Safe Wood for Perches

If you’re sourcing your own ‘wild’ sticks, you need to avoid any wood that might be toxic. It’s best to stick to native tree species, mainly because not all ornamental woods have been tried and tested in budgie cages. The following list includes native European tree wood that’s definitely okay for budgie perches:

Apple
Ash
Birch
Beech
Crab apple
Elm
Hawthorn
Larch
Lilac
Maple
Mountain ash (rowan)
Mulberry
Poplar
Willow
Rose
Spruce
Sycamore

Wood isn't just for perching

Almond
Bamboo
Cottonwood
Date
Douglas fir
Dracaena
Eucalyptus
Fig
Ginkgo
Grape vines
Hibiscus
Hickory
Lemon
Lime
Orange
Palm
Rubber plant
Tree fern
Yucca

Lots of other woods are probably perfectly safe to use, but why risk it? The list above includes species that most budgie owners will be able to source easily.

Most shop-bought perches are made from untreated pine, of the kind used in dowels, and this is fine. But avoid fresh pine, which has a sticky resin. Balsa wood is safe, but won’t last very long as a perch: an industrious budgie will chew through in a few days!

Unsafe Wood for Budgies

Rather than list hundreds more ‘budgie safe’ trees, it’s far more useful to have an ‘avoid’ list. The following common wild, garden and parkland species have been implicated in budgie health problems, so don’t use any of these as perches:

Alder
Apricot
Azalea
Box elder
Boxwood
Buckthorn
Burdock
Cedar
Elder
Heather
Holly
Horse chestnut
Huckleberry
Hydrangea
Jasmine
Juniper
Laburnum
Laurel
Mango
Myrtle
Nectarine
Nutmeg
Oak
Mistletoe
Oleander
Peach
Plum
Privet
Rhododendron
Sage
Tobacco
Walnut
Witch hazel
Wisteria
Yew

Avoid any treated woods unless obtained from a reputable pet dealer. Driftwood found on a beach will always be tempting as a cage ornament, but because you can’t always tell which species the wood came from, nor the toxic things it might have been in contact with, it’s best to avoid introducing it to cages.