Indoor trees?

[Heather83]

Hi everyone,

 

This may be an odd question but I was wondering if there are any specific indoor trees that are non-toxic to birds? I want to turn one of my rooms into a birdie play room and would like to have half of it be indoor plants/trees that my birds could climb around and play in? Has anyone done this before or is it even possible to find such trees? I know there are tons of lists of toxic trees/plants but it's hard to find info online that narrows done what plants/trees are indoors and are non-toxic. Any help or info is very much appreciated!

 

Heather

[Dave007]

There's loads of live trees and live plants that are safe but rarely are live trees used in bird rooms. Maybe you could check into having some artifical plants around that will make your bird room attractive although you have to watch what they chew but as far as trees go, most people get real branches and build their own design and the goal should be to make those branches as irregular with different thicknesses as possible so that they are similar to actual branches that are on trees. Most real trees, whether they're safe or not, grow outdoors.

Edited May 15, 2010 by Dave007

[Talon]

Very nice Dave! Did you add to those playstands? Or did you make them or buy them?

[Dave007]

I made them . Those are about 6 yrs old. I go into my back yard and cut up all the dead branches that fall off the trees and make those things above. The one on the right is heavier than the other one. I've 3 other old ones. Much cheaper than commercial stands and the birds never bitch or complain.

[judygram]

Here is one source of information on safe plants and trees: http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/plntsafe.htm

[Heather83]

I remember as a kid we had trees in the house. They were smaller and never grew more than 6ft. I live in the desert (Arizona) so cutting some would be a bit more difficult. Do you think a nursery would have trimmings? Our subdivision here is quite new and the trees we do have are still very tiny - nothing a Grey could perch on. Those stands are quite impressive! I can see I have my work cut out for me!

[Tricky]

Dave, what kind of trees did you get the branches for your playstands from? I have a lottt of trees in my yard.

 

Also, is there any kind of hardware that would be harmful?

[Dave007]

They're just your garden variety of plain old oak trees. I've got a large forest in the back of my house. The trees are approx 100 yrs old and every winter lots of branches die and fall off and those are the ones I use. I just take branches of different thicknesses and cut them up into different lengths and thoroughly clean them. A person can use a hand saw or electric saw to cut up pieces. I use a table saw because I'm too lazy to use a hand saw.

 

'''Also, is there any kind of hardware that would be harmful?'''

 

I'm sorry but I don't understand what you mean by hardware but if you wanna know how it's put together, I use screws and nails. The designs don't have to be fancy. Those 2 above have no particular design but the ones in trees also have no design either and my birds aren't fussy.

The tray is 3/4 in. thick and is coated with white polyurenene which makes it waterproof. I use white cause it's easy to see what the mess is. The edges of the trays are old door frame moldings. I got the legs from Home Depot. They cost $2 per 5 ft. That's about it.