bottlebrush - is all of it safe?

[electronegative]

Hello again everyone,

I really want to make Peaches, my lutino hen, a playstand. I've read that bottlebrush is one of, if not the best kinds of wood to use for parrots because it's porous and layered so the birds enjoy chewing and stripping off the bark. But one of the sources (Wayne's Playstands) I read about this wood also said that most species of it are poisonous and that only one is safe for birds. Is this true, or is it just BS for him to sell more of his own playstands?

I'm not going to buy from Wayne because 1) I can't afford it and 2) he seems like a prick, won't say which species he uses and apparently wouldn't respond to some people when their orders were delayed. Please correct me if I'm wrong here.

There are bottlebrush trees where I live, or at least, I think they're bottlebrush - they look like this:



I would like to use this wood to make a playstand and some perches, if it's safe to use. Thanks all!

[InTheAir]

Most of my perches are bottle brush, so I really hope they are safe!
When I was talking to the bird vet nurse about fun, safe branches and bottle brush was on that list. She highly recommends paperbark too, she said her birds love ripping up the bark.

I just did a quick Internet search and found that aesculus parviflora is toxic and can apparently be confused with callistemon sp. (I don't know how, it looks way different to me).
According to the quick search I did, anything from callistemon family is safe. You may want to search the Internet in more depth or call your vet and ask them, though.
Please share your results too!

Regards,
Claire

Ps remember to disinfect branches, especially if wild birds use that tree.

[electronegative]

I guess the flowers look similar, but they are completely different colors. Thanks! I hadn't thought about calling the vet. Will go do that now and share any findings.