Safe plants for aviary

[franceska]

I am currently building a large indoor aviary, and I am wondering what live plants would be safe for decoration? How would ficuses work?

Or should I just stick with fakes?

Please share your experiences!

[williep]

franceska,

I did some extensive research on the subject as I was looking to add some creepers in my outdoor aviaries and was very frustrated to learn that most were toxic.

I still prefer real plants to the fake ones even though you end up with more maintenance, but it depends on your individual setup. I fact I just installed a new irrigation system in both my aviaries this weekend and added some plants to.

The most detailed list I could find is this one (although it's from a budgie site but makes no difference)

http://www.budgieplace.com/plants.html

You can also check out these links although I have not compared the list to create one all containing mega list.

http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/plntstox.htm
http://www.birdsnways.com/articles/plntsafe.htm

[B CAMP]

williep
The budgeplace seems real good thanks

[dfcauley]

I am currently building a large indoor aviary, and I am wondering what live plants would be safe for decoration? How would ficuses work?

Or should I just stick with fakes?

Please share your experiences!

I have both fake and real in mine. The birds love both. I like the silk trees because I can take them outside and hose them down about once a month. The real ones are getting all the leaves pulled off. And they are harder to clean of course. But I still like to have some real ones. Ficusses are safe and great ones to use.

[mickp]

I've found both jasmin and hydrangeas to be great climbing plants for the aviary walls. both create plenty of nesting places and attract insects. I also have native grasses planted throughout the aviary and a variety of shrubs/bushes mainly bottle brush and grevillea's.

[williep]

I've found both jasmin and hydrangeas to be great climbing plants for the aviary walls.

I was also considering jasmine and hydrangeas as they are beautiful plants and very fast growing, until I read it was listed as toxic. I know the chances of the birds actually eating the plant is very slim. How long have you had it growing in your aviary?

Paul suggested passionflower, which I kinda like. It is also a fairly fast growing ranker plant.

[mickp]

both climbers have been in the aviary for about 12 months now and I havent had any problems. they seem to be quite common avairy plants around this area.

[williep]

That's what I thought to, the odds of the birds actually trying to eat any part of the plant is very slim (assuming you feed them of course), so I can't see any problems either. IMO birds are smarter than we think, they won't go eating stuff their instinct tell them is poisonous. Hookbills might have a problem as they use their bills to get around and might in the process consume some parts of the plant. I had a Elephant Ear in my aviary (listed as poisonous) for more than a year, I removed it as not only as a precaution, but to replace it with a nice perching tree and in all that time I never found 5 dead birds around the plant with pieces of elephant ear hanging from their mouths.

I do however take care when selecting grasses and similar plants the birds might use as nesting material as they do tend to bite/harvest the grasses. One of my favourite grasses is Brown Carex and the birds love using it to build nests.

[adamharbeck]

Give that the aviary is indoors i would look for non-toxic houseplants.
Most true palms (not cycads) are non toxic. Dwarf date palms might be a good choice. Bamboo palms would be ok too, my lovebirds never died from eating the leaves through the wire (they loved it!) but cut off the flowers as the seeds are toxic.
Draceanas & cordylines (ti plant), the would be good for creating a "picture window". http://www.palmfascinations.com/cordyline2000copy.jpg
The budgie site states cissus vines are non toxic, they would be great for training up the walls, as would Hoya.

[williep]

Good advise, adamharbeck.

Al of those would work great in an indoor setting.

[adamharbeck]

I cannot believe I didnt mention Raphis humilus, the lady plam. This is a compact, clustering species which tollerates low light and would provide valuable perches and shelter for finches.

[williep]

So, I found this really all-containing list of plants.

Just type in the botanical or common name of the plant you want to put in your cage aviary and press "search" and it displays the full resume of the plant including if it's poisonous. It takes a while to get used to the format but once you get the hang of it's invaluable. If the plant is poisonous it will list it under "Adverse factors".

http://www.crescentbloom.com/

Now all of you go and do your research and I want to see some pics of your plants in your aviaries and cages ASAP!

[adamharbeck]

I just wish I had an aviary to put plants in! I guess I'll just have to make do with my greenhouse

[mickp]

great link Willie.

Adam, if you have a greenhouse then you have a ready made aviary. just a few small modifications add some birds and.............

[adamharbeck]

Haha tempting, but they would cook over summer. But maybe if I replaced the plastic coated shadecloth with the regular stuff....