Choosing the right perch for your pet bird is very important. Just like you want to sit on a comfortable chair, your parrot wants to stand on a comfortable perch. So how do you know what perch is the right perch for your bird? There are several criteria to use when picking out a new perch for your parrot: diameter, roughness and wood strength.
Bird Perch Size
The correct diameter, or width of a bird perch is specific to each bird. A bird¹s feet should, ideally, wrap just half way around the perch. Too wide of a perch and the bird cannot get a good grip and could fall off of the perch. Too small a perch can cause the bird¹s toes to wrap around the perch and over each other, leading to sores and possible deformity.
A bird perch should also have bends and variations in its size. Slight changes and variations in the size and shape of a bird¹s perch promote a healthy grip. When all the perches in a parrot¹s environment are the same size, the bird becomes unable to properly grip any other surface.
Perch Bark Type
When looking for the ideal bird perch, you will notice that there are several types of bark available in the mass market, from the very smooth to the very coarse. For most pet birds and parrots, this is a personal preference.
Some birds prefer the slick bark of a manzanita perch while others prefer the rough bark of a sassafras perch. There are also many varieties of cement and sand covered perches available for birds that prefer a rough style perch. These perches are fine, as long as your parrot has several other natural perches to choose from in the cage. Prolonged exposure to coarse cement and sand perches can lead to foot sores.
Perch Strength
The life of a perch can be directly related to the strength of the wood that the perch is made of. Manzanita wood is just about the strongest wood that you can find on the mass market for a perch. The problem with a manzanita perch is that, if your bird does manage to bite in to it, the wood tends to split.
Sassafras is a much softer wood. Birds and parrots enjoy chewing on the sassafras wood because of its sweet taste. Many birds will chew the bark off of a sassafras perch and leave the core wood alone. However, if a bird does keep chewing on a sassafras perch the soft, stringy wood will not provide a lot of resistance.
If you take in to account what types of perches your pet bird or parrot already has in its cage, you will be better prepared to choose an appropriate new perch for itsneeds. Keeping a good mixture of sizes, shapes, coarseness and strength will help ensure that your feathered friend continues to develop and maintain healthy foot strength.
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