buying Perches

[zebsoc]

Anyone have a Good Reliable Safe online site that delivers to USA
For Perches

In the city I used to live in I had a store that sold Individual perches wooden.
So I could replace the wooden perches regularly
My new town is much smaller.

Finch poop tends to soak into wood and I liked to replace them every few months

Amazon some don't have slits. And not right length.

Also plastic perches that don't fall off easy would be nice.
I gave up on the terrible standard plastic perches that I bought fm Amazon. The slits r just silly tiny and don't stay. Plus again hard to find Long length perches 21" Long.

Regular pet stores have very few choices esp in my small town now.

I used to love the perches that had the wire hooks with the wooden perch on the end but can't find those anywhere not even on Amazon any more. Those were my very favorite.
Miss the city I used to live in that carried a large variety with several very large pet stores

I have limited hand strength, so something that is easy to Slide on and off for cleaning, not have to clip on.

[Nerine]

zebsoc

I have several extra sets of Vision perches. Easy to put in/take out, easy to clean, and inexpensive to buy as I don't have to keep replacing them every few months like the wooden perches/dowels.

They can be ordered off amazon.

The only downside to vision perches, is that they will not help to keep nails worn. However, I have a variety of different perches in each cage, so this is not really an issue.

[zebsoc]

Nerine - thank you, they sound just like what I need

Can they be used with any cage/bar size
Or only Vision cages?

Below is picture of what I have

[wilkifam]

Vision perches are plastic.
I've been told that plastic perches are not good for finch feet.

[lem2bert]

zebsoc

Have you thought about branches from trees in your area ( as long as they have not been sprayed with chemicals ) they work wonderful and are free !! When they are dirty just throw away and find more. Cut them a little longer and place between wires. Hope this helps !

[Nerine]

zebsoc

They should fit fine if your cage has 0.5" bar spacing.

[Dave]

wilkifam, do you know why plastic perches are supposed to be bad for finches? I've heard this before, but I've not seen the reason behind it.

[zebsoc]

Nerine - thank you I'll check the spacing on my cage

wilkifam , Dave - hi,
It isnt that plastic perches harm bird's feet but that they shouldn't be the only ones in cage
since their nails will grow too much. Variety is best both in texture and size.
I keep at least 1 perch that has the rougher type for helping keep their nails trim.
Wood is an inbetween. I'm not sure if it helps much in keeping their nails trimmed down.
Too rough like sand paper should be limited because it can cause their feet to become sore. I liked the sand covers but don't want to use them too much
plus they tend to come off too easy.
Also some plastic is Too Slippery. Totally smooth plastic is not good.
I have some plastic perches I got from Amazon but they r hard to put on and take off.
But they have little ridges so it makes it easy for the birds to hold on when landing and sitting on them. Odd thing is 1 side is hollow and it is hard to put them on and keep the hollow side underneath. Very unfortunate not totally round nor easy to install. But fairly easy to clean if only could take them off easy, the ridges require a little scrubbing power but not too much.
I've had birds fall off of smooth plastic swings or perches and usually avoid them. Like the ones come with very cheap travel size cages.

lem2bert - tree branches would be nice since different shape and lengths and free
But problem with natural is need to sanitize well. Reading on how to sanitize outside branches not that fast a process. Due to need to kill parasites and bacteria.
I once left a piece of white painted wood outside overnight and the next morning it had all kinds of teeny tiny bugs crawling all over it. That made we leery of using natural.

[lovezebs]

You can buy dowels at hardware stores, or building supply outlets.

However, I like natural branches as well, and use them all the time. I just wash them in hot soapy water, rinse under hot running water, and dry. Have never had a problem with them.

[GouldieFledge]

zebsoc

If you want to use natural branches, there are 2 products I know of that are proven to work for disinfecting porous (re: wood) objects, and are safe for your birds;

1. Virkon-S, a vet-grade disinfectant
2. F10 SC, another vet-grade disinfectant

From what I understand, both of these are available to order from Amazon. I only have experience with the Virkon, but from what I've heard/read, the F10 one is an even better choice (there's a thread where you can read about both here: http://www.finchforum.com/viewtopic.php ... lit=virkon) There are many users on this forum that use either/both products regularly.

With that being said, there are plenty of other people that use plain vinegar and other natural remedies to clean wood for their finches without problem, though I'd too be leery of this if using on mystery wood.

[zebsoc]

Lovezebs
GouldieFledge
Thank you for the helpful info

[Sojourner]

I bought my natural perches online from either Petco or PetSmart, I forget which one. They all have a threaded shaft driven into one end and large washers and a nut. So you put one washer inside the cage, the other slides on the threaded shaft on the outside, and then you screw down the wingnut.

I like the grapevines the best. I also have one of those Pedi-perches next to the water silo. Hasn't helped Pyewacket - her nails look like witch claws. I need to find my Opti-visor so I can see to clip her nails before something bad happens.

Anyway - like this:



Actually I checked and it was Petco I got mine from. But they're not even on the website right now, there are no grapevine perches on Foster & Smith either. Or Petsmart. Not sure what's up with that.

Another type of perch I'd like to try are the ones made from Cholla. It's actually a cactus though they call it Cholla wood.

I have some manzanita perches but I won't be buying any more of those. They are too smooth and nearly always to small too boot. I have fir perches with the bark on, those are OK. And cheap - like $3 on Petco at the moment.

EDIT: WOOPS! There is a grapevine perch on PetSmart - and they might have it in-store at a store local to you.

http://www.petsmart.com/bird/supplies/t ... 13995.html

[zebsoc]

Sojourner - thank you, great idea and great price
And easy to take off to clean, plus can place them anywhere and can choose different sizes and style. Will also make nice variety in cage give it natural look.

[GouldieFledge]

zebsoc , these are the same perches I use, the ones that Sojourner posted. If you have a Petco around, I'd definitely suggest them...of all the commercial (and smaller) pet stores in my vicinity, they have (what I feel) is the best selection of branches/perches/other bird and finch items. Aside from a specialty store, that is. Wish I had more online resources like you were requesting, I don't know of any really.

My guys love the grapevine ones as well, but I also have the fir and manzanita types too--I too like giving them a variety of perching surfaces. The screw on feature for these ones is nice, sometimes annoying if you accidentally drop the washer (which I always do!), but otherwise I'd prefer this to the clip in/squeeze throughs anyway.

I also think plastic perches are just gross and ugly, even though it's illogical haha. Especially those ones with the ribbing-like texture. I guess that supposed to be for grip purposes? Looks more like a festering petri-dish to me. Just my personal preference.

[zebsoc]

GouldieFledge - I really like Petco too.
The city I used to live in had a huge Petco.
My new town doesn't have one unfortunately but there is one in the next town about 20 mintes away, tho it's much smaller.
Depending on how my health is doing I'm hoping this weekend or next week to go and check out their branch perches.

I didn't used to like plastic perches either but it is nice to be able to just wipe them clean.
They r low maintenance.
The picture below is the ones I got from Amazon. They have ridges though it doesn't look like it. My society have no trouble landing on them and sitting on them without any slipping.
I just don't like that half is hollow and I and the clip r non compatible.

I wish they made plastic branch type perches. Then would be the best of both worlds for easy cleaning and pretty variety of branch like perches.