Hi all, have been trying to find MELALEUCA ( paper bark) on safe woods etc. Does anyone know if the branches are safe for aviary. To climb/perch etc on in flight.

Edited November 14, 201113 yr by robyn

Hi all, have been trying to find MELALEUCA ( paper bark) on safe woods etc. Does anyone know if the branches are safe for aviary. To climb/perch etc on in flight.

 

robyn, I will go out on a limb and say yes.

 

Melaleuca has wonderful healing properties. I give melaleuca to my Goldfish to help with bacterial infections. All the cleaning products I use to clean my Breeder Cabinets are melaleuca based.

I found this link that lists it as suitable for aviaries: http://www.holisticbird.org/pages/eplants.htm#landscape

 

There were other links, too, but this one was a dot org instead of a dot com, so I trust those a little better.

Hi Robyn. Half the perches I have are melaluca, the other half bottlebrush. I have about 15 to 20 perches which I rotate around in whatever order so that the birds rarely have the same set-up. So answer to your question.....Yes!

 

I do prefer the bottlebrush because the birds spend the first few times they have them pulling the bark off, whereas the melaluca branches are much smoother - not much for them to chew up.

Thanks for the swift replies guys, I thought being native it should be okay but it pays to check. Just rewired my flight section so wanted to renew my "tree" as well thanks again.

Robyn, I have a Melaleuca tree that I regularly take branches from for my birds - have done so for the last three years and they're all still fine.

 

They go absolutely nuts over the leaves and flowers. If the branches have some water on them, then my seem to "bathe" in the essence from the leaves and flowers when they brush up against them - they're so funny!

Robyn, I have a Melaleuca tree that I regularly take branches from for my birds - have done so for the last three years and they're all still fine.

 

They go absolutely nuts over the leaves and flowers. If the branches have some water on them, then my seem to "bathe" in the essence from the leaves and flowers when they brush up against them - they're so funny!

 

Thanks Amy, we added branch, left a lot of the bark attached, hope that's okay. Hubby sprayed the leaves etc with hose and birds climbed all over it bathing in the water. I suppose now they'll demolish the bark off the branch, for fun.

Mine LOVE the branches and love demolishing all the bark. They'll enjoy it I'm sure.

I just found this fab Aussie site with loads of pics and info... I don't have anywhere to grow a huge tree so will have to keep mine in pots.

http://www.gardeningwithangus.com.au/plants??option=com_plant&view=plant&genus=Melaleuca

 

Enjoy!

Helen xo