Eucalyptus......Yes or No?

[Merlin]

Two questions here,One, is it ok to give my budgie eucaylyptus leaves?

If so how many and and how often.........

And two,To use the branches as perches how do I make them "Good"?

ie by that I mean do I need to put the branches in an oven to kill any bacteria ect.....

If so for how long and at what temp?

If you havn't already guessed I've got a eucalyptus tree very near to and its in fear of being chopped down........:eek:

So is anyone knows anything.............

[Bea]

Eucalyptus leaves are fine as they are part of a budgies natural diet. Mine all LOVE them, i'm not entirely sure if there are any species of eucalypt that are poisonous to budgies but i've not come up against a problem so far. Don't feed them constantly as i think they can give your budgie diarhea in large quantities.

[Budgiekin]

I did some reading on the topic and discovered that eucalyptus branches provide trace elements and minerals that are beneficial to your budgie's health. In fact, in the wild, budgies spend most of their day resting in eucalyptus trees and chewing the branches.

Another interesting tidbit of information is that budgies often build nests in the trunks of eucalyptus trees.

[Amy]

Yes I found out it is great for budgies and they love the stuff.

[parakeetluverr]

I thought they were poisnus?

[Bea]

Nope, they're a native tree where budgies live in the wild and they can shred eucalyptus leaves super fast in their big flocks. :P

[Beannifer]

Cool! so how do you make natural branch perches? I saw a picture with a natural wood branch and I thought it was beautiful :)

(the picture I saw was Donna's Scooter sitting on a wooden branch)

[redgirl]

I have a natural branch perch, I got mine from the local park and luckily for me it fit, Skyla is always on it xx

[BUUZBEE]

as for the original 2nd question. you can either "weather" them, meaning let them sit in the sun for a few weeks to a month, or put them in the oven. i think you are to put them in for about an hour at the lowest temp.
to be honest, i've never done this, my oven is to small for any branches i would put in the aviary!!!

i have a gum tree in my garden, and i cut of a peice for the birds about once a week and the branches i just scrub and let them dry in the sun