It’s OK for a perch to be a little smaller or larger in diameter. Basically don’t install a perch too large that a bird’s foot can’t grab comfortably (except for manicure perches) and may cause a bird to fall. Conversely too small a diameter may allow a birds foot to wrap all the way around and cause pain or injury to it’s own foot.

Hardwoods – Most cages come with at least one hardwood dowel perch. An additional hardwood should be introduced such as Dragonwood or Manzanita Perches. These woods offer not only durability but usually have uneven surfaces with knurls and knots. The varying diameter of these branches cause the birds feet to constantly adjust, thus providing needed exercise.

Rope can be in the form of a perch you attach to you cage like Booda soft rope perches. It can also be justrope. You can attach rope with w simple knot (never tie knots in chain please)It’s soft on a birds feet and also gives them something to tear up with their beaks

Concrete, Sand, Terra-Cotta commonly called grooming perches can help nails and beak trimmed you feathered friends nails and beak trimmed. Your bird will scrape it’s beak much like rubbing a knife blade against a sharpening stone.

The feet should be able to not completely wrap around the perch so nails are dragged over the rough surface keep them from getting sharp. Some perches are actually made of concrete but we prefer Sandy perches for their abrasive surface and manzanita core. The natural wood core gives the perch a more nature feel. They won’t necessarily let you skip nail trimming but can keep points blunt

PVC is found in everything from the dash of your car to vinyl windows and no wonder. It’s resistant to scratches, temperature change and will take just about any abuse. a perfect material for parrots! It’s also pretty easy to clean because of the non-porous surface.

The drawback to the smooth surface of PVC is that a bird may literally slip off. It’s not uncommon to get a new PVC accessory and see this occur which can be cured by simply rubbing emery or small grit sand paper along the length of the perch. 

Mitch Rezman
Vice President
Windy City Parrot, Inc.
Simply Everything for Exotic Birds