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Hmmmm ... I might just start gnawing on tree branches myself!!  Thanks for the links, Nanners ... very interesting information! I'm going to ask my vet about Proanthocyanidins (Olygomeric Proanthocyanidins, OPCs) for my gals and guy the next time I see her. Abby |
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Native americans chewed on will tree branches and bark, as it acted like a pain reliever. I believe this is where aspirin came from. Nan |
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This worries me because in almost every list of toxic plants we are told never to use any variety of the prunus species, plums, apricots, cherry etc, due to the bark, leaves and seeds containing toxic compounds which release cyanide if ingested. This site, wellvet, links to a holistic selling site, meant for humans, not birds. I can eat an avocado (not prunus sp.-but you know what I mean), for instance, my birds can't. Prunus maritima that they refer to is a beach plum. Our own BB link to Gillian Willis' safe perch woods. Annie |
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For foot excercise as well as delivering a more natural habitat atmosphere, I use nothing but natural branches. Some are grapewood and some are lilac. A couple of months ago I was gifted with two 3 month old cockatiels in a small parakeet type cage....I already knew that these two would not be left to roam free as we also have feral cats that come to visit on a daily basis...yet I wanted to be able to afford my winged companions room to flit and fly and flap with room and non-injury. While scoping out large cages, we were driving down a side street on our way to another store when we saw a hugggge dog crate with a free sign on it. We looked at each other with out speaking, pulled over, checked it out and loaded it into the back of the truck. After giving it a couple of days of good scrubbing and making sure it was very safe, I loaded it with toys and branches, some shorter branches my husband put screws/discs in the end to attach to the crate sides and some branches were set in the crate openings at various levels, with plenty of room to spare for them to fly about. While the nice looking crate was free, the consequences were the loss of desk lol....the 28 wide, 48 long and 36 high needed something stable for it's weight....there went my desk! I have used natural branches for many years with various birds and I cannot imagine using anything else. I think they are much nicer looking than regular dowls normally used as well, and much better for foot health. Respectfully, Autum |
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We still have one of our century old apple trees left and I've been harvesting branches from it for all of our birds. I scrub them down in the shower, soak in the tub, rinse well, and sun dry them. Right now I'm not planning on harvesting any this year because I'm worrying about the bird flu and we are on the Great Pacific Flyway, so we have decided to error on the side of safety this year. No need to take any extra chances. I'll just use from the stock I have saved up in the garage. di |
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Autumn, it sounds like you found a great home for your tiels, as far as size goes. The one thing that worries me (and I might be right off the wall) is what sort of metal the cage is made from. We've had some members whose birds have had zinc poisoning, and I believe lead poisoning as well. On the let sidebar near the bottom, if you click on Bird Care Articles and Links a list will open up. Clicking any of the items on the list will open that article.One of the articles is "Metals". It lists some of the things that contain the above metals, as well as other metals. Is there a way to determine what metal your cage is made from? A quick link to the page is: I'm probably fretting about nothing, but I'd sure hate for your tiels to get sick! Abby |
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I lost a TAG to zinc poisoning and got a G2 that had plucked his feathers.As it turned out he had lead poisoning and I had to give him shots for a month. If you do some scrapings of your cage the vet can send it to be tested. Here are some links on the subject. Nan This one covers a lot of the metals You can do the zinc test yourself. I bought the stuff and did it but you need to wear gloves and do it outdoors. Pluws the fumes are nasty. You can take in scrapings to your vet This shows how zinc is involved in galvanized wire |
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| Great heads up advice! I will take some scrapings from underneath the cage and submit them to the vet...though the cage is fully coated like the smaller bird cage I have.....I will do anything to safeguard them, even to the point of having a verbal difference of opinion with hubby regarding the sandpaper perch covers he wanted to put in hahahaha....I won't allow them. Thank you again  Autum |
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I finally found this! Nanners, I thought your comment about aspirin originating from the willow tree (or will tree as you put it  ) was interesting, so I looked it up the origins. Then I couldn't remember where I saw the comment, so I couldn't post this! lol It's an excerpt from Encarta: Aspirin, synthetic chemical compound, acetylsalicylic acid. It is made from salicylic acid, found in the bark of the willow tree, which was used by the ancient Greeks and Native Americans, among others, to counter fever and pain. Salicylic acid is bitter, however, and irritates the stomach. The German chemist Felix Hoffman synthesized the acetyl derivative of salicylic acid in 1893 in response to the urging of his father, who took salicylic acid for rheumatism. |
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