For the past several years before bringing Toby home we had not put up a traditional Christmas tree, either real or artificial. Some years it seemed like too much hassle and others I guess we just didn’t have the holiday spirit.
Once we had Toby though it somehow made me feel more of the holiday vibe, so I wanted to put a little more effort into decorating. Which is a terrible idea by the way, since parakeets just want to chew everything. I should have spent our intervening pet-less years decking the halls till they burst.
Last Christmas we bought a teeny tiny little tree made out of tinsel and only put it out on Christmas day, which provided some small festivity for a couple of hours, and then Toby stopped being afraid of it and did this
prompting the tree to be taken away immediately.
This year I wanted to try again, and started looking into which trees are safe for companion parrots. Some real trees are, but even if they are the safe kind the sap is still dangerous, and beyond that, if you don’t know how the tree was grown there can be issues with pesticides and whatever chemicals they use to make the trees last for so long.
It seems like fake is the way to go (although clearly, not made out of tinsel!), so I looked at that, and then thought about the constant battle it would be to make sure they weren’t eating the tree, or eating paint off of ornaments, or fabric, or chewing the strands of lights! Now, don’t get me wrong, a year or two down the road I might be up for the challenge, but this year it seemed right to get ourselves a A&E CAGE COMPANY AE500M Java Wood Table Top Play Stand
What’s even better is that the tree can be in use year-round, so far the parakeets are a little wary of it, but I’m guessing in a few days it will be the most popular new hangout.
The A&E Java trees are very good quality and sourced from wood that would otherwise be discarded. As I’ve mentioned, Patrick has allergies/chemical sensitivities that frequently make it difficult to buy new furniture or anything really, but we were able to use this pretty much right out of the box, the only issue were the rubber feet had a fairly strong “new” smell, which dissipated over a few days. I know this tree may be a bit big for the budgies to be comfortable on but we’ll be making some modifications over time for better accessibility if they are needed.
What’s even better is that A&E CAGE COMPANY AE500M Java Wood Table Top Play Stand