Live Plants for budgies

[AmandaFitz]

Hello again everyone!
I would like to add a few live plants into my budgies’ cage. I feel as though it may be an enriching and exciting for them to have a new component in their cage other than new toys. Can anyone recommend some safe live plants for budgies? Thanks!

 

[Jas]

Herb plants like basil, mint, parsley, rosemary and dill. Though go easy on the aromatic herbs like Rosemary and mint as too much can cause tummy upsets.

Spider plants and Boston ferns I know are safe off the top of my head.

Trees like willow, sycamore, ash and beech I know are safe.

Don't let your budgie access the soil as it may contain pesticides and fertilisers which are harmful, also plants should washed as they may contain pesticides.

Avoid trees that have been sprayed as the wood retains the pesticides.

Here's a list
Safe and Toxic Plants for Pet Birds List, poisonous and toxic plants for pet birds, safe herbs for pet birds, safe flowers for pet birds,safe garden plants for pet birds, safe garden flowers for pet birds, safe seeds to grow for pet birds, safe houseplants for pet birds, safe house plantsfor pet birds, Safe and Toxic Poisonous Woods, Toxic Plant List, Safe Plants List, Safe Woods for Bird Perches, Safe Trees and safe wood to use for bird perches and toys,Poisonous Plants for Birds, Safe Christmas Trees for Cockatiels and Birds, Safe and Toxic Poisonous Wood from Trees for Birds and Perches

 

[MommyBird]

sprouts are excellent, but if you let oats or rye grow they turn into "grass" that budgies love too.
suggest not growing in soil, or using a screen the grass can grow thru so birds don't get into the soil.

 

[Bagpipes]

Thanks for the link!

 

[Lady Jane]

We just had someone post their bird died eating the soil of an aloe plant. Please be careful.

 

[Love My Zons]

Years ago my first bird a budgie loved eating the spider plant. Nothing wrong with some greens, sprouts would be most beneficial and SAFE. As stated above, soil can house mold so that is a really bad idea.

 

[finchly]

Just a warning! I don’t know how many budgies you have, but my finches (6 of ‘em) ate my spider plant and several others down to nothing!

 

[lotus15]

Maybe you can add house plants but cover the soil with rocks so that your budgies can't access it. Or perhaps keep the plant outside the cage but direct the leaves towards the inside so they have access to the leaves only?

 

[finchly]

We grew some plants in water (outside the cage - finches could drown in jars of water). We also removed the top inch or so of soil and put marbles on top.

 

[Garet]

My birds like to chew on my wandering jews, bamboo and hen and chicks.

Hen and chicks are super good, as they don't really need a lot of soil, and they basically constantly repopulate themselves, and basically thrive without much water. Every 4-5 years or so, the main hen will sprout a flower and die, but by then, you should have more than you know what to do with. Just make sure not to get the cobweb/spiderweb variety. I'm not sure if it's toxic, but they have this thin sort of silky spiderweb coating the plant, and I'm very hesitant to let my birds at the chicks I had and got rid of them.

Wandering jews are also very pretty. They're a hanging plant and easy to propagate after being broken, and my birds seem to be attracted to the colors. I have both the big-leafed purple and smaller leafed purple-and green variety. The smaller one with the purple-green leaves seem to really catch my birds' eyes, as the leaves are shimmery. The flowers they put out are also really pretty. Guzma had a grand old time pecking at the pink ones.

Bamboo is a bit hit and miss with my birds. My tiel enjoys pecking at the leaves mine put out, but my budgie is sort of iffy with it. She'll perch on it, but that's about it.

Aloe vera is also very good for birds, but not as an in-cage sort of plant. The outside of the plant can give birds the runs, but the goopy insides are very good for birds. I always mix it in their water.

My birds also love to chew on my winter pear tree's leaves, but they get way too big for an inside-plant.

 

[Lady Jane]

You could also let the plants grow elsewhere and give the birds cuttings. I would suggest organic soil and seeds if you plant seeds. This way you can control the plant growth.

 

[Mer Boy]

You could also let the plants grow elsewhere and give the birds cuttings. I would suggest organic soil and seeds if you plant seeds. This way you can control the plant growth.

That’s what we do at the rescue. We just take clippings from the bird safe trees and place them in the enclosures.

 

[finchly]

@Garet you grow bamboo indoors? What variety? I went to the bamboo farm but they all seemed huge. Too big for indoors.

 

[Garet]

@finchly I do. I think it's the lucky bamboo variety. So far, it's not grown all that much (probably thanks to the birds chewing on it). I actually picked mine up at the hardware store. Home depot where I live has a good variety of succulents, and I snagged a bamboo plant the minute I saw it. Just be careful if you do get bamboo. The ones I got came in this little narrow pot that I presumed was filled with nothing but rocks and earth, since I couldn't exactly get in to see what was in there (and they'd put a layer of pebbles ontop), but it was actually filled with these odd, wet beads that started to reek once I managed to wiggle a few shoots out to transfer to a bigger pot.

 

[finchly]

@finchly I do. I think it's the lucky bamboo variety. So far, it's not grown all that much (probably thanks to the birds chewing on it). I actually picked mine up at the hardware store. Home depot where I live has a good variety of succulents, and I snagged a bamboo plant the minute I saw it. Just be careful if you do get bamboo. The ones I got came in this little narrow pot that I presumed was filled with nothing but rocks and earth, since I couldn't exactly get in to see what was in there (and they'd put a layer of pebbles ontop), but it was actually filled with these odd, wet beads that started to reek once I managed to wiggle a few shoots out to transfer to a bigger pot.

Got it - thank you! Last time I was at Home Depot they had some Lucky Bamboo unpotted for $5, potted for $12.

 

[LunaLovebird]

I recently adapted a food bowl to grow some wheatgrass.
Just drilled some holes in the bottom of a 300 mL sure lock bowl. I used coconut fibre instead of soil just in case they accessed the dirt, as it should not be toxic to them. They both love it!

 

[Garet]

Got it - thank you! Last time I was at Home Depot they had some Lucky Bamboo unpotted for $5, potted for $12.

I'd stick to the potted ones if I were you. I paid about 15$ for mine, and they last much longer than the non-potted ones. Bamboo can be very hard to start if you don't know what you're doing, and there's no guarantee that any unpotted plant will take after you buy it. Bamboo can be extremely tricky, too. It's not like a wandering jew where you just put it in water and wait for roots.