I have taken a piece of branch from my apple tree,what should i do to make it safe for Jim,should i sand it down a bit and take the outer bark off,or just boil the branch?

i would check for moss or fungi and make sure all of it is gone. lightly sand the whole branch and sterilise it in a bleach solution for 20 mins then rinse until you are sure that all the bleach residue is gone. then if it needs it you can lightly sand it again to give the birds more grip

thanks,excellent advice again,fantastic people on here

Dont you need to bake it to dry the sap inside too?

Ive always baked in gas mark 4-5 for 20 minutes. I know not everybody does, but I prefer to personally.

up to you whether you think the birds are likely to chew right threw it to get to the sap and whether the sap from that tree is particularly harmful or not.

are all varies of apple tree branches okay? Just making sure, my mil has an apple tree not sure the vary though.

Yes, all the varieties are fine

Yes, all the varieties are fine

 

Cool, thank you

Pixie just a quick question regarding the bleach, isn't there anything else which could be used as I'm very cautious about chemicals and I feel bleach could be a bit dangerous if not all washed off.

i dont think so... maybe chirpy will know of a natural ingredient?

 

the bleach solution should be 1 part bleach to 10 parts water so it is very dilute. i used this solution to wash *everything* in Caspers cage after Peanut died of megabacteria. in my mind there was nothing else that would do a better job and i wanted to make sure it was all entirely clean. i let everything soak for about 20 mins and then repeatedly rinsed everything until i could no longer smell bleach on it at all and then left them to dry properly. i would also strongly advise using a bleach solution to clean a second hand cage or second hand equipment.

 

there is also an industrial strength veterinary all purpose disinfectant that is the strongest one on the market and used by veterinary clinics called F10. i have never used it but i have heard it is very good. you might be able to use that instead. its quite expensive though and in my opinion its nothing more than good old bleach wont sort out.