Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was almost going to put our small artificial tree up when I remembered my babies, Sparticus & Archimedes, and how curious they are with anything new and different in the house.

So instead of doing the more traditional tree with the lights and decorations, I was wondering about making the tree safe for them to enjoy. I remembered back in elementary school, we'd plaster peanut butter on pine cones and then roll them in bird seed for the outdoor birds to enjoy. I'm more or less at a loss how to do a similar idea for my 'tiels, however. I had understood pine wood and anything related to pine to be dangerous to 'tiels, and as the "tree" is extremely small (no more than 2 feet tall), it wouldn't really hold anything that size anyway.

I was contemplating transforming those seed-ball treats into something of ornaments for the tree, but then started wondering if the tree itself was going to be safe. I might just do without a tree, but it seems a little less holiday-esque, and my mother is talking of bringing a tree herself.

I don't want to go with a real tree because we don't have the room, not to mention the mess it leaves... so are there any thoughts out there as to how to ease the dilemma of getting into the spirit of the season without causing risk of harm to my avian children?

Breakable decorations would be a no no. The artificial tree would be fine. The seed treats that you can make for outside birds work wonderfully for inside birds as well. The pine cones as long as cleaned well make a wonderful treat rolled in seeds etc. We even make our birds their own mini Christmas trees out of different lenghts of wood. We have made "Christmas trees" for smaller birds out of different lenghts of popsicle sticks. Starting with about 8-10 of the largest ones there are (died green) then 8-10 of the next size and then again of the smallest size, etc threaded on a SS wire. Then we tie some sisal twine with beads amongst it to give even more toys. As far as pine being harmful it is listed as being bird safe on all of the sites I have checked. I do believe there has been some mention of the bark and oils possibly being too fragrant and harmful to birds respiratory systems. We actually use pine wood to make a lot of our bird toys but we buy it from the lumber yard so it does not have the bark etc on it and has dried or aged as well. The pine that is used for bedding is listed as being unsafe but the processed dried pine from lumber yards is safe. That being said I wouldn't really suggest having a fresh pine tree in the same room as your bird for safety sake but I am sure many people do with no problems. So don't give up on your Christmas decorations just steer clear of the overly aromatic ones and the highly breakable ones if your bird is going to be around them.

Thank you for the clarification on the pine, Iggy. I knew for sure that I didn't want to get out our breakable decorations because we allow our birds to wander where they like, as long as one or the other of us is in there with them. I didn't want to have to stress about not letting them near the tree, because as I mentioned, they're curious and inquisitive, and want to investigate "EVERYTHING".

So I figured I'd try for a happy medium and provide a tree that's safe and fun for them. By the way: What do you mean "SS wire"? I'm not sure I'd know it if I saw it. I love the idea of giving them their own popsicle trees, might have to give it a try. =)

Thanks again for the helpful tips.

SS is stainless steel wire. You can also use nickel plated wire. Many wires you purchase at hardware stores is zinc coated which is toxic to your birds. If you cannot find safe wire then string them on either cotton twine or rope or sisal twine or rope. This is safe as well. If you don't know what to look for ask your hardware store specifically for stainless steel or nickel plated to see if they have any. If they try to direct you to the zinc coated or galvanized don't buy it!

Here is a picture of a couple of the popsicle trees we have made. As you can see there are three different lengths of popsicle sticks along with pony beads and a star bead. These two don't have the extra rope decorations on them, I will try to get a picture of them as well. On these two one is ended with a bird safe bell and the other just has another pony bead at the bottom. Hope this helps!

Here is another type of tree we have made for medium sized birds like conure to african grey size (our african greys are scared of really large toys). It might give you some other ideas on making mini trees for your cockatiels

Great pics, Iggy! Thank you so much for sharing. I'll look for some materials this weekend and see what we can come up with. Hopefully we'll get it finished just in time for our birds to enjoy their gifts along with the rest of the family!