Those look so pretty. Look forward to seeing photos in the cage once you're done.
I wish I were that handy. And had access to such lovely trees. I don't trust any of the trees where I live as I don't know if they've been treated or not with pesticides.
Honestly I cant be 100% sure but I don't think anyone can. All I know is the trees are in an area that's a walkway about a mile from any roads and is full of weeds/flowers/fruit trees. There is no reason to spray the area, the only way any chemicals could have touched them would be by accidental spray from nearby fields. Also i'm in Scotland so its always raining so anything that would hit it would be washed away (i think).
Also with stripping the bark/cleaning/baking I don't think there is much chance of anything being left behind.
I will do more research while the wood dries to make sure I don't put anything bad in his cage though.
As a little update I found the whole perch making thing very easy and also angry I spent so much on "natural" perches in the past. Dicky is loving them and they are so easy to clean in comparison to the plastic/cheap wood perches, i think thats due to the branches being so strong/dense being a very slow growing tree (each perch is about 12 years old!).
Its very hard to take photos but my basic method was to strip the bark, scrape the wood using a sharp knife, scrub with soap and water, oven bake at 120c for 3 hours and then simply drill a hole and screw in a dowel.
Here is a quick snap of the smug looking ball of fluff sitting on his favourite perch I made!
Dicky looks like such a little fluff-ball in that picture! Totally adorable.
That's the view I get most of the day now, especially since removing all but 1 of his mirrors he spends all his time all fluffed up and talking to me. His recent phrase he seems to love saying is "come on Dicky!" over and over and over.
He tries his hardest to convince me to go give him head rubs and I think he has learned talking is a great way of doing that!
A quick update, made this perch from apple wood and Dicky is loving it after being scared for a few hours. I used a small sanding bit on my Dremel to make a snake design. I like the idea of wonky and different sized perches to make it more fun for Dicky and also stretch his feet.
That's pretty cool
I'm going to try that! Is pine safe for budgies though? I see mixed things about that. I live in the "Evergeen State" and pine would be the easiest for me to get.
That's pretty cool
I'm going to try that! Is pine safe for budgies though? I see mixed things about that. I live in the "Evergeen State" and pine would be the easiest for me to get.
Personally I wouldn't use pine as its so messy. I built a shed out of pine and even 10 years later the sap still runs out the wood and through the paint in summer.
I remember reading pine branches are fine for perch making but I do wonder how you could remove that sticky sap, maybe a long bake in the oven to try and release it?
State: 
State: 
Totally adorable.
