,

Parrot type birds love to chew and no wood is too hard for them. I'd stay away from the exotics some of them are known to be toxic. The oaks red/white, poplar and maple would be my choices. I'd also stay away from the pine not that I think its toxic but the little bugger would destroy it in no time. Both pine and cedar contain volatile oils hence the smell so they would probably be good to avoid for that reason as well. Walnuts contain a substance jugulon (sp?) which is toxic to other plant species and maybe animals as well. Birds are so much more susceptible to toxins than say mice who will also chew on everything.

Do search the web. There are several sites usually schools that list toxic plants but not necessarily trees. I've used them in the past for the same purpose only reptiles instead of birds.

Two last notes, you also have to watch your houseplants some are toxic and if you do any finishing/painting in the house, make sure the bird is in a room where the vapors can't reach it.

[Sprog]

[Steve Knight]

O

fruit woods are good but for cherry (poisonous) oak would be fine. no sappy woods either. purpleheart would be fine too and strong. maple, beech, poplar would be good too.

[Bob Gramza]

[Joe_Stein]

Stay away from black walnut...toxic to animals & plants.

I used to remove / prune tree and reduced them to mulch. People would come by and ask for the mulch. If the mulch contained black walnut, we wouldn't give it to them for that reason. Joe

[NoOne N Particular]

Thanks to all who responded. The two links that I received were great and just what I was looking for. The other advice is also appreciated. I have since subscribed to rec.birds and rec.pets.birds, but just have not had the time to look through them yet, or ask the questions there. I'll ask my bird questions there from now on.

Thanks again,

Wayne